August i, 1882.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



'57 



have been made for many years to get this most important 

 matter attended to, forwarding them the printed correspond- 

 ence on the subject and assuring them of our willingness 

 to join them in any well concerted proposiil. 



Leaf -Disease. — Kead communication from the Eevemic 

 Department, Government of Madias. Reporting that in 

 consequence of the appearance of leaf-disease in the Island 

 of Reunion the French Governor had prohibited the import- 

 ation of coffee plants and berries from India. — Recorded. 



Cinchona Growing fn Bolivia. — The follow ing is an 

 e.Klract from a Bolivian othciars report, and weprcseutit to 

 our leaders as a sort of puzzle. All that we can make 

 of it is tliat the eullivation of cinchona is sp^nadirig in 

 Bolivia, a fact of which Mr. T. Christy has already made 

 us aware :- "The plantations of quma are daily in- 

 creasing very considerably throughout the Eastern 

 Andis. The plantations established areas follows : — 

 in Vungas 200,000, Songo 70,000, Maipiri 3,500,000, 

 Guauay 32,000, Camato 30,000, Canpolieau 10,000, 

 makmg in all 3,842,000 trees, which oiay, perhaps, 

 be further increased [o 4,000,000, if the plantatiouB 

 of Challana were included in the estimate. Under 

 the supposition that each tree will afford from six to 

 eight tons (sic) of cascarilla, there would result for 

 the planter a clear annual profit of from one to two 

 bolivianos {about 33 sterling) for each phint, so that 

 4,000,000 trees at 5 bolivianos each represent a 

 capital of 20,000,000 bolivianos. These trees, which at 

 present ure only from 5 to 10 years old, will arrive 

 at their full state of development in from 10 to 1.5 years 

 more, and will then represent a capital of 80,000,00 

 bolivianos, presuming the price of the bark to be 1(jO 

 bolivianos per quintal (lOOtha.)" — Planters' Oazettp, 



The Kio Chamber of Commerce is evidently 

 a practical and important body. We read in the Riu 

 News: — The " Ueiitro da Lavoura e Commercio " of this 

 city has called meetings for today and the 17th for the 

 discussion of the various questions relating to the 

 development of agriculture and commerce. According 

 to the Ci'uzi^iro tlie subjects to be considered will be : — 

 1, reduction of export duties ; 2, commercial treaties 

 in the interests of agriculture ; 3, revision of the 

 mortgage laws to facilitate liquidation and augment 

 real estate credit ; 4, practical means for promoting 

 immigration ; 5, the pledging of agricultural products 

 and valuables; 6, agricultural premiums and Ihe in- 

 troduction of products ; 7, moditicatiou of railway 

 tariffs. There is need, of course, of many vital re- 

 forms in the mortgage laws, but these should be 

 undertiikeu in the interests of creditors, rather than 

 for secuiiug greater borrowing facilities. Just now 

 there is a very dangerous craze over this question of 

 agricultural credits. With the enormous burden of 

 indebtedness now weighing upon the argic-ultural 

 estates of this country, it is nothing less than mad- 

 ness to legislate further facilities into the planter's 

 hands for increasing his indebtedness. What Brazil 

 needs is more manual labor — not more debts, lu the 

 matter of immigration, there is food enough for a 

 great many discussione. It is a question which in- 

 volves, directly or indirectly, a relorm lu almoet every 

 class of laws in the country. It involves putting 

 the emigrant to Brazil on a par with those going to 

 Ihe United States, to Canada, and to Australia, in 

 the matter of religion, of education, of citizenship, of 

 aoquiring, holding and devising property, of Associ- 

 ation, ami of the many other things which tend to an 

 emigrant's social ami material well being. It's too 

 broad a question for an hour's talk; the "l.'cntro" 

 sh' uld begin it, and then follow it to the end — if it 

 takes all tummer. And so too with the question of 

 railway taritls — which might also include that of state 

 administration. As a rule, the tariffs in tliis country 

 are much too high, and they can well be reduced iu 

 the iuteresLs of all parlies concerned. 



NEW 



PRODUCTS : INDIARUBBER 

 CULTIVATION. 



Attention may be directed to the vei-y encouraging 

 remarks in the last letter of our London Commercial 

 Correspondent in respect of rubber culture, and these 

 remarks as well as the letters of Mr. Christy and "Nemo 

 Nomad " reach us as we receive veiy satisfactory 

 reports of the growth of the tree in several Ceylon 

 districts. The almost unprecedented windstonns which 

 have swept over parts of the hill-couutry lately have 

 affected some of the trees, snapping off the tops ; 

 but this is exceptional, and, so far as experience has 

 been gained, there can be no doubt of rubber becoming 

 a very successful and profitable cultivation m Ceylon. 

 We have ah'eady reported how small balls of rubber, 

 gathered from the Ficus elastka here, were valued in 

 Loudon at from 2s 8d to 3s 4d per lb. Dr. Trimen has 

 taken home aboiit a pound weight of the nibber got from 

 tapping the trees in the Peiadeniya Gardens, and the 

 report upon this produce will be looked for with in- 

 terest. Meantime, experiments in making excisions 

 in the bark of rubber trees nine months old and 

 upwards are being made evei'y week, and so far 

 with success. A trained eooly can go over 3,000 or 

 4,000 trees a day, and another on the following day 

 can almost as quickly collect the coagulated strips 

 the rubber oozing out and running down the side of 

 the tree without being lost or injured. The splendid 

 tree on 8einbawatte estate referred to in our "Rubber " 

 pamphlet was photographed by Mr. Scowen of Kandy in 

 July 1881 when the tree was 13 months old, and it makes 

 a vei-y pretty picture (for a copy of which we are in- 

 debted to Mr. C. Ross Wright). We do not- suppose 

 tliat this tree has been exceptionally treated, and 

 therefore its rapid gi'owth (over 24 feet high by 3 feet 

 in circumference) in two years is only a sample of 

 what the culture ought to be under average cir- 

 cumstances in Ceylon. On WariapoUa, Matale, the 

 progi'css of the trees is most satisfactory. There can be 

 no doubt that capital could be profitably devoted to the 

 cultivation of rubber trees on a laige scale in Ceylon. 

 The product is in great demand ; supplies are not 

 sufficient, and the price at home is steadily on the rise. 

 In connection w"ith our enterprise iu " New Products " 

 generally, the thanks of Ceylon planters are due to 

 Mr. A. L. Hutcliison for his timely letter to the London 

 Times. 



MR. T. CHRISTY OF LONDON ON INDIA- 

 RUBBERS. 



London, 1 1th June 1382. 



SiK, — I see that a question is asked on page 450 

 of your weekly edition of the Ceylon Observer as to 

 the best manner of getting the iudiarubbtr out of 

 the different rubbers of the " Landolphia ' ."ppcies, and 

 also enquiring when it is likely to come to maturity. 



I have studied the iiabits of the " Landoljhias" 

 •faom the west coast of Africa for about three y ars, 

 and have taken every information I could gither 

 respecting them, and, after considerable difficulty, ob- 

 ta'ntd one plant of " Landolphia Kirkii " from Kew. 

 This last plant has made iis growth, and I can see 

 that its habit is very similar to " Landolphia dorida." 



Because the Indians obtained the rubber by tap- 

 ping the trees, that is to say, by cutting holes iu 



