March i, 1884.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



673 



KHEA AND PINSAPPLE FIBRE. 

 A reference to Messrs. John Walker & Co. will 

 enable our correspondent (page 679) to ascertain the 

 price of one of Smith's niacliines. But we are all now 

 waiting to learn the results of 'the tritvls at Calcutta of 

 the rhea cleaaing maohiues to be exhibited by Dr. 

 Forbes Watson and otiiers. Khea plants cin be ob- 

 tained from tlie Botanical Gardens, ;i!id the plant 

 grows reiuiily in Cojion, but it rfijuircs rich soil, 

 and, after a tmie, liberal mauurini; to secure about 

 two crops per annum. The fibre U very fine with 

 a silky lustre, while it can be made flossy like 

 wool. Chemicals are necessary, however, in order 

 thoroughly to rid the fibres of fi'agments of cortifal 

 matter and gum. The long leaves of pineapples 

 grown, as the natives generally grow them, under the 

 shade of trees and in hedges, can, we believe, be 

 thoroughly cleaned by a jjiaohiue with a jet of water 

 striking the fibres. These vary from thick to silky 

 fine, the latter being a good substitute for silk. We 

 confess to more faith in pineapple than iu rh3a here 

 in Ceylon, but eveu pineapples, we suspect, would 

 require manure if frequently cut. We ought to hear 

 something definite and valuable from Calcutta. 



THE QUESTION OF SUGAR CULTIVATION 



IN CEYLON. 

 Oi the twe grand difficulties specified by G. W. (page 

 6.58) one is common to cotton as well as sugar iu Ceylon. 

 With our recurring monsoons and our moist atmo- 

 sphere it is dilfiiinlt to obtain a good harvest 

 s!e"s in. This difficulty might, perhaps, bo obviated 

 liy cultiv.vting the eane by means of irrigation in the arid 

 regions of the nonh-eas'. of Ceylon, provided the soij 

 should turn out to be suitable. But here seems to be 

 the difficulty. According to G. W,, who speaks from 

 personal experience, cane grown on the most fortil® 

 sod in the south-west of Ceylon failed to yield juice 

 with a 6utficierit proportion of sacchai'ine maiter- 

 Even the eoil of IJumbarii, where cofi'ee once gave a 

 ton an acre and which is now found equ.ally suitable 

 for cacao, failed to yield profitable sugarcanes. In 

 May IS4I, we saw the late Mr. Tytler, wlio had had 

 \Ve.tt Indian experience, doing his bfst, but the Dum- 

 liara experiment, like all others, ended in failure. The 

 liiial, queistion, tiien seems to be wliether, with onr ad- 

 vantagi.8, especially of a cheap and steafly labour 

 supply, we could afford to add to tKe soil 

 the t..-rtilizing ingredients, which chemical analysis or 

 experience oiherwise should prove to be wanting. 

 We confess to doubt on this head, as well as with 

 regard to cheapness of labour if the cultivation is 

 }j be a inammoty (hoe) cultivation. In Queensland, 

 the carting principally and the ijloughing, wholly, of 

 the lami is done by white men, and, although those 

 get comparatively h'gher wa^es, yet, the day's task 

 of plongiiing compensates, we suspect, for this. No- 

 thing surprjzed iis more in the Maokay disirict than the 

 comparatively small number of kanakas aided by 

 wiiite men (one of the latter to twenty of the former), 

 who worked large sugar estates. There is the superior 

 soil to begin with, and the possil ility, from its flat- 

 ness or gentle undulations, to plough every inch of it ; 

 first, in many cases, with the steam-idough and then 

 with t^merjcan plonglis pulled by horses nhich the 

 plou.ahman guided from a siat. The maximum of work 

 was thus ptrf'irined »iith the'rinimuni of facigue. Wh.at 

 the black labourers w( re really needed for were the 

 operations of " tra^l iug" and cutting the oanes. If, 

 therefore, Queensland is not deprived of the necess- 

 ary labour, and we may add if the new laws do not 

 86 



bring about the same result in Java, we suspect it 

 would be vain for us, with our poor soil of gneissic 

 origin, to attempt to compete in sugar-growing with 

 countries where the soil consists of ccmminuted lavas. 



EUROPEAN ENTEEPEIZE IN JOHOEE. 



In our last issue Ve mentioned that arrangements were 

 in progress between the agents of the Lini-,Soie syndicate 

 in London, and the grantees of a large tract of land in 

 the State of Johore, which would presently result in ii 

 powerfid company, for the cultivation of rhea, and we are 

 now in a position to give some further general iut'ormatiou 

 on the subject, but as the preUminaries are still incom- 

 plete, it would be improper to go into detail. We under- 

 stand then, that the scheme includes the acquisition by the 

 com]iauy of over 20,000 acres, or say thirty square luiles 

 of rich and fertile land, covered with virgin forest con- 

 taining a large proportion of valuable timber, except 150 

 acres, which was cleared and i^lanted with Liberian coffee 

 three years ago, so that in the present season it will be^r 

 its maiden crop. This tract has been specially selected by 

 Mr. Edwin A. Watson, formerly of Ceylon, and latterly 

 a highly successful planter in Johore, and a lease of it 

 for y99 years has been granted to him by the Maharajah 

 of Johore, whose enlightened policy in the encouragement 

 of Eiu'opean enterprize we have more than once had oc- 

 casion to notice in these columns. Tlie land is situated 

 close to a nevigable river, thus rendering communication 

 with the ports of Johore and Singapore cheap and easy, 

 and it is declared by comijetent antliorities to be capable 

 of hearing heavy crops of rhea for an indefinite time, 

 witliout either irrigation or manuring. Another featm'e of 

 the project is the acquisition of the patent rights of the 

 Favier-Fremy processes, for the whole of Johore, and the 

 consideration for this will be accepted entirely in shares 

 of the company. More than half of the price of the land 

 will also be paid in shares, so that the bulk of the capital 

 will he available for cultivation, and it is said that this 

 can be cheaply worked by Chinese labor at Is per day, of 

 small allotments of ten to twenty ac.-es each can be leasde 

 to Chinese on favourable conditions, including the sale of 

 the produce to the company. It is calculated, we believe, 

 that one crop of 200,000 stems per acre will be obtained 

 tlte tu'st year, two crops of the same extent the second, 

 three the third, and fom' tlie fourth and succeeding years. 

 When iu full bearing these four crops should give a re- 

 turn of thirty cwts. oijrhsye, or clean filu'e, prepared for 

 the spinner by the Fremy process, th(^ profit upon wliich 

 at a selling price of £60 per ton (or only one half the pre- 

 sent value), would be £20 per ton, equivalent to -CliO per 

 acre. Now a very fittle simple arithmetic suffices to shov 

 that if this calculation be correct, and it is based upon 

 Algerian experience, where the conGtitions are said to be 

 less favourable than in Johore the return wiU be something 

 enormous. Thus, if the land can be brought into full 

 bearing for £20 per acre, which is an outside estimate, 

 taking into account the three intervening corps, the returns 

 would be 150 percent, pn- annum ! It is obvious, there- 

 fore, that with the allowance of a very large margin for 

 contingencies, the industry ought to prove extremely pro- 

 fit.able. 



Witliin the last few weeks another comp.any for carrying 

 on planting oper.ations in Johore has not only been formed, 

 but actually floated. We refer to the " Pulo Lyang Plant- 

 ing Company of Johore," and wo observe, by the way, 

 that, an article which appeared in this journal in 18,S2, 

 luider the heading," Johore as a Field for Planting Enter- 

 prize," was circulated as a fly sheet of the prospectus. 

 The capital is ,£25,000, but the first issue consists of 2,000 

 shares of £10 each, whole of which has been subscribed. 

 The directors are men of the highest position and ro- 

 spectabiHty, and Mr. W. W. Bailey, a well-known Johore 

 planter, is to be the local manager. The company 

 aopiires 5,000 acres of land suitable for Liberian coffee, 

 cocoa, sago and numerous other ti'opical products, and it 

 is intended to bring 1,600 acres under cultivation as rap- 

 idly as possible, the remainder being sold off' as opportun- 

 ities present themselves. It is estimated that there will 

 be a net profit of £2,000 upon the fourth year's crop, or 

 P.ay 10 per cgnt. on the subscribed capitnl, whinli will 

 increase iu subsequent years. We ilo not for a ninmcnt 

 doubt the soundness of this calculation, but we sliouM like 



