March i, 1884.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



655 



THE 



^oiiJiiOspondmice. 



To the Editor of the Ceylo?i Observer. 



LATE MR. JOHN ELIOT HOWARD ^VND 

 MTORAJNTH^V CALISAYOIDES. 



Lord's Meaile, Tottenham, 19th Jan. 1884. . 



SiE, — I observe an erUtorial footnote to a letter of my 

 late father's published in your issue of Kov. 2(ith, 1S83. 

 from which it appears t^i.t you are under the impression 

 that a Micrantha Ordisayoides is a " bastard grey bark." If 

 you will refer to Dr. Weddell's Notes on the Quinquinas, 

 you will see it is not so, for you will find it under Stirps 

 Micrantha Ramus EumicranthS as a distinct variety. 

 It may interest you to know that much bark of C. micran- 

 tha var. Calisayoides has been received in Loudon 

 and Paris of late years from South America, that it is al- 

 ways classed in trade as calisaya and is freely taken by 

 manufacturers though somewhat uncertain in vield of 

 quinine.— Tours truly, WM. DILLWOKTH HOWARD. 



[SVe are very glad to receive this information, which we 

 publish in justice to the late great quiuologist, and for the 

 benefit of readers to whom the intormition is as new as it is 

 to us. — En.] 



THE QUININE SYNDICATE. 



London, S.'ith January 1881. 



Dear Sir, — We have to thank you for publishing our 

 letter to the Oeylon planters, and, as a matter which we 

 knew would be interesting to you, we cabled to you on 

 the 21st instant : — '^ Quinine Howard seventy-five pence tins. 

 Probably smash of syndicate." The effect of this drop will 

 most probably be the smash of the syndicate in the more 

 or less near future. As yet of course it is too soon to expect 

 its official dissohition as the Signatories must have time to 

 take steps to release themselves from their eng-.igements 

 to each other. 



It will only remain for the planters not to press sales 

 too much at first, but allow the manufacturer time to 

 realize the new .situation. — We are, dear sir, yours faith- 

 fiUly. FRANgOIS LE MAIR *c RIVERS HICKS. 



COFFEE IN COSTA RICA. 



Edinburgh, ."0th January 18S4. 



Dear Sir, — Whether or not the feeling is a right 

 one, is open to question. But it cannot lie denied 

 that when any are suffering from an infliction or 

 affliction of any sort it is always some consolation 

 to know that there are others as bad or worse tlian 

 they are. I refer to the foltowin? short extract from .i 

 private letter, received the other day from America : — 



" In Costa Rica, they are grnbbinz up cofl'ee trees 

 as being no longer jjrofitable, and planting rubber 

 instead, so Ceylon is not the only fnfferer in coffee." 



Now, in Ceylon we are not yet come to this, for, 

 bad as we have been, I suppose few have either aban- 

 doned permanently their coffee or hope for the future 

 in it — where the trees are neither wasted nor worn 

 from age ? 



The decadence of coffee cropi, generally, eTcrywhcre 

 surely must eventually bring down the enormons stocks 

 of coffee, both in London and Europe, which our finall 

 crope in Ceylon have faded to do in any marked extent ? 



In face of these heavy stocks it is really wonderful 

 h >w first-class qualities of coffee continue to realize 

 h .eh good prices. — Yours trnly, P. D. MILLIE. 



THE EDINBURGH FORESTRY EXHIBITION. 

 Mysore, 2nd Feb. 1884. 



De\r Sir,— I enclose a cutting taken from the 

 ' /icoisman. of 22nd December last,- with reference 

 ; to the forthcoming Forestry Exhibition in Edinburi/b. 

 ; It struck me when readii.g it that it would be a 

 I good opportunity for Oeylon to show off h-r fine 



I woods and her native furniture manufactures to our 

 friends in " Auld Reekie." Why should it be be- 

 hind Sierra Leone and Canada, in coming forward 

 with exhibits? I think something ought to be done 

 in the matter by your Government. Now that you 

 have a Scottish trovernor, I am sure he would do 

 his best to further the interests of Ceylon, especially 

 as the exliibition in question is to be held in 

 Edinburgh. 



Escuse this rambling letter; if you think it worth 

 your while to publish it, please do so. RAMBLER. 



{Extract referred to.) 

 The Intern.atiosai. Forestry Exhibition. — At a meet- 

 ing of the Executive Committee, held in Edinburgh on 

 Wednesday, copies of despatches from the Governor- 

 General of Canada and the Governor of Sierre Leone, 

 addressed to the Earl of Derby, Colonial Office, were read 

 and received with much satisfaction. The despatcli from 

 Canada enclosed a report of a Committee of the Privy 

 Council embodying a report from tho Jliuister of the 

 Interior, in which the great importance and interest of 

 the objects of the exhibition to Canada are fully re- 

 cognised. The Government of Sierra Leone have also 

 determined to take advantage of the opportunity offered 

 by the exhibition to bring into public notice the valuable 

 and ornamental woods and dyeing substances of West 

 Africa. The War Department of this country will show 

 a collection of wood used in the Survevor-General's Depart- 

 ment for ordnance purposes, and the Commissioners of 

 Woods and Forests are preparing a representative exhibi- 

 tion of British timber. 



SUGAR CULTIVATION IN CEYLON. 



Koslanda, 10th Feb. 1884. 

 Dear Sir,— There seems to me to be a question 

 looming in the distance in the pages of the Observer, of 

 some importance to the island : Can the sugarcane be 

 profitably cultivated in the low-lying lands of Ceylon ? 

 I take it that is the enquiry several of jour corre- 

 spondents are making, and it is an important one. 

 You and I can well remember the sugar estate near 

 Kandy ; it failed owing to too damp a climate.* 

 Baddegama is not and never has been a great suc- 

 cess, and you must hare a drier climate than Badde- 

 gama if you want your 2 tons an acre for plant 

 canes, and, say. IJfor good ratoous. In Barbadoes thoy 

 say : ■" Soil, sir, we make the soil," that is what the 

 " Hi Ills " say, and there is little doubt that, on fairly 

 good soil, sugarcane in a dry climate can be well 

 cultivated. The Bourbon or Mauritius I believe to be 

 the best ; the ti ash or straw of the sugarcane ploughed 

 into the land helps very much to keep up the fertility 

 of a sugarcane plantation. Wray's book on the cultiv- 

 ation of the sugarcane is the best I have seen, but much 

 more inti-resiing and valuable information could be got 

 from Barbadoe.'), I he highest and best cultivated island 

 of the West. There is a "Planters' .Society" there: it 

 meets at Bridgetown, I think : they also consult on ya7n 

 cultivation, sweet potatoes, Indian corn, etc., etc. 

 To return to our subject. The cultivation of the sugar- 

 cane in the West— in Mauritius, Queensland, China and 

 .Japan— might be made very useiul and pleasant read- 

 ing and interesting in the pages of your Tropical. The 

 kinds of cane, kinds of land, mode ol cultivation, doss of 

 lahonrrm employed, terms of a'irceme.nt , y\e\A \>tr acre, 

 etc., etc., and the planters would learn some matters 

 worth their knowing. I am sure the information would 

 be most interepting to them in many points. I can- 

 not myself say if Ceylon has any large tracts of land 

 suitable for the protitable cultivation of sugarcme, 

 but 1 cannot help thinking it must have ; in poor 

 land plant the purple canes, and in riciier lands the 



* We were told that the cause of failm-e in this case 

 W08 smallness of area, — Ed. 



