Sept. i, 1886.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



H7 



fine factories will have to be given up. From 

 humbler buildings it will be tjuite possible to send 

 out as fine teas as ever. 



Already I hear of amended i^lans, and overhauling 

 of estimates in regard to factories ; and small 

 gardens are less anxious to see their names figuring 

 ill the broker's circulars, giving up, when practic- 

 able, the fondly hoped-for tea-house, contented to 

 sell their leaf, and sink the estate's individuality 

 i|^ some well-known mark. 



That there is wisdom in this course, is undoubted ; 

 and although we all believe that there is in each 

 of us, potentialities as to tea-making which, if 

 awarded a suitable sphere, would astonish our Indian 

 brethren and drive "the heathen Chinee" to de- 

 srair still the necessity may be laid upon us to 

 postpone the manifestation of these high qualities, 

 and direct our energies into a humbler channel. 



As to our future Fuel Supplies on estates without 

 TmBER RKSEKVES, there does not seem to be any kind 

 of definite idea where they are to come from. The 

 old coffee stumps are meanwhile standing us in good 

 stead, but this, the last service of an old friend, is 

 within bailable distance of the end, and then what ? 

 " We will be sure to get something," is the com- 

 forting assurance of those who have not yet had to 

 grapple with the difficulty ; but what tliat something 

 is, is like the unexpressed emotions of the man who 

 " never told his lord." Oil, coal, coke and other 

 things have been suggested and if the margin of 

 profit in tea manufacture was to remain even as it 

 is today, there might be found in some such sub- 

 stances a suitable substitute for wood. 



But besides these, there is the idea of a Central 

 Factory to which neighbouring places might send 

 their leaf, provided that it could be so arranged 

 that every contributing estate had a share in it, 

 so that vi^hat might be earned there might not 

 pass into alien hands, but flow back again to the 

 planter in the form of dividends. The providing 

 fuel for such a district tea-house could be managed 

 so as to reduce its price to the lowest, while the 

 cost of manufacturing might be less than could 

 possibly be done in the smaller but private tea 

 factory, and in all probability better too. 



The fine showery weather which we are having 

 at present, and which is so good for the 

 young tea-plants, has also been clothing the 

 Cacao with new verdure, and covering stem and 

 branch with clustering blossoms. As a promise for 

 next half-year, it is indeed a glad sight, while it 

 shows us how much depends on seasons in the 

 cultivation of this tea. The welcome shade is 

 everywhere springing up, and when it has grown 

 high enough it is to be hoped that the bad effects 

 of dry seasons will be considerably mitigated 

 if indeed not altogether disappear. 



In these days of increasing Advaxcer and Cooly 

 crimping, the wily Kangani manages " to score," 

 having been kept so close up for some years back ; 

 now that the sun of his prosperity is beginning to 

 shine, he shows an alacrity to enjoy its cheering 

 beams to the full, that speaks volumes for the un- 

 changeableness of his nature. What is a kangani 

 without an advance ? In his own eyes and that of 

 his gang a mere nobody, and, alas ! he knows it. 

 A planter the other day paying oil' a lot of coolies 

 was asked for the usual letter, which absolves a 

 neighbour from unneighbourliness if he chooses to 

 employ the gang, and opens the labour market 

 wherever it is produced. But it was not the 

 common " tundu" that was going to please. The 

 kangani wanted his advances to be stated with 

 RlOO added ! This Httle addition which his " durai" 

 was coolly requested to certify, was an ingenious 

 dodge for raising the wind. He said he liad other 

 debts besides the estate advance, and hit upon 



this charming plan of liquidating them. 

 When the i^lanter refused to state aught else 

 than the truth, the man went oft' to his head 

 kangani, got from Iilm a Tamil " tundu," with the 

 advances increased by ElOO, sought for work, and 

 obtained it, on the terms as stated in the Tamil 

 letter. Somebody was let in, for the money was 

 all paid, and the kangani for the time being was 

 satisfied. Moral : Beware of head kanganies' 

 "tundus." Peppercorn. 



CINCHONA CULTIVATION IN SOUTHERN 

 INDIA: GREAT RESULTS. 



Addressing a Special meeting of the Went- 

 wortli Gold Mining and Indian Estates Company 

 Limited, Mr. Kyau said : * * * j pass 



onto the question, which will naturally occur to each 

 shareholder, "What have I got for my money in Went- 

 worth y I will not answer it from facts of my own ; 

 but so lately as the 7th of May last a valuation was 

 put upon tbe Government plantations which run on all- 

 lours with ours, and which I am bound to say cannot 

 compare with ours. If I take those figures as my basis 

 our estates are worth at this moment £188,000. I go 

 further. The other day a leading Coast firm was asked 

 to value the property of one of our neighbour.-s, and, if 

 I take tlieir figures, our estates are worth £194,000. 

 This is external evidence. (Cheers.) Now let us see 

 what the trees have done. The returns from your 

 bark have maintained this vast area, and have more 

 than paid for every expenditure. They have brought the 

 younger fields to maturity. Not a call has.beon made for 

 that. The last two calls were entirely for extensions. 

 The estate has been self-supporting. You had a right 

 to expect up to this date 145,000 lb. of bark of the 

 value of £10,000, and you have actually received 141,000 

 lb., of the value of £8,200. You were led to expect 

 £10,000, and at the values upon which that estimate 

 was framed (3s for renewed bark and Is 6d for natural 

 bark), I should have been able to give you £4,000 

 more than you bad any reason to expect, but at that 

 time quinine was 12s, and now it is 2s 4d. I know 

 some are disquieted about what they suppose to be 

 the enlarged area brought under cultivation, 

 aiad the great drop in the price of quinine, but 

 I do not share their fears. (Hear, hear.) I have 

 been at considerable pains to gather the statistics of 

 the world. I find that therc^ are, or will be in the 

 very near future, something like only 31,000 acres un- 

 der cultivation — that is, where cinchona is cultivated 

 and that the requirements of the world will be something 

 like 35,000,000 lb. of bark, whilst the production will fall 

 short of that considerably. I think that that ought 

 to point to us the advisibifity of being ready to sup- 

 ply any deficiency. And then I think we lose sight of 

 the larger consumption of quinine. In the Madras 

 Presidency Official statistics, compiled by Dr. Bidie, 

 the head of the Sanitary Department, show that 

 there are over 200,000 preventible deaths a year in 

 the Madras Presidency if quinine could be brought 

 cheaply to the doors of the population. Multiply that 

 200,000 by 100 to represent those who recover, and you 

 will find what a blessing quinine will be to this enor- 

 mous mass of people, and what a favourable oppor- 

 tunity it offers to us as growers of the bark. Only 

 lately I was reading a most interesting article upon 

 a new use for quinine. They have extracted a most 

 beautiful blue dye, and they only want a mordant to 

 give it commercial value. There is no end to 

 the use to which quinine may be put, I am sure the 

 day is far distant when I shall not be able to sentl 

 home bark that will pay a ])rofit. — Nihjiii Express. 



USEFUL DOMESTIC HINTS. 



" Y." — Grease spots may generally be removed from 

 the most delicate materials by the euiployment of ben- 

 zine or oil of tui'peutine, care being taken that suflacient 

 bo employed to remove all line of demarcation. Ox- 

 gall is particularly useful in extracting grease stains 

 from woollen goods. If the stain be very thickly crusted 

 nd old, It may be sometimes advantageous to soften 



