336 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[October i, 1883, 



THE TREATMENT OF ROBBER: IMPORTANT 

 FOR PLANTERS. 



Mr T. Christy of Loudon writing ou 9th August 

 with reference to R's letter on page 615 of the Tropical 

 A'lricuUurkt, says :— 



"1 am delighted to see some people are waking 

 up and I am glad to let them know how i-xT I have 

 eot in regard to the treatment of milky gum. As 

 soon 33 the milk is collected, weigh ..ut a pnind 

 or any "iven weight, then get some cheap spii'it. it 

 the strength can be discovered so much the better. 

 ■When all is ready pour in some spirit on the nnlk 

 and if watched, and of the proper strength all the 

 rubber or guttapercha will run up m veins to a lump. 

 Of course ihe less spirit used the better; then 

 note the quantity of spirit required and write it 

 down. Take the ball of rubber aud put it into 

 clean' water and wash it as yon would butter and put 

 it to dry in cakes in the sun. This washing gets 

 rid of the resin and g-m that cause t'le 'elastic 

 gum to be brittle. Some sort of gutta I have found 

 go quite hard when treated. I have tried alum aud 

 on some 'milks' this has an eEFect, but I do not 

 get so large a yield of elastic gum as with spirit. 



Tea must grow as well in the rich low flats oE 

 Matale (Ceylon) as in any dielrict in the island ; some 

 leaves aud a specimen of a "sucker" of a few weeks 

 growth brought before us are simply niaguihcent. 

 They are from xMr. Eraser's Wariapolla plantation, near 

 Matale town, which is! also famous for its cocos 

 walks. Tea cultivation higher up on the Labugama 

 side has also been found to be a onaucial success, 

 the returns of crop so far being very sauslactory. 



CiNNAMOV is one of the articles honored with 

 princely charges. We have an account sale before us shew- 

 ine the gross value realized by a shipment at £147 19s. 3d,, 

 ^ciinst which are charges aggregating £30 8s. Id or over 

 20 per cent. Deducting freight, the charges amouutto over 

 12i per cent. Auother account sale shewiug £/7 los lO'l. 

 Bs the sale price of the produce, disclosed only £.3(3 14s. 

 lid as net proceeds-no less than £21. Is or over 2o per 

 cent being absorbed by freight and London charges. A 

 thkd account shows £458 4s. 4d as the gross proceeds, 

 reduced by £St3 of charges, which do not inoUide, of coui-se, 

 the local transport, packing and shipping chai^ges. f these 

 T^nulon charges, which seem modest enough m Commis- 

 S^n and brokerage, can be reduced, they can be done only 

 hv united action and persistent agitation. Feehng how 

 little can be achieved by so small a unit as Ceylon, some 

 producers deem it best to sell their produce locally ; but 

 there is small satisfaction even mthis, for purchasers here 

 are quite equal to the computation of Loudon prices less 

 London charges, and otter no more than the just eqmval- 

 Znt nf the net proceeds. Cinnamon growers, teehng that 

 tWv are still further weighted by quarterly London sales, 

 are agitating through the Agricultural Associtiou for more 

 frequint auctions. As it is, one or two Continental Fnrms 

 a^e the only local purchasers, chiefly on commission for 

 Zir prmcipals m Europe. English merchants do not com- 

 „ete with them, avoiding the risk of their consignments 

 reaching London jr^st too late for one sa'e, and having to 

 S three months for the next. It is to be hoped that 

 monthly auctions may seciu:c better prices, if not in Lon- 

 don at least locally, by leading to increased competition 

 among merchants who, with the gift of chargmg. may have 

 the Eift of secm-iug a reduction m those London charges 

 which seem so capable of reduction An attempt should 

 Tp made to find out whether the charges, now felt to be 

 heavy, are reaUy legitimate, or whether then- reduction can 

 fcereasonably expected. Especially in the case of tea- 

 an industry capable of almost unlim.te.l expansion because 

 fhp demand for the article should know no limit— should 

 a vigorous attempt may be made to protect it from charges 

 thic-h may give it the death-blow at a time when the 

 futiire of the? colony seems so closely woundup mth it.— 

 Ceylon " Esaiuiiier," 



Ceylon- Planters at "Tea" i^j Northern India. 

 — We regret to learn that Mr. Packer, one of the 

 batch of young men who recently left Ceylon to take 

 up appointments on Assam tea gardens, died of fever 

 shortly after reiching his destination. 



Tea in India — The value placed ou " Tea in India" 

 may be judged from the following advertisement in the 

 London I'/m^.s of August 10th : — Wauted, a partner in 

 a matured tea estate, who would go out to undertake 

 management. Capital £4.000 or £5,000. Apply S. E., 

 care of Insrcam snd Co.. 67, Lincoln'e-inn-fields. 



Coco AND Cocoa.— In reply to a query iu your May issue. 

 The word Coco is, I beUeve, the Portuguese " Coco," 

 signifying an ugly mask, or a monkey's face. It was ap- 

 pUed to the fruit of the coconut pabn because of the im- 

 agined resemblance to a face, which is formed by the three 

 cavities at the base of the nut corresponding to the three 

 original carpels. Cacao is said to be derived from the 

 Central American word Cacauatl, the native name of "the 

 plant. It has been corrupted into cocoa, by a curious sub- 

 stitution and ti'ansposition of letters. It is needless to say 

 the two words Coco and Cacao have no relation to each 

 other. The coconut pahn grows freely ou the whole of the 

 coast of the island of Ceylon. The Sinhalese vernacular 

 word for coconut is Pol, which comes from the more reput- 

 able Sinhalese word Pala, a fruit (or the fruit of all the 

 fruits, to the low country Sinhalese this is the most im- 

 portant) which is itself derived from the Sanskrit word 

 Phala. Tlie Sanskrit word for the coconut palm is Narikera, 

 which comes from the roots Narika, a watery place, aud 

 Ir, to grow (hterally the ti-ee which gi-ows by the wateV) 

 and tlie old Sinhalese word derived from this Sanskrit root 

 is Neh. Although the coconut is not a native of India, its, 

 introduction is ot" undoubted antiquity, as it is mentioned 

 in many old Indian medicine works : for example, Charaka 

 Samhita, Susruta, Vagbhata Tantra, and Kaghuvansa, 

 many of which date back long before the time of Buddha 

 (nearly 2, .500 years ago). The Maldivian word for the coco- 

 nut is Karhi, wliich is almost the Sanskiit word Kera. 

 The cacao plant * now flom-ishes in Ceylon, failure of the 

 coffee crop having induced planters to turn then' attention 

 to it along with other new products and some very credit- 

 able sales" of the produce have been made in (he London 

 market. — IK Kn'ujht James, F.U.G.S., Cohnibo, Ceylon. 

 — Science Gossip. 



Wykaad, 23rd Aug. — I came across an article in the 

 columns of your contemporary tlie ' Mail ' anent the pros 

 aud cons of cinchona barking. It struck mc as rather a 

 one-sided argumeut to totally condemn the system of shaving 

 or .slicing, as compared with the old plan of stripping. One- 

 sided I say, because, though the writer brings forward proofs 

 to show that, under the sharing process, the quality of 

 the bark is bound to deteriorate, he casually forgets to 

 mention the fact that such is also the case under the 

 stripping process. It has been a great mistake to suppose 

 that a tree can bear to be shaved entirely any more than 

 it could be expected to endure wholesale stripping. The 

 shaviug process must, therefore, be conducted on similar 

 principles as that used for stripping, i. v., alternating por- 

 tions of the hark must only be operated ou at a time. As 

 far as I can discover from personal observation and en- 

 quiry, the result of the stripping system has proved equally 

 unsatisfactory, as f.aras the yearly deterioration is cor.cerned, 

 and we are told that the quahty of the Governme it bark, 

 which is stripped, not shaved, proves the fact. The first 

 renewal of bark as a ru'.o may be considered of such in- 

 creased value as compared to that of the original bark, 

 that, by allowing for subsequent annual decrease, we may 

 roughly averiige it as reducing in quality at such a rate 

 that in four years or so the produce will be of the same 

 value as the fii-st and original stripping. After that, the 

 decrease might become more perceptible, and coppicing the 

 necessary result. Probably it will be decided as being a 

 case of six of one aad half a dozen of the others when 

 the aubject has been more fully experimeuted upon. Our 

 weather continues light and pleasant, ail that the greatest 

 professional growler amongst -us could desire. Of course 

 there .ire no more coolies up, and how we are to get our 

 crops picked, is a matter of some consideration to many 

 of us. — Jfarlras Tinics. 



* Which Mr. James ought to have eaid is entirely diS« 

 tiuct from the coconut paJau.— Ed, 



