August i, 18S2.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



127 



gether tliere can be no doubt that a year hencB the 

 wealth of the colony in cinchona will be much in- 

 creased. This result will be greatly helped by the at 

 tention paid to the selection of the more valuable kinds 

 — whether in Ledgeriana or the less-approved species. 

 Some trees of the " hybrid" {C. robusta, which is 

 so vigorous in orowth) have already produced a bark 

 giving nearly 10 per cent of sulphate of quinine. It 

 At the same time, it is evident that our planters 

 have been remiss in not experimenting for them- 

 selves as to the requirements of their soils and so 

 supporting the treea against the attacks of I he fun- 

 gus. There are individual plantations in the country, 

 in this year of pre-eminently short crops, which 

 are doing exceedingly well, but which ought to be 

 no l)etter than their neighbours, if the ordinary view 

 of leaf disease was the correct one. How, for instance, 

 is the case of Yoxford estate, Dimbula, to be ex- 

 plained ? In most other instances where a good crop 

 is spoken of, the answer in : — " Oh, what did that 

 place do last year or the year before ? Nothing at 

 all. It is now getting a fillip as it was bound to do 

 after successive bad crops." But Yoxford, we are 

 glad to say, gave a good crop last year, a satis- 

 factory one the year before, and now we have 

 what is, for these times, a big crop upon a big 

 crop. A great deal of the area planted is four- 

 teen years old : the elevation, soil and lay of 

 laud are no doubt well suited for coffee ; but there 

 are probably many hundreds, if not thousands, of 

 acres which show similar natural advantages, and 

 yet do not bear crop in the same way. The reason 

 for the diflference here and in one or two other 

 instances which have come under our notice, is well 

 worthy of enquiry. The proprietor of Yoxford is 

 surely justified in attributing his success to the care- 

 ful experiments he has carried out to discover the 

 fertilizing substaneea best suited to his plantation. 

 Mr. Bosanquet was, in England, a pupil of Mr. 

 Lawes, and his action has been often the well- 

 known example of Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert and 

 also of M. Ville, He has, for instance, experi- 

 mentally proved beyond all dispute, as we con- 

 eider, that nitrogenous manure (and since this 

 characterizes three-fourths of the manures applied 

 to plantations hitherto, must cease) is worse than 

 thrown away on the higher portion of Yoxford. 

 Instead of blossoms and berries, an excess of wood 

 is the result, and Mr. Bosauquet has quite settled 

 that castor cake or other nitrogenous manure is not 

 required, at least for the upper portion of his property. 

 A few experiments probably not costing more than 

 £50 ought to determine after a more satisfactory man- 

 ner than the best analysis of soil, what the planter 

 should apply to his different fields. Bu' so far, 

 ystematic attempts, after the fashion adopted on Yox- 

 ford, have been few and fa'r between. To this 

 complexion howevcrit must come, and the sooner 

 systematic ecicntilic cultivation is carried out on all 

 plantations fairly suitable for cofl'ee, the better. Mean- 

 time, in this year of doubt and depression — when 

 coffee is spoken of by one and another as doomed — 

 we are justified in asking how the good crop on 

 Yoxford or on Balmoral is to be accounted for. The 



latter is usually referred to as an exceptionally fine 

 piece of laud ; but it cannot be said that Yoxford 

 is specially favoured beyond other places along the side 

 of Great Western, from Medacumbra up to Galknnde- 

 wattie. Let critical Visiting Agents explain the 

 diff-rence before they begm to cry down the coffee 

 enterprize. 



In Liberian coffee, cocoa, cardamoms and India- 

 rubber, the prospects are good and the extension of 

 cultivation is steadily going on. In connection with 

 the last-named we have just published a manual (on 

 ' India-rubber and Gutta Percha") after the pattern 

 of those issued from our office on cardamoms, cin- 

 chona, Liberian coffee, &o., from which we trust in- 

 tending planters will derive much useful information. 



NEW INDUSTRIES : DYES. 



VVe take the following extract from Mr. O'Oonor's 

 very interesting report on the foreign trade of India for 

 1880-81 :— 



" Auiline dyes, cochineal, and saffron are the three 

 principal items under this head (Dyeing and Colouring 

 Materials), the importation of auiline dyes increasing 

 from year to year in a way which causes apprehension 

 to those who are intei'ested in the continued use of the 

 Indian vegetable dyes, superior as these are to the 

 aniline colours, both in richness and variety of tint and 

 permanence. Aniline dyes are cheap and easily worked, 

 and it seems likely that their use will extend to the 

 detriment of Indian dyes. The imporls in 1878-79 

 amounted to 1,145,208 ounces, in 1879-80 to 2,507,794 

 ounces and last year to 3,555,310 ounces. They are 

 apparently not only affecting the foreign markets for 

 Indian dyes, but threatening to superseile the latter in 

 India itself. The art of dyeing in India, though prob- 

 ably the oldest industry in the country, may be said to 

 be in its infancy as regards the p.'ocess employed. It is 

 carried on by the people in the smallest way with the 

 roughest apparatus, and by the most tedious processes, 

 without the aid either of capital or machinery, and 

 unless the business is taken up by European or native 

 capitalists, and conducted on a large scale, with the 

 aid of the latest developments known to European 

 skill, it is quite probable that it will not long compete 

 with the che iper, quicker, and easier processes used for 

 dyeing with aniline colours. Both in an artistic and in 

 a commercial point of view this result will be very 

 regretable, and it is to be hoped that the prospect of 

 gain may induce capital to take the business up. It is 

 one in which handsome profits may be certainly looked 

 for." 



We have quoted this passage, in the first place, in 

 order to bring a very important matter to the notice of 

 euterprizing capitalists ; and. in the next place, for the 

 information of those who, with the Uindoo Patriot, 

 contend that the import duties had no protective 

 tendency. The foreign aniline dyes used to pay an 

 import duty of 5 per cent , and, though it was not 

 sufficiently protective lo enable the native dyes to hold 

 their own, stUl it is evident that it must have been 

 protective in a degree, and it is probable that its 

 removal will very considerably hapten the consum- 

 mation predicted by Mr. O'Conor. if capital continue 

 to neglect this decaying industry — Friend of India. 



HILL GARDENING AND CINCHONA IN 



WESTERN INDIA. 



MAiiABLESHwrK, May 5th. — There are at present 

 three or four Chinese living at the station, one of whom 

 owns a large gardeu near the lake. The English 

 gentlemen, who founded this sanitarium, took a great 



