56 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



[JVLV I, 18B6, 



substituted and e\'idently the climate was suitable 

 for it, for it flourished exceedinglj- when just as 

 everything was progressing so satisfactorily, this 

 hurricane must needs visit the place, doing the 

 damage above recorded. 



My brother is very busy getting cooly lines re- 

 built, but a month has elapsed already, and it will 

 take another six weeks at least before work can be 

 resumed. It will cost £750 to £1,000 to put up the 

 necessary buildings again. There are about 10 acres 

 of tea 4 years old and 30 acres 2 years old ; about 

 20 per cent of this has suffered severely, and will take 

 some time to recover. There were 15 acres of 

 splendid-looking cardamoms that had a large crop 

 of fruit on them, the whole of which has 

 been totally destroyed. The coconut planters have 

 all sustained an immense amount of damage, 

 and there will be no copra manufactured by them 

 to speak of for the next 18 months at least, 

 and it is not only their coconuts that have 

 sutfered. Many of them have lost their fine 

 copra houses, etc., which for convenience of trans- 

 poit were built on the beach by the sea which 

 rose several feet above its normal level, and came 

 inland with an irresistible rush carrying everything 

 before it. It is very hard on these men most of 

 whom have been in the country for many years, 

 and have worked from morning till night trying 

 to make their plantations pay. I have spoken to 

 several old residents of 18 and 20 years^ standing, 

 none of whom remember to have seen such a 

 severe hurricane as this. I fear you will deem 

 this letter too long, so I will bring it t© a con- 

 clusion hoping you will spare me room in your 

 valuable journal for the same. I apjiend some 

 barometrical readings which are reliable. They were 

 taken by the Captain of a steamer who rode out 

 the hurricane in a ghcltered bay. People have 

 not ceased to talk about the hurricane yet, and I 

 expect it will be a long time before the 3rd 

 March 1886 is forgotten in Fiji. Apologising for 

 the extreme length of this letter, I am, sir, yours 



faithfully, J. N. 0. S. 



{Barometer readinfja referred to.) 

 1886. Time. Bar. Re'gist. 



March 2 8a.m. 2975 



5 p.m. 29-63 

 „ 3 7 a.m. 29-57 

 „ 3 10 a.m. 29-75 



11 a.m. 29-49 



2 p.m. 29-32 



4 p.m. 29-22 Strong E. gale with fierce 



6 p.m. 2915 do. 'squalls 

 8 p.m. 29-00 do. 



9-30 p.m. 28-85 do. 



10-30 p.m. 28-68 do. 



Between midnight and 0-20 on the morning of 

 the 4th it fell suddenly to 27-62, and at 1-30 

 a.m. it was 27"57, the lowest point. J.N.O.S. 



MR. JOHN HUGHES ON CEYLON PUBLIC- 

 ATIONS AND REPORTS. 



London, E.G., 7th May 1886. 



Gentlemen, — I have great jjleasure in acknow- 

 ledging the receipt of your valuable Ceylon Hand- 

 book and Directory for 1885-86, which I found 

 awaiting me on my return from Egypt. It is 

 indeed full of useful information, as all those who 

 have had previous editions can well understand, 

 while those who have never had the advantage 

 of possessing a copy, should certainly lose no 

 time in purchasing one, especially as the book 

 can now be obtained through any of your London 

 Agents. 



I suppose no Crown Colony except Ceylon pro- 

 duces such a Directory which from the extensive 

 tndes appears to furDiab iuformation upon every 



possible subject connected with the planting inter- 

 ests of your beautiful Island. 



It always gives me pleasure to refer anyone 

 requiring information respecting Tea. Coffee, Cin- 

 chona, or the other numerous productions of Ceylon, 

 to the pages of your Directory. Of course you 

 will have it well represented at the Colonies Ex- 

 hibition, which I have not yet visited since it was 

 opened, but hope to do so shortly. 



I send you a page from this week's A'lriinltnnd 

 Gazette containing a short paper of mine upon the 

 amount of fat in Fish (iuano. It may do for the 

 T. A. I have frequently recommended the Tropical 

 Ajiricultiirist to persons who come to me for a 

 useful book upon current information respecting 

 Tea. Coffee, Cinchona, Sugar and Tobacco, and I 

 doubt not that you find the circulation increasing. 

 You are aware that it is now taken at the 

 two Agricultural Colleges in this country, namely 

 Cirencester and Downton. — Yours very truly. 

 JOHN H UGHES. 



ORANGES AND CITRONS FOR FLAVOURING 

 PURPOSES. 



June 12th. 



Sir, — I have pleasure in forwarding American 

 recipe for making the above : 



Cut the rind into thin shreds; half fill a wide, 

 mouthed bottle with it, fill up with whisky or 

 brandy. Cork tightly and shake now and then 

 for the first mouth. This will keep good for 

 months and be better for age. SANITAS. 



Davidson's and Law's Tea Roller. — One interested, 

 refering to a paragraph we had a few weeks ago, 

 writes: — "Your mercantile informant would have 

 done well not to have made an assertion of the 

 kind he did, as you may be sure that we have 

 carefully taken the opinion of a competent engineer 

 before patenting the machine, and we hope to 

 arrange with Messrs. Walker & Co. for it manu- 

 facture, and at all events before any are sold the 

 public will be satisfied that there is no infringe- 

 ment whatever. — It is rolling splendidly now and 

 turning out more tea than we expected." 



China c. Indian Tea came into the opium 

 debate in the House of Commons, the Under- 

 Secretary for India using the following argument : — 

 Not long ago a Government was turned out on 

 the question of raising the duties on alcoholic 

 drinks. There would, therefore, be a touch of 

 Pharisaism in our dealing so drastically with the 

 question of opium as his hon. friend would desire. 

 He would, therefore, make two suggestions to his 

 hon. friend. The first was that he should agitate 

 for the increase of revenue at home from alcohol, 

 and apply that increase to replace the loss occa- 

 sioned to India by taking away the opium revenue ; 

 the second was more practical. The balance of 

 trade as between India and China was against 

 China, owing to the vast quantity of opium going 

 from India to China. As between China and this 

 country the balance was against the latter, owing 

 to the Chinese tea consumed in this country. It 

 had even been said that China paid for her Indian 

 opium with the income derived from Cliiiiesc tea 

 sold in this country. His hon. friend then ought 

 to consider that when he drank Cliinese tea he 

 was encouraging Chinamen to consume opium — 

 (iaughter) — and his suggestion accordingly was that 

 his hon. friend and others should use Indian tea, 

 which he believed was very good, instead of Chinese 

 tea. Even if the Indian tea were not good, his 

 hon. friend should still drink it in the interests 

 of morality — (laughter), and thereby practise a 

 virtue for the benefit of those in whose welfare 

 be was so much interested.— L. c^ C. Express. 



