14 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[July 2, 1883. 



WOOD FOR TEA BOXES. 



TO THE EDITOR OF THE " INDIAN FOKESTEB." 



Sir, — I uotice in yoiir Vol. IX. of January 1883, an article 

 by Mr. Gamble, contaiuiug a list of tea box woods used in 

 Dar jeeling. He concludes liis letter by asking some one to 

 tm-nish a list of the woods used in Assam and Cachar. 

 As the Tea Industry is not confined to Bengal and Assam 

 alone, I would suggest a general list being compiled of 

 all the woods used for makiug tea boxes in various Presid- 

 encies and Provinces tiirougout India where it exists. 



To further this suggestion, I send you a list of tea bos 

 woods used by the Planters of the Kangra District, Punjab — 



PalampuT leli^il, Kangra District. 

 Chil... ••■ J'- lomi_folia. 



Eai.-. ••• -^^ ii>ebbiaiia. 



Tos. .. -.. -4. Smithiana. 



Oi... ... Alhizzia stiptdata. 



Tiin... ... C. toona. 



Mango ... M. iiidica. 



Simmal ... B. malaharicum. 



Kvllu Tehsil, Kangra District. 



Kail... ... P. exceha. 



Eai... ... ^. &«i(/iia)ia (called Tos at Palampur) 



Tos... ■■■ A. Wihbiana (called Kai ,, „ )■ 



These are chiefly used, though there are several other 



woods wliich I have no doubt would answer the purpose, 



such as Alder, Ehn, Poplar (Phalse), Hill Tun and Chil. 



Deodar is not used for tea boxes owing to its strong smell 



of tui-peutine. 

 Hoping to see the general Ust added to.— L. Gisboexe 



SmTH. 



THE NORTHERN TERRITORY AND OOOLIE 

 LABOURERS. 



We have to acknowledge the receipt from the Minister 

 of Education (Hon. J. L. Parsons) of a copy of a pamphlet 

 just published by him upon the sugar-growing mdustry 

 in Queensland, and thecolouredlabourquestionthereandin the 

 Northern Territory. The facts in this little work are so 

 concisely stated, and in themselves are so interesting and 

 so encouraging, \iewed in relation to the prospects of 

 our Northern Territoi-y Plantations, that the wide circul- 

 ation of the book can hardly fail to have a good effect 

 in dkectmg the attention of capitaUsts in various parts 

 of the world to the rich fields which are waiting to 

 reward their enterprise far away to the north of South 

 Austraha proper. Although a good deal of the matter 

 of the pamphlet has been published aheady, it has 

 never been given in such a connected form, or in such 

 a way that it could be so easily available for refereuce. 

 But whilst Mr. Parsons— ever warmly enthu.siastic in his 

 belief in the Territory's capabiUties and prospects, and 

 untiring in his advocacy of its claims as a field for 

 investment— has, in commending the country to the con- 

 sideration of moneyed men and sturdy workmg pioneers, 

 marshalled many old facts and familiar figures, he has 

 fortified them with news of late date. This interesting 

 information, for example, had not pre-siou-sly been gener- 

 ally been generally cu-culated. A plantation has lately 

 been started in the Rum Jungle District, with Adelaide 

 capital, and it is cheering to find, on the authority of 

 so experienced and reliable a planter as Mr. Hem-y Poett, 

 that ''Cinchona, with care and attention, does exceedingly 

 .(veil— better than in India. Some seed planted here only 

 eleven months ago has given us a few plants whose growth 

 for cmchona is splendid. I have never seen it equalled in 

 Oeylon. On November 30 I marked these plants as 15 

 inches; today (February 12) they top a yard measure. 

 This is a splendid growth for cinchonas, and I am much 

 pleased with such success. I was verj' sanguine of their 

 doiu" well, but they far exceed my most glowing anticip- 

 ations Of younger cinchona plants there are fully 10,onO 

 promising splendidly, and probably 200,000 younger still. 



I never .saw better prospects of the growth being successful 

 than I now point to on this estate. Coffee. — There are from 



1.50.000 to 200,000 yoimg plants just putting out theb 



fom-th leaves, and a prettier, more successful, or more healthy 

 nursery I challenge any one to show anywhere. Cotton.— 



There arc tlmty-five plants of this, it is the South 



Sea Island variety, and grows most beautifully. Tobacco. — 

 Indiarubber. — A small parcel of seeds of both the above 

 have been received and planted with due care. The latter 

 will do well here, and I think tobacco will also, but of this 

 plant I have not much experience." 



Goiug from a direct advocacy of the Northern Territory, 

 Mr. Parsons addresses himself to the task of pro\-ing 

 that coolie labour will satisfy the necessities in this regard 

 of the future plauters._ The practical fact is this. Apart 

 from the opportunities afforded by the growth of rice, cotton, 

 cocoa, coffee, tapioca, &c., the consumption of sugar in South 

 Australia this year may be set down at 12,000 tons. The 

 actual quantity imported last year was 11,373 tons. On 

 sugar there is an import duty of £3 per ton, but when 

 grown and manufactured in the Northern Territory it will 

 enter free. There is room, therefore, for twenty-four mills, 

 each producing 500 tons, or twelve mills producmg 1,000 

 tons per annum, upon which the planters and manufacturers 

 in the Northern Territory will be in a position of advantage 

 to the extent of £3 per ton over foreign growers. Ac- 

 cording to the experience of planters in Queensland it 

 requires an expenditure of £40 per ton on the milling 

 capacity to produce merchantable sugar. There is room, 

 therefore, for the investment of £480,000 in the sugar 

 industry in the Northern Territory to supply the consumers 

 of South Australia alone. The average total cost of all the 

 sugar grown and manufactiu-ed in the Mackay district, 

 laid down on the wharf at Mackay, is estimated at £14 

 per ton. The margm of profit, therefore, is sufficiently 

 obvious. The percentage of profit of course will depend 

 upon the care and skill of the planters, and the quaUty 

 of the sugar manufaeturei These facts, in addition to 

 the advantages offered by the Indian Immigration Bill, should 

 stimulate those who have the capital and enterprise to 

 prosecute sugar industry with promptitude and rigom- in 

 the Northern Territory." When that devoutly to be wished 

 for stimulation shall take place, as it ass-uredly will, the 

 present Mmister for the Northern Territory may lay the 

 flattering unction to his soul that he has contributed in no 

 degree to so satisfactory a result. — Adelaide Obseri-er. 



SUGAR GROWING IN THE PAOIFIO ISLANDS. 



The interesting letters which have appeared in our 

 columns from correspondents in and connected with Fiji 

 have touched upon the important question of the sugai-- 

 producing capacity of the Pacific Archipelagoe.s, and the 

 importance the cultivation will as-sume in a not remote 

 futm-e, when the Pacific slope of Canada and the United 

 States and the Australasian Colonies are more densely 

 populated than they are at the present time. The most 

 northerly of the many groups of islands dotting the sur- 

 face- of the wide Pacific, in which the sugar-cane is cult- 

 ivated, comprises the Hawaiian kingdom, better known 

 in Britain as the Sandwich Islands, whose cultured king 

 visited these shores about eighteen months ago. There 

 are eight islands in the groui), and sugar is produced in 

 five of these. Of these five, fom- — named respectively 

 Hawaii, Mani, Oahu, and Kanai— produce so very largely, 

 that the whole of the Pacific Coast of North America is 

 chiefly if not almost entirely suppUed with sugar from 

 them. It is not yet twenty years since sugar was fii-st 

 exported from the Sandwich Islands, although sugai--cane 

 is a native and had been grown for food by the people 

 from time immemoi-ial. It was found, however, that certain 

 lands which had lieen considered desert were admirably 

 adapted for the growth of cane, provided a means of irrig- 

 ation could be devised; and a company was formed to 

 construct an irrigatmg ditch that would bring a supply 

 from a moimtain stream about foiu^ miles distant to the 

 land fiuxed upon for the pioneer plantation. The first 

 venture succeeded so well and the plantation gave such 

 large returns that plantations multiplied with great rapidity. 

 In the year 1876 a reciprocity treaty was entered into 

 between the United States Government and the King of 

 the Sandwich Islands, whereby the latter agreed to re- 

 ceive all United States products duty free, provided the 

 American Government allowed Hawaiian sugar to enter 

 United States ports free of duty. This at once estabhshed 

 the sugar industry of the .Sandwich Islands upon a profit- 

 able basis. Capitalists from America crowded into the 

 islands in quest of suitable lauds, machinery of the best 



