902 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[June 2, 1884. 



They now, too, kuow the vslue of the pearls, and, 

 should any choice ones be discovered in the shells, 

 there is little chance of the owners of the boats 

 getting them. But the old hands grumble principally 

 i think, with the hope of keeping away competition. 

 You may take up a good station on an isla'id in the 

 Straits, and in that respect have great advantages 

 over your rivals, but the waters and reefs are free to 

 all. Rival tishing boats can anchor side by side, and 

 often do so, nnd when one strikes a new patch of 

 good shell there is often co'isiderable ingenuity dis- 

 played in endeavouring to deceive all other comers. 

 The pearl-fishery now is certainly not the good 

 thing it was to a few Sydney capitaliets, but a great 

 deal of money is now circulated amongst the many in 

 Torres Straits, and the industry is not by any means 

 played out. 



Tea in America. — Says the American CuUivator : — 

 " During last year nearly 12,000,000 pound.s of 

 tea less than the year before have been imported into 

 this country. This was due to the act of Congress 

 prohibiting the importation of spurious tea. It is es- 

 timated that there will be only half a crop of green 

 teas this season, consequently prices are booming." 



CROQtJETTES OF RiiVE. — Put half a pound of rice and 

 a pint and a half of milk into a stewpan, and stir 

 it over the fire "until it boils ; then cover the stewpan, 

 and let it simmer until quite tender, put the rind 

 from a lemon into half a pound of sugar, then pound 

 the sugar in a mortar; add to it the rice and the 

 volks of five well-beaten eggs ; again stir it over the 

 fire until the eggs thicken, but do not let it boil. 

 When cold, form it into small balls ; whisk four eggs 

 well on a basin, dip each ball into the egg, and then 

 into some bread-crumbs, smooth them with a knife, 

 repeat the egg and crumbs, and put them into a wire 

 basket made for the purpose, place it in a stewpan 

 of boiling lard, and fry them lightly. When done, 

 drain them from the fat on a very clean cloth, and 

 fole them very high in the centre of a dish on a 

 pilded napkin, sift powdered sugar over them and 

 serve. — American Grocer. 



Coffee Leap-disease Virulent in Java, — It was 

 inevitable that the fell fungus should run its destruc- 

 tive course, lava soil to the contrary, and now it seems 

 but a question of time for coffee to be as great a 

 failure in Java as it has turned out to be in Ceylon, 

 The latest accounts are m"st serious, thus : — Batavia, 

 Sth April. — From the Director of Inland Administr- 

 ation information has b^eu received that the coffee 

 leaf disease is becoming more and more noticeable in 

 East Java, chieHy in the provinces of Pasaruan, Pro- 

 bolinggo, snd Bezukie, which hitherto had been ex- 

 empt from this infliction. The coffee tr es there 

 abound in berries everywhere, but, owing to the dis- 

 ease, all the leaves have dropped off. In many estates 

 the trees display nothing else but branches full of 

 berries, which are still fresh loiking and green, but 

 partially have become black, and have dropped off. 

 As the disease shows itself everywhere, in mid Java 

 also, where it is widespred in the province of Bagelon, 

 it is to be feared that the coflee yield will fall off in 

 consequence more than ever. Meanwhile every possible 

 means is being turned to account to keep up the 

 vigour of the coffee trees, and ensure their recovery 

 f^om the disease. — /nva Conrant, 



Cheap Tea-roller. — The following is extracted 

 from tlie London letter of the local "Times ":— 



I see that Mr. Kinmond, the patentee of some of the 

 best known tea machinery, has paid a visit to Ceylon on 

 his way home from Calcutta, and that during his stay on 

 some of the gardens using his machinery he devised sev- 

 eral important iinprnvements in it. Messrs. Robey& Co, 

 of Lincoln are the the makers of all his machinery, and I 

 happen to kuow that he has written to them in the high- 



est terms regarding the prospects of Oeylon as a tea- 

 growing country. Considering that he is intimately ac- 

 quainted with all the Indian districts and perfectly dis- 

 interested, this is testimony worth having. |M"essrs. Marshall, 

 Sons & Co. of Gainsborough are the manufacturers of 

 Jackson's "Dryers" and "Rollers," which were awarded 

 gold medals at the Calcutta Exhibition, and at their works 

 on Tuesday last I was shown a new hand-power rolling 

 machine, just patented by Mr. Jackson, which, he thiuk^ 

 will be in great request in Ceylon tor small tea gardens, or 

 estates having comparatively a small quantity of tea planted 

 out amongst the coifee — wherever, in short, the produce 

 is not sufBcient to keep one of the larger machines em- 

 ployed. It is constructed upon exactly the same principle 

 as the larger machines, the tea passing from a hopper 

 above between two tables, the upper and lower surfaces of' 

 which are made to move in opposite directions by two 

 hand cranks fixed at the angles. It is calculated that this 

 machine — the cost of which will not be more than from 

 £20 to £35 — will, when worked oy two coolies, roll as much 

 tea as twenty men in the same time, and do it far better 

 besides. If this be so, I should say it is just the thing for 

 a good many of the young estates in Ceylon, which either 

 cannot afford, or do not need, more expensive plant ; and 

 then, later on, when these have outgrown these hand- 

 machines there will doubtless be native tea gardens ready to 

 take them over. 



A hand-roller at .£20, v hich we suppose will mean 

 about R350 laid down in Ceylon, will certainly be 

 a great boon to small tea planters, but we scarcely 

 understand Mr. Jackson's movement in view of the 

 fact that he had authorized his local agents, Messrs. 

 John Walker & Co., to manufacture and sell a hand- 

 roller at R600. — Since writing the above we have 

 learned thit the model hand-roller is to be sent to 

 Messrs. Joha Walker & Co., who are to manufacture 

 the machines for sale in the island. 



Suo.iK CcLTrvATiov IN Egypt. — Miniehisthe capital 

 of a large district, one of the handsomest towns on the 

 Nile and the centre of the sugar-cane industry. 

 The factories are in five number, with chimneys of 200 

 feet in height and machinery of the most perfect and 

 powerful kind. In February the scene in such a 

 neighbourhood is one of prosperity and animation. 

 As far as the eye can reach the earth is covered 

 with luxuriant cane, and the factories give employ- 

 ment to thousands of men, women, children, camels 

 and donkeys. At " Roda," also, the sugar industry 

 is flourishing, and all the property which formerly 

 belonged to the Khedive and his family, is ii.>,v 

 mortgaged as security for the Eight Million Lonn 

 of the "Dairah .Sanieli." It is an immense estate of 

 400,000 acres, managed or rather mismanaged by an 

 English, a French, and an Egyptian director. Dual 

 control is not enough, eo triple control, involving no 

 control at all, has been invented. The fertility of 

 the soil and the nature of the climate are such that 

 this year the proceeds of the sugar crop will suffice 

 to pay the interest on the loan, viz., £100,000, and 

 this in spite of neglect and bad management. Truly 

 it may be said with Ezekiel : "Everything shall live 

 where the river cometh." There are 19,334 acres of 

 fii'st year's cane under cultivation in this district, 

 9,G66 acres second year's crop, to crush which 

 there are six double factories, eaoh with ,four mdls, 

 and two single factories. The juice extracted is placed 

 in open pans heated by steam, then passed through 

 filte'-s of animal^charcoal into receivers, where it is con- 

 centrated in vacuum to about 21 degrees Beaume. It 

 13 a second time passed through animal charcoal, and 

 crystalized in the vacuum pans, then put into flat 

 cooliuj; pans and allowed to granulate. Afterwards 

 it is turbincd, taken into the curing house, dried, and 

 put into sacks ready for market. From the mollass 

 which flows from the sugar, a second quality, or 

 No. 2 sug-ir, is produced, and again a third qu:dity, 

 the last juice of all being passed into the distillery, 

 and made into .alcoliol. — Times of/ndia. 



