August i, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



lOI 



would be against their institution. Earth thermo- 

 meters however are moderate in price, and are made 

 to go as deep as 120 inches. There can be no doubt 

 that the temperature of the ground greatly affects that 

 which is growing on or in it. — Yours faithfully, 



J. V. H.OWEN. 



A NUMBER OF OSTRICHES have lately been export- 

 ed from South Africa to India, where it is proposed 

 to establish the cultivation of these birds on the 

 system which has pmved so siiccpssful at the Cape. 

 If, on the other hand. South Africa would follow 

 the example of India in train'ng eleph.ants, importing, 

 if necessary, a number of anitnals for the purpose of 

 starting the enterp'ise, th^* exchange won Id be of 

 great benefit to both countries — Colpnie-i and India. 



Coffee pRuDrcTioN in Brazil. — If we may judge 

 by recent advices, Brazilian yrowei's of coffee 

 are not disposed to relax their efforts in favour of 

 other productions. Eecent reports estimate the stock 

 of coffee in Rio de .Janeiro .and i^antos at no le«s 

 than 815,000 bags, an enormous quantity, for wliich, 

 of course, markets will havi> to he found, and a large 

 fleet of shipping recjuired to convey the coffee to its 

 destination. At the same time, man}' articles of ord- 

 inary food required for the consumption of the 

 people, and which could easily be grown on the 

 spot, continued to be largely imported, notably flour. 

 We do not say that Brazil is poorer from having 

 this large growth of ciftVe — quite the contrary, but 

 she would be both richer and more independent if 

 much of her food was grown on the spot, for in- 

 ternal consumption ; and that this should be the 

 caso with her new I'ailways there can be no question. 

 We merely notice the subject as arising out of the 

 circumstance of this large stock of coffee on the spot. 

 — Bfazil and River Plate MuM. [The case requires 

 different treatment to tliis milk-and-water expression 

 of opinion. Brazil is suffering severely for having 

 overdone coffee cultivation and neglected the raising 

 of fund products needed by her people. — Ed.] 



Waste Lands in Tavoy. — We have received from 

 the Land Revenue and Agricultural Department of 

 British Bu'ina two copies of the rules issued with 

 the sanction of the Government of India for the grant 

 of waste lands in the Tavoy district of British Bur- 

 ma suitable for the cultivation of coffee, t^a, cinchona 

 and spices; and a photographthe of Nutyaydonug 

 range, of which the lands now offered form an part. 

 The tract destined for plantation has been surveyed 

 and marked out in blocks, and a bridged road trav- 

 ersable in all seasons is being now made be- 

 tween the concession iract and the points of call of 

 the British India S'eam Navigation Company's 

 steamers. A convenient and spacious furnished re^t- 

 house has been built at the foot of the range, whence 

 any (.erson can leisurely prospect the surrounding 

 country ; and, should a sufficient number of planters 

 come forward, the local Government is prepared to 

 establish a local post and telegraph ofHce. The photo, 

 graph .and rules can be seen at our office. The 

 Fi-iend of fmlia of SOth ,Iir e has a letter from its Enn- 

 goon correspondent from which we quote as follows: — 



A letter appears in the Rannimn Gazette from two pion- 

 eers of the future Tavoy coffee and cinchona iiidustrv, 

 giving a " ro.sy " account of affairs in that district aiid 

 the prospects of planters. That the writers are newcom- 

 ers in Biirniah is evident from their writing of the " de- 

 testable dorian," a fruit which nearly all Europeans who 

 have been here anytime are enthusiastically fond of But 

 although they despise the Tavoy dorian, which is accounted 

 amongst the best, these planters say the soil i« excellent 

 for coffee and cinchona, and that the climate especially 

 on til-* higher lands, is all that can be desired. ^Ir, 

 Duke, the Deputy Commissioner, is making a roail from 

 the plantation to the head-quarter of the district at Tavoy, 

 when .arrangements will be madu for settlers receiving their 



letters oftener than they do now — once a week. On the 

 whole, these pioneers seem more than satisfied with their 

 prospects, and it is to be hoped that their account of 

 the country and its capabilities will lead to more land 

 being taken up and brought under cultivation, althougli 

 not much can be done in cl ariug until the end of the 

 yiar, for the rains in Tavoy are excessively heavy during 

 the rest of the year. 



Thk Burma It C001.Y Traoe.— The -Rangoon Oa~.ettp 

 relates an extraordinary story about a batch of coolies 

 imported by the .S. "•. "Colaba," which arrived from 

 Negapatam en the 21st nltinio. The coolies, includ- 

 ing men, women aud children, nuniber'd four hundred, 

 and on arrival were marciied off to a shed in the 

 bazaar, wliere only a quarter of the number could he 

 properly accommodated. The matter was repnred to 

 the Deputy Commissioner, who visited the .«hed ne.xt 

 morning, and found only fifty-seven left, the rest 

 having been taken away during the night. The coolie- 

 maistrie was arrested and fined RIUO for wrongful 

 restraint, and one of his men was Mned RIO. Ac- 

 cording to the staiemeut of the Gazette, these coolies 

 are only released by the maistrie if tlieir friends will 

 pay an exorbitant sum for them, otherwise they are 

 sold to any one who will paj' for them, aud they 

 practically become the purchasers' slaves for a time. 

 As labour in Burmah is very dear, coolie slaves are 

 found to be a profitable investment. In the case in 

 question, after the cotdies were lodged iu the enclosed 

 shed, the maistries and otners, who purchase laBnur, 

 were summoned by beat of tom-tom, and a small fee 

 charged for admission. They then made selections of 

 the men they wanted, and in one instance the man 

 was found in great distress, because his son was sold 

 in a separate batch from himself. It seems incredible 

 that ev.-ii the docile coolie should allow himself to 

 be disposed of in this helpless fashion. — Rind Gazelle. 



CiNTiIONA AND QrlNi.vE.— .Says the riianiKiceutieid Jour- 

 nal., of June 23rd:— There appears to be a prospect of a 

 in the hark and quinine market in this decided improvement 

 country. We under-stand that within the last two weeks 

 large quantities of barkhave been sold. 



According to a Report on the Drug Trade of Xew York, 

 drawn up by Mr. D. C. Kobbins, the importations of quinine 

 into the [,'nited States during the year ending June 30, 1882, 

 amounted to 7!I4,49,') ounces, against 408,851 ounces in 

 the previous year. During the year ending December, 1882, 

 the importation of cinchona bark reached 29,200 bales, 

 against 31,700 bales iu the year 1831. This large increase iu 

 the amount of manulactured quinine imported and the de- 

 crease in the quantity of raw material arc attributed to the 

 removal of the hi^h duty on quinine that was formerly levied. 

 We understand that the patent rights in kairine, the latest 

 proposed substitute for quinine, have been acquired by the 

 Colour Jlanufacturing Company in Hoclist, formerly Meister, 

 Lucius and Co., by whom it is now being made under the 

 superintendence of Professor Laubeuheimer. It appears 

 that two kinds of the drug are to be met with, one called 

 "karin M," which is said to present some advantages, and 

 the other simply '-kairin," which represents the substance 

 with which the original clinical experiments were made. 

 Whether kairin will be more successful in ousting quinine as 

 a febrifuge than chinoline, from which .so much was rjxpected, 

 appears very doubtful, aud we are more inclined to think 

 that the cinchona alkaloids, produced at the moderate price 

 which the spreading cultivation of the cinchona pl.ant ap- 

 pears to bring within a measurable distance, will eventually 

 beat every competitor from the field. 



Some cultivators evidently have faith in the future of 

 cinchona cultivation in India. A n riter in the Jfadras Times, 

 who advocates a more free utilization of the assistance that 

 chemists are able to give in selecting the most valuable 

 varieties suitable to particular soils, prophesies that in the 

 event of this being done the average richness of quinine in 

 the total bark gathered, which is taken by the writer to be 

 in that Presidency at present Ik jier cent., will jinssibly, by 

 the year 2000, have reached 4h per cent. If so, should any 

 of the fellow-i-ountrymen of JIacanlay's oft-ipioted New Zea- 

 lauder happen then to be engaged in the quinine manufacture, 

 they will be within reach of asupply uf g[ood hark. 



