Nov. I, 2886.3 



THE i'ROPICAL AGRICULtURlST. 



sr^ 



PALM KERNELS. 



A coiTespondent seems anxious to kuow if the im- 

 portations of palm kernels from Africa which are 

 recorded iu the Reporter almost every week, go into 

 consumption here. We have been asked before what 

 disposition if made of them. Last week the receipts 

 of palm kernels at this port were valued at ^2,000 

 and a considerable quantity arrived previously. In mak- 

 mg inquiry for our correspondent, we were informed that 

 a New York drug house used the kernels in medicinal 

 preparations, or the fatty substance as a base for 

 ointments, salves, &c. If such is the case, the amount 

 used is trifling compared to what is consumed by 

 soap manufacturers. It is understood that nearly all 

 the palm kernels imported into the United States 

 are sent from here to Liverpool and elsewhere on 

 the Ooutiuent to be crushed for the white soap stock 

 which is sent to this and other markets. Some enter- 

 prising capitalists who understood the business and 

 commanded a good trade for soap stocks, undertook 

 to establish a factory in Boston for manufacturing 

 palm kernel oil, but after all the plans were matured 

 and the contract awarded for erecting suitable works, 

 it was discovered that only sufficient kernels could 

 be secured to run the factory three months in the 

 year, and for this reason the scheme was abandoned. 

 The same parties have since congratulated themselves 

 on their narrow escape from a heavy loss, as since 

 that time prices have declined to some extent and 

 the Boston market has been burdened with heavy 

 stocks of palm oil, up to the present period. Palm 

 kernel oil bears no resemblance to palm oil, and is 

 held at one-quarter and one-half a cent per pound 

 above the latter. Its chief competitor is Oeylou 

 coconut oil. — Oil, Paint and Drwj Bc2iortcr. 



GBAIN GROWING AND LABOUR IN INDIA. 



The chief secret of India's ability to undersell her 

 competitors is the nominal wage for which the ryot 

 will work. Sir James Caird says that an Indian 

 family of four can live comfortably on ol. Qs. a year, 

 and clothe themselves for 305. more. An American, 

 writing from India a month or two ago, said that 

 twenty-five farm coolies cost no more for wages 

 there than one farm hand does in the United States ; 

 in addition to which the Indian boards and lodges 

 himself. The Chinaman has always seemed to ihe 

 Yankee to have reached the lowest possible poiu in 

 cheap living, but this writer says that, as compared 

 with the Hindoo, he cannot get a foothold. The 

 tools used iire of the cheapest and most primitive 

 character. ^Vhat passes for a plough is a rough wooden 

 implement which simply tears up the ground. It 

 costs Is. 8rf-, and is drawn by a pair of bullocks, 

 the average cost of which is 32s. the two. The only 

 other implement used is a cold-crusher, and this is 

 merely an ordinary log of wood which is dragged by 

 the bullccks sideways across the field. One of the 

 most serious items in the cost of cultivation is watering 

 the soil. This has to be done three times during the 

 growth of a crop, and costs altogether about lO*. 

 an acre. This is an item of cost which, with improved 

 irrigation arrangements may be reduced. The total 

 cost of cultivating an acre of wheat in the Punjab 

 has been stated to be as follows: — 



£ s. d. 



Bent, per acre 14 6 



Cartage of manure 4 10 



150 1b. of seed 6 8| 



Ploughing twenty times 3 I5 



Sowing by hand ... ... ... 7^ 



Watering three times .1. 10 



Reaping and carrying 2 6 



Threshing 1 5i 



Winnowing .•• 3§ 



Total 



1 lU- 



October and the other in April. The North- West 

 Province and Oude are the chief wheat-producing 

 districts. They comprise an area of more than one 

 hundred thousand square miles of excellent soil. 

 Last j'ear the total area devoted to growing wheat 

 in the whole of India was 27,820,223 acres, which 

 produced close upon 300,000,000 bushels. It has been 

 contended in some quarters that as India has with 

 full crops only been able to export about one-si.xth 

 or one-seventh of her production, she is not likely 

 to glut the markets of the world to any serious 

 extent. The fact, however, seems to be overlooked 

 that India is only just developing facilities for getting 

 its wheat away from some of the most productive 

 districts. More wheat has not been exported simply 

 because it could not be got to ports of shipment at a 

 reansonable cost. In good years enormous quantities 

 have been left to rot on the ground because there 

 were not means of exportation. But once open up a 

 market for the grain, and make it possible to reach 

 it easily, and there is scarcely any limit to the 

 quantity that can be produced. — Britisli Trade Journal. 



On good irrigated land the crops average about 17 

 bus-he's psr acre. On ord'.nary dry land 10 bushels 

 is tUe average. Two crops are got in sv year-^one in 



COCA CULTIVATION IN THE DUTCH 



INDIES. 



The director of the National Botanic Gardens at 

 Buitenzorg, near Batavia, in his report for 1885, states 

 that in the gardens under his control extensive ex- 

 periments have been made in the cultivation of coca. 

 These attempts have invariably been attended with 

 success: every seed sown has germinated, and the 

 plants flourished with a minimum of care. Many 

 inquiries for coca seed arrived from planters in all 

 parts of the Dutch colonies, and they were in every 

 instance responded to. But strange to say, though 

 sound seed was supplied to every applicant, in most 

 instances the attempts on the part of the latter to 

 raise the coca plants were unsuccessful. The director 

 gives particulars of eighteen attempts at cultivation, 

 of which only five succeeded. The coca plantations 

 which promise well are situated in the residences of 

 Soekaboemi, Tjitjalengka, Malang, and Tjiandjoer. 

 The report attributes most of the instances of failure 

 in raising coca to the unsuitable or neglectful treat- 

 ment of the seed by the applicants ; but the director 

 is of opinion that with ordinary attention the shrub 

 may be successfully raised in different parts of Java. 

 Dui'ing the prevalence of the east monsoon the young 

 plants suffer considerably from drought, and should 

 be watered daily, and the soil around them covered 

 with mould. The seed decomposes easily, and the 

 application of moisture should therefore be a moderate 

 one. The seeds generally germinate after forty or 

 fifty days, They should then immediately be exposed 

 to the light in order to prevent excessive elongation, 

 which is generally followed by decay. Kats and 

 insects are dangerous enemies to the seeds, «;specially 

 before the proper development of the cotyledons. 

 During protracted drought coca plants do, perhaps, 

 require some shade, but this should be a light ouu 

 in any case. In the Buitenzorg Botanic Gardens 

 1,116 coca plants were put in the ground last October 

 between growing rows of Eucalyptus pilidari^, — Chemist 

 and DnKjcjist. 



*- • 



TOBACCO, 



The following extracts are taken from a pampJiiet 

 ■written by Sir William Robinson, k. c. Jt. o., tho 

 Governor of Trinidad, 



Cultivation. — For general information and guidance 

 I would state from my own experience the following 

 facts: — 



1. Any ground intended for the growth of Tobacco 

 should be cleared of bush by the end of July at 

 latest. The bush should be cut as low as possible, 

 and the stumps extracted if practicable. 



3. Seed should be sown in the middle of the month 

 of August and not all the year round as is probably 

 now the case, 



