Oct. t, i8S6.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



2ig 



Season 188(3-87. niul as the trees are said to be in a 

 measure fr e from leaf-disease, a fairlj' good yield may 

 be looked for ; which, with the returus from Cin- 

 chona and the commencing crop of Tea above referred 

 to, will, it is hoped, enable the Company to again 

 enter upoa the payment of regular Dividends. 

 In the meantime, the Directors, with the exception 

 of Mr. Brown, whose fee includes the expenses of his 

 visiting Ceylon, have resolved to reduce their fees by 

 one ha' f. Mr. Brown returned from Ceylon in April, 

 having \i3ited the Company's properties. Mr. Leon 

 Famin, a member of the Board, retires on this occasion, 

 and being eligible, offers himself for re-election. 

 Messrs. Deloitte, Dever, Griffiths & Co., the Auditors, 

 also offer themselves for re-election. By Order, .7. 

 At-kc Koberts, Secretary. 26th July, 188(1. 



Balance Sheet, 31st May, 1886. 

 Dr. 



To Capital authorized : — £ s. d. 



10,009 Shares of £10 each issued and 



fully paid ... ... ... 100,000 



„ Reserve Fund ... ... ... 4,000 



„ Sundry Creditors ... ... 1,159 4 11 



„ Bills Payable ... ... ... 1,750 



,, Sales of Produce 1885-8G... ... 1,053 19 



„ Profit and Loss Account .. . ... 2,193 1 



£ 



Or. 



By Estates 



„ Sundry Debtors 



,, Office Furniture 



„ Charges against Crop 

 1885-86 :— 



Glen Alphin 3,029 18 7 



Ballagalla ... ... 1,462 5 



Narangalla ... ... 1,606 17 8 



Hindagalla ... ... 1,449 16 9 



Grahams Land .. ... 9o4 17 H 



Hock Hill ... ... 761 6 4 



Freight and Sundry Charges 592 18 7 

 Directors' Fees ... ... 308 (! 8 



liOndon (Office Expenditure 25G 9 9 



10,402 17 3 

 Zm Profit on Exchange 2,500 14 4 



£110,156 4 11 



s. d £ s. d. 



100,000 



l,33(j 17 2 



30 



By Cash at Bankers and in Office 



7,902 2 11 

 887 4 10 



£110,156 4 11 



Sarawak. — An ex Ceylon planter wi-ites : — " Your 

 Tropical Aurirulturixt is indeed a great boon, 

 and is mneh appreciated in these pai-ts. It 

 is quite a treat to read of the improving 

 condition of the planting enterprise, due, in 

 a great measure, to the Old Rag. You will be sorry 

 to hear of poor Tom Parry's death in North Borneo. 



Fruits. — In the Trinidad court are large glass vases 

 containing preserved specimens of the various fruits 

 of the island — jak, breadfruit, sour sop, numerous 

 cacao pods, some with the rind partly removed, 

 Ac. There are two good-sized coflec and cacao 

 trees, to the trunk of the latter dried cacao pods 

 are tied, showing how they grow ; and a living 

 specimen of vanilla creeper, showing method of 

 cultivation. They seem to be ahead of us in 

 Trinidad in the manufacture of such things as 

 chocolate, prepared cocoa, arrowroot and soaps of 

 various qualities, and I was surprised to see splen- 

 did samples of rich-looking conib-honey and to 

 learn from a Trinidad gentleman that he found 

 the keei)ing of importefl bees entirely successful 

 and the export ot honey to England profitable. 

 The bees have to be fed during the rains, against 

 which period I suppose nature prompts them to 

 store honey. Are the Trinidad rains more heavy 

 and cintinuouri than in Ceylon ? or why should 

 bef -farmers ])e succcessful in the one country, and 

 not in the other?— ^'or. 



HORTICULTUEE AT BANGALORE. 



Bangalore is forging ahead in the cultivation of 

 useful novelties for India. At the recent Agri-Horti- 

 cultural Show held at the Salbagh Gardens on 4th 

 August, some specimen of hop flowers were among 

 the exhibits and attracted some attention. The hops 

 were cultivated at the Eurasian Colony of Sansmora, 

 in the vicinity of Bangalore, by one of the settlers, 

 who had received the gift of some hop-vine slips 

 from the Manager of the Murree Brewery Company, 

 to be grown a« a trial. Now tliat it has found a 

 success it is probable the cultivation of hops will 

 be largely carried out by the settlers .at the 

 Colonies and form a large item of supply to Indian 

 Breweries. 



The Exhibition of flowers at the Salbagh Agri- 

 Horticultural Show at Bangalore on 4th August, is 

 pri sumed to be below the average. This is attri- 

 buted to the fact that the falls of rain have been 

 unusually heavy and tended to damp off the blooms 

 of roses and run many of the annu.als to foliage. 

 The number of exhibits were small compared with 

 previous years ; to account for this we have heard 

 it stated that the issuing of Medals instead of small 

 money prizes would make competition keener and 

 create increased attractiveness for amateurs. — S'pecia7 

 Correspondent for T. A. 



THE CULTIVATION OF JALAP. 



In December 1880 a Government Order was issued, 

 directing that the report of the Superintendent, Gov- 

 ernment Botanical Gardens and Parks, on the eultiv- 

 alidu of jalap on the Nilgiris for 1879-80 be printed 

 with the oj-der as a Supplement to the Fort St. 

 George Gazette, and spare copies struck off for distribu- 

 tion; directing also, with remark, the Commis-sioner 

 to arrange for the gratuitous supply of tubers sufficient 

 for one-eighth or one-sixteenth of an acre, to persons 

 willing to attempt it, and that the matter of exper- 

 imental cultivation of jalap at the Lawrence Asylum 

 be brought to the notice of the Committee of Man- 

 agement through the Educational Department. 



On the 26th May last Mr. M. A. Lawson, Government 

 Botanist and Director of Cinchona Plantations, Nilgiris. 

 wrote to the Secretary to Government, Revenue De- 

 partment: — "In reply to your demi-official asking at 

 wliat cost jalap could be grown per pound on these 

 hills, I have the honor to forward the following calcul- 

 ations. Every acre of ordinarily good soil ought to 

 produce, at the end of three years, at least, 1,000 lb. 

 of dry tubers ; and the cost of raising this quantity 

 may be detailed thus:^ 



Rs. A. p. 

 Preparation of one acre of land ... 75 

 Planting and manuring ... ... 30 



Cultivation for three years ... 55 



Digging up and drying the tubers ... 35 

 Hates and taxes for three years ... 7 8 



Total ... 202 8 

 This would make the cost of the jalap, as ready 

 prepared for the druggist, annas 3, pies 2 per pound ; 

 but a.s the preparation of the land wouW be greatly 

 red\iced after the first crop had been taken, the cost 

 per pound of every succeeding triennial crop would be 

 considerably less. Taking the preparation of the laud 

 at R15 for each succeeding crop, the cost per pound 

 would be annas 2, pies 3. The only person who grows 

 Jalap on these hills, so far as I know, is General AVilson. 

 This gentleman bought a lurge quantity of the tubers 

 about four years ago, and has been growing them in 

 the neighbourhood of Kotagiri ; and has, I believe, some 

 400 lb. to dispose of, an amount quite inadequate to 

 meet the indent of 1,500 1b. send into this department. 

 Allowing R50 per acre per annum for profit, the cost 

 per 1 lb. would be annas 4, pies 8 ; so tliat. 1 think, 

 annas 5 per 1 lb. should be the outside limit :it which 

 the drug should be sold on tlii\<c hilla. 



On the 7th instant the following (!.(). was passed : 

 — "Coveinment having dclinitely ascertained in IS77, 

 that the jalap plant could be readily and profitably 

 grown on the Nilgiri hills, endeavoured, between that 



