m 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[May 2, 1887. 



bad the effect of sending large quantities of Indian 

 Tea into consumption tir mixing purposes. 



General depression lias forced the retailer to reduce 

 his prices. Is 6d atid 2s are now the every day duty 

 paid prices for tea ; a curtailed profit has made the 

 grocer a keen buyer and as some tea had to suffer the 

 weak China became the butt. What does it profit a 

 retail dealer to select teas with no point or character 

 so long as it is Jd cheaper •' it is mixed off and its 

 little character lost in a malty Indian blend, without 

 undervaluing the responsibility of buyers in China the 

 future seems simple enough. 



For thin and weak teas such as this season £45 to 

 £80 per ton i.e. 4ad to 8|d per lb. would we thiuk be a 

 full range. But we cannot believe that Cathay is 

 p ajed out as a tea producing country we look with 

 some hope to receiving fine teas again from Hankow 

 and Foochow. 



If the China tea is to compete with the Indian and 

 Ceylon, the teas must be strong, and full ripe Pekoe 

 Souchong flavour with a cup that will give a rich cin- 

 namon brown when milk has been added, the tea, 

 taster using a little more of his mother wit, and a 

 little less of his scientific knowledge. Still it must be 

 borne in mind that the quantity of fincat tea sold in 

 this country is now comparatively small, Kaisows we 

 would suggest should be tested on the basis of Ceylon 

 teas, those ranging from say 9d to Is 2d ; curio leaf teas 

 we except as being a fancy article 



Finest Ningchows. Russians may pay rates far 

 beyond safety for England for these. Ordinary finest 

 chops if well made, free from dust, strong and full 

 flavoured, would we think be a fair risk from Is Id at 

 Is 3d. 



Finest Oonfaas. If quality is good and the leaf un- 

 mixed and well made Is 2d at Is 3d, if only fine teas 

 and no finest come down of this class lOd to Is 



Finest Yung-Low-Tong-Ohun sou-kai, Sun-Yongs 

 and Oopacks generally if choice Is to Is Id. Second 

 chops 8d to lOd Nip-ka-Szee, and Ho-How 9d at lid 

 second chops 7d to Sd, Thuntams 6d to 7d if well made 

 and good quality. Prices for eecond crops will be ruled 

 by the total supplj' of the first crop. 



These ideas are based on a probable supply from all 

 sources, China, India, Ceylon and Java, of say 230 mil- 

 lions and with a strong useful crop of tea to handle. 

 (Sigmdj 2s. McNAIR & CO. 



COCONUT NOTES: feEED NUTS. 



{Cnmrnunieated.) 



In view of the great variety of habit and bear- 

 ing power in diflerent coconut trees, it is the 

 business of the planter to use great precaution 

 in the selection of seed-nuts. The usual practice 

 hitherto has been to take nuts for nurseries in- 

 discriminately from the heap, or if any choice 

 was made, it was in favour of the largest nuts. 

 By selecting seed-nuts from early and heavy 

 bearing trees, there is no certainty that the same 

 variety will be reproduced, but there is a better 

 chance of getting good varieties from selected 

 trees that show desirable qualities than by the 

 other system. The tree selected for seed-nuts 

 should be strong, full-leaved, and heavy bearin.L; ; 

 nuts of medium size with tliin husks and gieeu 

 colour. Very large nuts are not desirable, he- 

 cause the enclosed nut is generally small in 

 proportion to the bulk of the husk, and any 

 advantage gained in size is more than com- 

 pensated by deficiency in numbers. 



It has been recommended in laying down a 

 coconut nursery to place the nuts on their side, 

 so that the contained water may cover the germ. 

 As to the welfare of the future plant, it is of 

 small con.sequence in what position it is laid, 

 because the first event in germination is the con- 

 version of the water into a light spongy sub- 

 stance that nils tlie whole cavil}', and the up- 

 right position has advantages in the subsequent 

 management of the plant, chief of which are, 



that in planting out, the nut can be put deeper 

 in the soil, and the tender bud may be easier 

 preserved from white ants. 



In some parts of the country the natives do 

 not make nurseries, but heap the nuts in a dark 

 corner till they germinate, the advantage said 

 to be gained is that no roots appear outside the 

 husk till they are planted out. The roots of 

 nursery plants have to be shaved off, and the 

 plant has to supply fresh ones before it can get 

 a hold of the soil. In one place I saw the seed- 

 nuts hung on the branches of a thickly-leaved 

 tree : I have not heard what success has attended 

 the experiment. 



— ♦ ■ 



REMINISCENCES OF A VISIT TO THE 

 PEARL FISHERIES AND THE "BURIED 

 CITIES" AND TANK REGION OF CEYLON. 



TrIE LONGEST DIVE ON RECORD AT THE PEARL BANKS 

 — THE " AKAB " DIVERS — NATIVE AND REGULAR DU-EKS 

 CONTRASTED — OTSTKR-BEDS AND OYSTERS. 



Before resuming my notice of the truly grand 

 Kalawewa {wewa in Sinhalese as kulain in Tamil 

 always = tank), I must acknowledge a most inter- 

 esting communication which has reached me from 

 Capt. Donnan. It is to the following effect, the 

 date being the 18th : — 



" We are now working on the Cheval, having 

 left the Matarakam* on Saturday last, and if the 

 weather keeps fine, of which there is every ap- 

 pearance at present, we shall do much better in 

 the way of revenue than I expected when I re- 

 commended the fishery. I have been ashore only once 

 since you left. You will remember that 'Arab' 

 diver with the nose nipper. Well, I had him along- 

 side this morning and told him to let me see how long 

 he could remain under water and I carefully timed 

 him, one minute and 4i) seconds, which is the 

 longest dive on record on these banks or bed.'^. 

 The other ' Arab,' with air-pump and dress, only 

 worked one day with it, when he only sent up 

 1,500 oysters, and now, without the dress, he is 

 sending up from 2,r)00 to 3,000 oysters per day ; 

 so that the helmet, dress, and air pump are not 

 calculated to succeed at isearl-diving. I fo^nd also 

 in 1884, off Chilaw, with four of Mr. Kyle's divers, 

 that the natives sent up more oysters per day, 

 man tor man, than they did ; a result which very 

 much surprised me at the time, and now it has 

 been confirmed again." 



It will be observed that the so-called " Arab " 

 diver, really a Hindu, from the Bombay Presidencj', 

 remained under water for a period extending to 

 109 seconds, or, within 11 seconds of two 

 minutes. What that means, only those know 

 who have watched for the re-appearance of a 

 linman being who has remained half the time 

 uiiler water. It really seems " an age" to those 

 uho "watch and wait." Not only is 1^ minute 

 the loi'^^est dive on record in the annals of the 

 Ceylon brinks, but I suspect that if sceptical criticism 

 were bruu:4l>t to bear on the stories which allege 

 subaqueous existence by divers for periods up to 

 six minutes, this latest feat would be found to 

 tiikc rank amongst the most remarkable in the 

 anna's of diving where the diver has not been 

 artiliiiaMy supplied with air. No doubt the organs 

 of the Iminan body are capable of bnuig educated, 

 by continued practice to endurance of abnormal 

 conditions and of adaptation to such conditions: 

 to those of extreme heat for instance, if grad- 

 ually applied. I could, therefore, understand a 

 man who commenced a diver's life '-sound in 

 wind and limb," obtaining gradually the power 



* Popularly Modregam 



