THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURISt, [Nov. i, 1^86. 



35^ 



iLXJimU i MOj ij j |r*i— .1^— _ ■ . I . . , ' ■ ■■;!!!!! 



iNsECtiCiDES are always a subject of more than 

 passing interest to cultivators, for they are brought 

 directly face to face with these pests experimentally. 

 A new and very promising one consists of camphor 

 dissolved in methylated spirits to saturation, and mixed 

 with soft soap to the consistence of cream. When 

 diluted so as to be fit for use with a .syringe, this 

 has been found an efficacious substitute for fumigation 

 in the case of mealy bug, scale, red spider, &c. &c., 

 —Planter and Fanner.— [Too expensive on a large 

 scale, we fear. — Ed.] 



Fink Sale of Oeylon Hybrid Cinchona J3ark.— We 

 have lately been favored with an in.spection of an account 

 sales of 6,124 lb. of bark from the Broughton estate, in 

 Haputale, which netted, after paying all charges, £308 

 6s 5d, or about Is a lb. nett. One lot of Hybrid renewed 

 bark analyzed 3'72 per cent, sulphate of quinine, and 

 realized Is 3d. per lb., whilst another lot of renewed 

 Hybrid analyzed as much as 5*73 sulphate of quinine, and 

 fetched Is 8d. per lb. These fine hybrid trees which 

 are planted at an altitude of about 5,000 feet, are 

 rohustas of the most vigorous and robust type, and 

 are naturally highly prized by the proprietor of the 

 Broughton estate, to whom they must be a little 

 gold mine.— Local " Times." 



Ceylon Tea.— The BritishTrade Journal states :— 

 The Ceylon Tea Agency, Thames Street Chambers, E. 

 C, are offering to the public, in packet form, 

 the "Colombo" brand of pure Ceylon tea. These 

 lead packages, of various quantities, are carefully 

 got up for the retail trade, each bearing the 

 trade-mark of the company on a neat wrapper. 

 The tea is selected from the best gardens, and 

 possesses those qualities for which tea is growing 

 in favour in this country. The leaf is free from 

 mineral or other facing matter, clean, well-formed 

 and free from dust, while its flavour and colour 

 are excellent. It should need but little effort to 

 induce the British consumer to patronise so good an 

 article offered at so reasonable a price. 



Qdinine IK .Japan. — Vice-Consul Eussell Robertson 

 writes from Yokohama :— The low prices ruling i:i 

 Europe for quinine have tended greatly to increase 

 the consumption here, and continental manufac- 

 turers, by reason of competition, have been bid- 

 ding for the trade by coming into the market 

 direct themselves to supply the demand. Lead- 

 ing French and German makers have their agents 

 here, and consequently prices that have been ruling 

 during the year have not offered any inducement 

 for resident business importers. The English 

 makers have not been so pushing, and their quinine 

 is now almost unknown in this market. — Chemist 

 and Druggist. 



How Sunflowers are Usefpl.— Th's plant is a vig- 

 orous grower and has been extolled as a preventive 

 of malarial diseases. The seed affords excellent food 

 for hens and also for horses. It is said that there 

 is no kind of feed that will keep horses in health, 

 give them a sleek appearance, and make them lively 

 and spirited like the seed of the sunflower, feeding 

 half a pint night and morning. It is particularly re- 

 commended for giving a horse power of endurance, 

 being fed half a pint night and morning with other 

 feed. The stalks and heads, after theseed is worked out, 

 also make good material for fires, and are especially 

 conveaient in summer when a quick fire is desired 

 and an enduring heat is not wanted. In their growth 

 they make a showy appearance about dwellings and 

 give an agreeable fragrance to the air. The latest 

 direction in the line of utilization of the sunflower 

 is the planting of a seed in a place at the proper 

 distances, so that the stalks as they grow will serve 

 as been poles. We have seen them started in that 

 way this season, and as the stalks grow the leaves 

 are reinovcd, thus forming an excellent stalk for the 

 beans, but what the effect will be upon them re- 

 Jfiains to be seen. The roots must tax the feeding 

 capacity of the sojl quite haa.vily.—Gcrmcintow/t Tth- 

 araph, 



PLANTING IN WYNAAD. 



fFrom Annual Report of Wynaad P. A.) 



We have been ablj' represented on the Coffee Oommit- 

 tee of the Colonial Exhibition byl\lr. H. Pasteur. As you 

 are all aware, he has for many years fought against the 

 legalised adulteration of coffee, and though he has 

 been unable to get Government to interfere in thd 

 matter, I liope that great good will result from his 

 Committee's efforts to expose in a small pamphlet 

 (thousands of which were distributed at the Ex- 

 hibition), the frauds of the retail trade, and 

 also from their sale of pure Indian coffec-i. We 

 are indebted to Mr. Jowitt and his colleagues for 

 an exhaustive report on the causes of colour or want 

 of colour in coffee, which, if the result is not ([uite 

 satisfactory, is from no fault of theirs, but from the 

 difficulties inherent in the nature of the enquiry- How- 

 ever that it has been appreciated by the outside pub- 

 lic is apparent from the numerous requests that I have 

 had for copies. We are now carrying out experiments 

 in barking 0. Ledgeriana, which I hope will prove of 

 general utility, and I only regret that Government 

 has not seen its way to substantiate its avowed 

 ' raison d' etre ' as a cinchona planter by assisting us 

 with free, or at any rate cost price, analyses. I must 

 congratulate you on our improved prospects. During 

 the struggle of the last years I know that I, and I 

 daresay many others among you, have felt that an- 

 other bad year might be my last in the district, 

 and indeed if you only compare a list of our members 

 of 1880 with one of today, you will see how many 

 good friends have had to succumb. But at last we 

 stand in the clear dawn of better times. That it is 

 so as regards coffee, the following facts and 

 figures which Mr. Pasteur has very kiudly sent 

 to me will I think, convince you. During 1885- 

 86, for the first time for many years, the con- 

 sumption of the world has overtaken the production, 

 and stocks in all European ports have fallen 

 nearly 70,000 tons. On the 1st Sept. last they 

 stood at 146,000 tons, against 217,500 tons on the 

 1st Sept. 1885. This is the lowest limit that has 

 been reached since 1881, and in that year prices ranged 

 from OSs to 85s. The immediate future depends on 

 this coming Brazilian crop, which is variously estimated 

 from 380,000 to 300,000 tons. If the latter estimate 

 prove the right one, as is generally expected, stocks 

 must fall another 70,000 tons, and I need hardly point 

 out to you that this could not happen without an 

 extraordinary rise in prices. If coffee was to reach 

 110s or 120s per cwt. again, as in the days of 1875, 

 with the present rate of exchange, we who have tried 

 over the bad times should reap a golden harvest. The 

 prospects of cinchona are also good. The two great 

 scares of these latter days have ended in nought. The 

 story of an artificial preparation of quinine, which was 

 to .reduce the price to 3d per oz., has ended in a 

 ridiculous fiasco, and we have the satisfaction of know- 

 ing that even if they do succeed in preparing quinine 

 synthetically it is sure to be an expensive process. 

 As regards the 175,000 acres scare from Java, ic is 

 pronounced by people who ought to know as a gross 

 exaggeration, I now beg to submit the accounts for 

 the year, and lay my resignation in your hands."— 

 Madras Mail, 



OnoTON-OiL PLANTH.—Wattagama, 2(lth Oct.— The 

 caterpillar which proved so destructive to the croton 

 seems to have disappeared and along with it the fear 

 that the tea would suffer from the same cause, so that 

 it is hardly to be wondered at that, the proposal to root 

 out the croton trees and compensate the growers 

 should have been lost sight of. I do not know 

 whether croton grower.? would look with a more 

 favourable eye on this proposal, than on their trees, 

 now that they are again covered with leaf and 

 showing signs of blossom. An authoritative and 

 regular quotation of the price of crolou seedsj would 



be of advantage in making a deci^pion, 



