May I, 1S83.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



867 



New Papermaking Material. — A new bi-ancli of 

 industry has sprung np iu Sweden lately— thi" fabric- 

 ation of paper from moss — notfrom the liviug plant, but 

 from the blcaclied remains of mosses that lived cent- 

 uries ago, and of which enormous masses have accu- 

 mulated in most part of the country. A manufactory 

 of paper from this material has begun operations in 

 Joenkaeping, and is turning ont paper in all degrees 

 of excellence, from tissue paper to sheets three-quarters 

 of an inch in thickness. These latter are said to be 

 harder than vfooA.— Druggist and Chemist. 



Large Cinchona Tuees ; the Weeding Discussion. 

 — A Dimbul.T planter writes ;—" I have just returned 

 from Madulsima, where I saw on Ury estate perhaps the 

 largest cinchona tree in the island, five feet in cir- 

 cumference and estimated height between fifty and 

 ei.xty feet. This is not bad for eleven and a-hulf 

 years old? Some of the finest coffee and cinchona I 

 have ever seen is to be met with in a walk over this 

 property, and a night with its owner the genia 

 patriarch is interesting ! Don't you think we have 

 bad enough of Mr. Halliley ? Would he have us 

 believe that Nanuoya estate under his system would 

 have been giving equal crops to those of its earlier 

 years ? The Messrs. Hadden weeded their estates from 

 the very beginning, over foity years ago, and their 

 crops until recently ran from 8 to 12 and 14 owt. 

 every year. Their being still weeded is surely not 

 the cause of the falling oflf in crops, as I presume 

 they are suffering like their neighbours. But why 

 does your correspondent not practice what he preaches." 

 Another gentleman writes : — "All good coffee on 

 the Madulsima side looked well for coming blossom 

 and the finest cinchona trees I have seen are on 

 Ury estate — Mr. Geo. Morice. One magnificent tree 

 meanurcd CO inches round the stem at Ihe surfacn ot 

 the ground ! There are numbers of great growth : 

 all, including the one measured, eleven to twelve 

 years old." 



Last Year's Indian Tea Crop. — The Indian Tea 

 Association in their circular point out that tiie actual 

 tea crop of last year has been in excess of the estimate. 

 Actual results of the year's work have been received by 

 the Association from gardens in all parts of India, 

 with the e.tception of a few gardens in Dehra Dnn, 

 Kumaun, and Kangra. Forming an estimate for such 

 gardens, it is found that the actual crop for 1882 is as 

 follows : — 



Assam 



Cachar and Sylhet 

 Darjeeling and Dears 

 Chittagong and Chota Nagpore 

 Other districts 



lb. 



28,478,4110 



16,80(1,7.54 



9,088.796 



1,404,801 



2,121,000 



Total ... 57,899.7.51 



The Association estimate that li million pounds of the 

 total may be put down for the local consumption of 

 the country, including the requirements f'f Government. 

 The shqiments to Australia and America amounted to 

 3,301,841 lb., or more than IJ million pounds over and 

 above what had betn anticipated as likely to be ex- 

 ported to those ma'kets The Continent of Europe and 

 other parts of the world, exclusive of the United 

 KinKdoni, Australia and America, took .3(j8,T:!8 lb. of 

 Indian tea, and thee had been sh'pp d to the United 

 Kini'dnm up to the end of hist February ard since the 

 Ist May las; year .'>1,675,4SS lb. Thus of the total 

 crop of the year there remained in hand on the l.st March 

 1,65.^,683 lb. The Imk of this is likely to go to the 

 United Kini,'dom, ns it is thou^iht that both Au tialia 

 and America have been fully ^upplied for some months 

 to come. As ihe growth of the tea industry m I'eylon 

 is of sc me interest, we may mention tliat the shipments 

 thence to England for the year under review are es- 

 timated at 600,0001b.— P»o;j(er. 



An ex-Ceylon Planter Selecting Farming Land 

 IN Cape Colony. — There are still many in Ceylon 

 who will remember Mr. Hu^h Bisset, when he was 

 manager of Imhulpitiya estate, Nawalapitiya, and 

 afterwards as piopriutor of the model plantation of Hal- 

 golla, Kotmalie. ."^ome years have elap.sed since Mr. 

 Bisset sold Itie latter to Mr. Klphinstone for i:i0,0U0 

 and returned home to farm in the Mearns. 

 Notwitlistanding many advantages, however, farm- 

 ing was not found profitable, and Mr. Bisset, enter- 

 prizing and energetic as ever, has been prospecting 

 to some pnrpose iu South Africa, according to the 

 following extract from a Dundee paptr : — 



The (Jape Stundari! of January 13th reports a meeting 

 of the Queeustown (South Africa; Farmers' Association, 

 where the conditions under which immigration should 

 be encouraged were discussed. The meeting seemed of 

 opinion that lauds should be exclusively allotted by an 

 ageut in the colony, who would prefer colonists to new- 

 comers, that allottees should cultivate and reside on the 

 farm, and that only land well watered and ntar a market 

 should bo allotted. Sugge.stively enough, no remark is 

 made on the practice of treating the money derived from 

 s.ales of land as revenue — a vice the.se colonies will one 

 day suffer for. The secretary said — " The Government 

 permit the agent in Engi.and, who iu all probability knows 

 nothing about South Africa, to distriljute laud which he 

 has never seeu. A case iu point happeued lately in this 

 district. Mr. Hugh Bisset, who will, I liolieve, be a great 

 acquisition to our district, had an interview with Mr. 

 "Walker, the ageut in Loudon, before coming out, and 

 Mr. AValker gave him a paper binding the Government 

 here to give him the choice of 500 acres of laud on any 

 of the many different farms. Than tlie Bridge Farm, 

 with the laud adjoining Umsheswe, no better place could 

 be found for locating immigrants in the whole district. 

 The farm is in extent about 6,000 acres, and at the 

 head of it is a .strong fount of water. Bordering this 

 farm is St. Mark's, which gives promise of being in a 

 few years a fine market town. It was impossible tq have 

 a fiuer field for immigrants than the Bridge Farm, and 

 Mr. Bisset, being endowed with a good share of common- 

 sense, chose all the arable laud on oue side of the stream, 

 and thus takes all the water and all the land of value 

 contained in 6,000 acres. What does the Government get 

 in return ? The grant is under the old Immigration Act, 

 which gives the colony £25 a year for ten years, at the 

 end of which time the laud becomes freehold. The only 

 obligations of the settler are to pay £250 ten years, to 

 build a house value for £20, and to cultivate 30 acres. 

 "\Ye have no right to blame any man for acce^jting land 

 under such couditions, but we have a right to blame Go- 

 vernment. Mr. Bisset, having the choice, and finding 

 500 acres of .arable laud in one block, naturally chose 

 that block, aud so was able to commaud 5,000 acres of 

 commonage.'' The Chairman said — " It is well known that 

 the Kei Bridge Farm is a most valuable one. I believe 

 there are dozens of colonists who would willingly have 

 given a rental of £I.>0 to £200 for it, aud now it is des- 

 troyed by Mr. Bisset having been allowed to appropriate 

 the cream of it." It was the system, it was stated, that 

 was to be condemned, aud tlicy did not at all blame 

 Mr, Bisset. The >S(a//d(ird, iu a leading article, accentu- 

 ates these jjoints, and the general policy seems open to 

 some stricture. If, however, the colony is to attract 

 settlers of the varied experience of our neighbour. I\lr. 

 Hugh Bisset, Pittarrow, Laurencekirk (the gentleman re- 

 ferred to), a generous confidence mu.st be shown which 

 will find its justification in the full and ra]ii<l develop- 

 ment of the capabilities of the allotment. In Mr. Bis- 

 set's hands, aided by the industry of his large family, 

 that may be confidently auticipated, and the resultant 

 benefits to the colony will accrue the sooner that the ad- 

 advautages accorded to induce him to prefer tlie Capo 

 seem to have been of a liberal cb.iractcr. His neigh- 

 bours iu Scotland will wish Mr. Bisset every success, aud 

 many of them, were they free from the thraldom 

 of nineteen years" leases, would be glad to adopt a 

 similar course. 



