83:2 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [June t, 1887. 



Cacao ix Brazil. — A correspondent of the Journal 

 at Ceara states that the cultivation of cacao is 

 attracting considerable attention in that province, 

 particularly in the Baturitu district. — lUo A c«-.s. 



Tjoa Pj;UCkixg J';XTiiAoi;j>iXAKY. — From a 

 medium elevation a planter reports that two of 

 his coolies brought in 150 lb. of Rreen leaf i)lucked 

 between G-30 a.m. and '6 p.m. The Hush was an 

 eight-day one on Jatinga-Manipura, indigenous tea, 

 about three years old. Has this been beaten ? 



MonTdAUE Secukities. — Fiiblic Opinion has pub- 

 lished the first of a series of monthly tables, show- 

 ing the capital employed in landed securities in 

 Trinidad, as also the fluctuations of the rate of 

 interest as determined by a monthly average. The 

 transactions in February, 1887, fairly indicate the 

 ruling rates in the open market, as distinct from 

 the Bank rate of (i per cent. In the column of 5 per 

 cent, the figures represent one single transaction 

 between a cocoa firm there and suppliers in England; 

 while in the column of 7 per cent, two large loans 

 of *20,000 and #12,000 respectively make up the 

 figure $;52,00O. Eliminating these exceptions, the 

 ruling rates in the open market are 8 and 10 per 

 cent., interest at 10 per cent, being readily paid on 

 sums not exceeding oOO/., and at 8 per cent, on loans 

 in excess of that amount. 



The Value of Sugar Estate3 in Bardados. — Here 

 is a chance for English investors. Amongst recent 

 appraiiements in Barbados has been the Kedland 

 estate, containing 204 acres of land well situated 

 in the viilley of St George, which has been valued 

 at 10,fl.-)8/., and a correspondent of the local Globe 

 .suggests that it would afford a good opportunity 

 for tlie organisation of a company to purchase the 

 proijerly and erect a factory thereon, as there is 

 a surounding acreage which would yield about 1,000 

 tons of sugar, the canes being sent to Eedland to 

 be manufactured. Another authority thinks the 

 experiment would be on too small a scale to pay 

 the expense of erecting the necessary machinery ; 

 unless, of course, there was a prospect of other 

 landowners being induced to send their canes to 

 the factory to be made into sugar. The proposal, 

 which is said to come from a practical planter, 

 is, however, another indication that the 

 idea is gaining ground amongst the planting body 

 tliat improved systems of manufacture are indis- 

 pensable if the Colony is to hold her own in the 

 present struggle with competition, — Colonics cO India, 



Decline of Farminu Profits in Britain. — Mr. 

 Goschen in his Budget speech stated : — 



The assessment of lands under Schedule A Avas 

 £69,000,000 in 1877 and £63,01)0,000 iu 188(5. That was 

 on lands alone. The assessment under Schedule B 

 which relates to farming profits, was per penny £74,000 

 iu 1870, £.51,000 in 1886, and only £47,000 iu 18*87, being 

 a fall of 36 per cent iu ten years. This is a notable cir- 

 cumstauce, aud one which should be taken into the con- 

 sideration of the Committee. (Hear, hear.) It is per- 

 haps what I may call the distributing classes whose in- 

 comes are below £1,000 who have suffered least from 

 the general depression. The commercial depressiou has 

 .struck at the top ; it has struck the great maimfacturers; 

 it has also affected the wage-earning classes to a 

 certain extent though they have been largely indemni- 

 fied by the fall of prices; it has struck at the agri- 

 cultural classes and the farmers ; but the middleman 

 has not suffered to the same extent. (Hear* hear.) 



Tea : Indian and Ceyi.on. — There was good 

 competition for the small quantity of Indian tea brought 

 forward on Thursday, and slightly advanced rates (vere 

 in most instances paid. As the available stocks of the 

 past season's crop, held by importers, are now becom- 

 ing comparatively small, the market for the next few 

 mouths will probably be more moderately supplied, 

 as is usually the case at this period ; the advance in the 

 v»ltte of the better grades from the loweat poiut, which 



was touched towards the close of last January, is in some 

 cases considerable, but it seems probable from the 

 gradual contraction of their supply, that these kinds 

 will remain firm, at any rate until the new teas are iu 

 the market. The tendency of values of the commoiif^r, 

 sorts is also towards greater firmness, but if the pro- 

 portion of the supply of these grades continues on the 

 same large scale as hitherto, any actual advance iu their 

 value does not appear prob.ible. The future course of 

 values, however, nmst depend on the demand, and if 

 the consumption coutinues on the present satisfactory 

 scale, prices are less likely to prove more favourable to 

 buyers. — /'ro'h/.ce Mufkvt J'evicir, April 16th. 



TitK OnsTACLE TO AdUicuLTURE. — It is oftcn said 

 that the real obstacle to agricultural improvement in 

 India is the obstinate conservatism of the agriculturists. 

 The lliiulii Patriot iu an article upon the last Report 

 of the Agricultural Department of these Provinces 

 laudably endeavours ta strengthen this feeling. It 

 says: — ""We have over aud over again shewn in these 

 columns that many of the experiments conducted in 

 the model farm relate to matters which can have 

 no rsal bearing, direct or indirect, on agricultural im- 

 provements, and can certainly couvey no lesson to the 

 agricultural community. It cannot be too carefully 

 borne iu mind that the ordinary ryot cannot be ex- 

 pected to practise the transcendental agriculture of our 

 model farms. We used to hear much of the famous 

 plough invented by the North-West Department in the 

 time of Mr. Buck ; but we are now told that ' the 

 initial obstacle to improved ploughs in many places is 

 that the starveling btdlocks arc unequal to the slightly 

 increased draught.' Did not Mr. Buck assure us that 

 the improved plough patronised by him was admirably 

 suited to the weak cattle of the country? Prom what 

 we have said above it is clear that although the 

 Xorth-West Agricultural Department costs K7t',000 a 

 year, it has nothing to shew in return for this expendi- 

 ture." — Pioneer, May 5th. 



" The Tea-Planter's Manual."— By T. C. Owen. 

 (Colombo: A. M. & J. Ferguson.) — Tea-planting is yet 

 in its infancy iu Ceylon, and this little book is pro- 

 bably the first treatise that has been written on the 

 subject with special reference to that colony. Mr. 

 Oweu, although a practical planter himself, does not 

 profess to speak only from his own experience — and, 

 indeed, it may almost be said that there is as yet no 

 man in Ceylon whose personal experience of tea-plant- 

 ing there would invest a work on the subject with any 

 very commanding authority. But the author expressly 

 premises iu his preface that his manual is rather a 

 compilation of the opinions of others, and the results 

 they have arrived at. It is this which gives the book 

 its special value as a practical treatise for practical men 

 in Ceylon, and even perhaps in the older tea districts 

 of India, for, indeed, it is a valuable contribution to the 

 library of tea. Mr. Owen has made his selections from 

 the recorded experiences aud deductions of others with 

 great judgment, and addressing as he does, practical 

 planters, who will not be likely to quarrel with a degree 

 of detail, perhaps not always necessary, he has pre- 

 ferred rather to risk erring on the side of prolixity 

 than to sacrifice any of the original authority of the 

 opinions he quotes by condensation. He supplements 

 these opiuions, however, by valuable comments derived 

 from his own experience and that of other Ceylon plant- 

 ers. The book also contains plans and specifications 

 of buildings required on a tea garden, which will, no 

 doubt, have their value to the practical planter; al- 

 though the erection of such buildings is far too im- 

 portant a matter to be materially intiueuced by hard 

 and fast generalities. To the general reader, however, 

 by far the most interesting portion of the book 

 will undoubtedly be the " Introduction," which is 

 devoted mainly to a narrative of the growth of the in- 

 dustry in Ceylon, and a wonderful story it is. Ceylon 

 therefore, promises to become a serious competitor with 

 India and China ; but there is room for all, and cheap 

 tea undoubtedly means increased consumption. There 

 are better days in store, then, for a colony which has 

 suffered so much through the decay of colfec piautiug. 

 '—Ulo-igow lierald, April lltU. 



