620 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[March i, 1884. 



On ciuchona the report tells us "about 1,500 trees 

 (Sucoirubra) have been coppiced, and 500 uprooted of 

 dve to I'cven years' growth, the baric prepared and 

 sent to the London market, 5,300 lb., dried and well 

 packed. The ' quill ' and large branch realized from 

 Sid. to Is. 6d. per pound, a low figure, but good 

 avera<;e and fair rates in the present glutted and very 

 low state of the home market, competing favourably 

 "ith other red bark. Small ' brinch ' and 'twig 'gave 

 dead hl^.% fetching only Id. per pound as against 4J. 

 for similar kinds sent last year. When the market 

 «as favourable and demand greater, a small lot of 

 300 lb. having been sent then as a trial shipment, 

 'branch' fetched Is. 5rf. to l.s. Srf. and 'twig'4(/. On 

 thevvhole it appears that cinchona can be grown 

 profitably on these hille, and with proper care in harvest- 

 ioi! the liark in future, rejecting the unpayable small 

 liranch and twig, it is calculated to prove a fair in- 

 V. stment. With this in view all available young plants 

 nnd shoots have been set out this year, considerably 

 iiioi easing this produce. The coppiced stumps are 

 mostly throwiug out shoots freely, a pair only of 

 which are kept on each stump fir the future tree. 

 The quantity now under cultivation is about 30,000 

 trees, plants and shoots. The products of the plantation 

 all continue free from disease, and the climate is 

 favourable to growth, especially mild during the rainy 

 months. The theimometer is from 66° to 72° during 

 the "24 hours, the extremes of heat and cold during 

 the day and night being at one time very great, as 

 at Toungoo and the plains. The young plants of 

 cinchona, especially Calisaya, are coming on well." 

 — Eiiglixhmmi. 



QUEENSLAND. 

 After spending some months there and devoting my 

 time to seeing the country, I will give you my opin- 

 ion of its capabdities and prosjiects. The want of 

 a suitable labour-supply cannot; but militate against 

 it-, success for some time, if not for ever. In no case 

 c^ n the labour-supply ever be so regular or so cheup 

 iS it is in Ceylon. The working man, who is be- 

 \ ond a doubt " boss " of the position, has a strong 

 ubjection to the Indian labourer. Indian labour is an 

 unknown quantity to him ; he knows but little or 

 nr.thiiig of it, aud does not want to ; he has au in- 

 stinctive dread of it and contents himself with the 

 dogged reply, to any attempt at conversion, "no black 

 labour for me." I don't think there is any doubt 

 that the present South Sea Island labour traffic will 

 be suppressed. The labourers are undoubtedly happy 

 and well-treated in Queensland, but I question if, 

 in the first instance, they are fairly come by. So, 

 as far as labour is concerned, the immediate future 

 lirospects of tropical agriculture in Queensland will 

 receive a severe check. That coffee, tea, cinchona, 

 aud cocoa will grow in Queensland, I am quite satis- 

 fied. At Brisbane and Mackay, coffee is growing well 

 and bearing, considering the severity of the winter 

 in those places. The former is fiOO miles south n{ 

 the tropics and the latter only just in the tropics. 

 My advice to any one desirous of trying coffee and 

 cinchona in Queensland would bs to go straight to 

 'Jairus and take up land 16 miles inland along the 

 line of roads ; there he will find soil rich enough for 

 auj thing, and a suitable climate. For cocoa, oue must 

 go further north, above Cooktown, though I take it, 

 the blacks are still troublesome there, and the climate 

 somewhat unsuitable to the health of the European. 

 I have heard Queensland spoken of by Cej'Ion men 

 as a parched-up countiy. This may apply lo the iu- 

 lerior, but certainly not to the esst coast, fi'i- there the 

 rains are frequent and sufficient. I take it tea would do 

 best on Hinchinbrook Island, where there is moisture, 

 b3at and soil. There is not, however, much openiu 



for Ceylon men as planters in Queensland, eveu 

 thoueh the industry does go ahead. The colonial 

 fancies himself too much, does not think he has any. 

 thing to learn, and is quite prepared to leave the 

 country aud teach the Ceylon mau ercrything, 

 even planting itself. A Ceylon man might, ho'wever, 

 do worse than settle in Mack.iy and make a beginn- 

 ing by taking up a -homestead seleotiou of 160 acresi, 

 at 2s 6d ail acre, p.aynlde over 10 years. On this he 

 could budd his lionie, do a little "farming sufficient 

 to supply must t>i his home requirements, run afesv 

 cattle, and hors:s, and plant as much coffee as he 

 could see his way to work, which, nt Is 61. to 23 

 per !b., would rep.ay a considerable outlay. I should 

 have done this myself, as I intended to return to 

 Queensland from this and settle there ; but circuin- 

 tances decided for me, and I am a settler here. Here, 

 as in Queensland, one must be able aud willing to 

 turn their hnnds to anything, and it would surprize 

 j-ou what oue can do when he tries If his head is 

 rightly screwed on, Ws muscles in order, and his heart 

 of the right kind and in the right place, it is sur- 

 prizing what a very presentable house a man can 

 turn out for himself, buying his timber, planed and 

 cut to lengths, as he caa. One must take off his own 

 boots here, aud more; but thim it is no effirt to do 

 anything in such a climate.— Cor. Local "Times." 



RUBBER HARVESTING EXPERIMENTS. 



It is contended that a cooly will be able to tap 

 in the method proposed by Mr. Wall 300 trees in a 

 day— that is practically 1 acre— so that if it is gone 

 over daily for '240 days in the year, it will cost 

 RH4, at 35 cents a day for collecting alone. To this 

 must be added —rolling in a ball, drying weeding, and 

 sundry other expenses, ivliich would certainly bring the 

 cost per acre up to R120. If each tree gave half a 

 pound per annum, 150 lb. would be the result for 

 au acre of 300 trees; and -were only Rl-50 obtained 

 for the rubber, as much as E22o would be the gi-oss 

 income, less B120 for upkeep, leaving K105 as pr.-fit. 

 But very much more than IM-50 per lb. should be 

 obtained, aud doubtless ^vill be, as the ball nibber 

 and that of Mr. Uilliatt has been valued at R2 per 

 lb. By the use of improved methods, which will in- 

 eritably suggest themselves as "we proceed with the 

 cultivation, not only n:ay the cost of harvesting, irhich 

 at present is high, be very sensibly reiuced, but the 

 quality of the rubber obtained be very much en- 

 hanced by the adoption either of some such simple 

 process as "W." alludes to, whereby. he obtains the 

 clean looking b.alls of rabber. or bj- the use of some 

 cheap spirit such as tliat used by Mr. Gilliatt. 



There is a great deal of enquiry amongst planters 

 at home with reference to Rhea, and I have heard 

 several express au intention of trying it, provided they 

 can obtain a supply of plants or seeds ; but the question 

 is — where can either be procured ? I have had a long 

 talk with Dr. Forbes Watson this week, but he naturally 

 does not wish to forestall the lecture he was to deliver 

 on the 12th January to the Society of Arts. Never- 

 theless, I have obtained from him one or two items 

 of interest. He tells me that, though all efforts to 

 procure fertile seed from Kliea in India have hithei-to 

 failed, it has undoubtedly been olttained both in China 

 and Algerii, and Dr. \\'atson thinks it just possible 

 that, w-ith proper care, good seed might be gathered 

 from the wild Rhea recently discovered in the 

 Wynaad, though it is impossible to speak with cert- 

 ainty on this point, as the reason for sterility in 

 other parts is rather obscure, some attributing it to 

 the immaturity of the plants or seeds, and others to 

 the absence of a peculiar insect by which in China 

 the work of impregnation is accomplished. Hut, even 

 without seed, the plant is very easily propagated, as 



