September i, 1882.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



251 



3-14 



1-84 

 1-5 



A French chemist reports that water made slightly 

 salt, and to which, when boiling, bran iu the propor- 

 tion of one quart to every gallon has been added, has 

 been found in a series of experiments to increase the 

 yield of milk 25 per cent, if given to the cows as their 

 ordinary drink. — Indian Agrkidturist. 



London Wholesale Price for Indiam Tea. --The 

 following will give an idea of the rates charged by 

 wholesale dealers to the trade iu England for "Indian 

 teas." : — 



Special Selections, May 27th, 1882. 



Hall-chests Assam Orange Pekoe (superb quaUty; full 

 full of golden tip; Matchless liijuor). ... ... 



Chests Assam Pekoe (handsome leaf, little red, filU of 

 tip; extra fragrant; superb quality; great pungency; 

 most attractive tea). ■•■ — 



Chests Assam Pekoe (handsome, tippy leaf; extra 

 strong, powerful liqnor I . .u ,— ,— 



Chests Assam Pekoe Souchong (semi-broken, regular 

 leaf free from dust and small; most intense strength). l-4i 



Chests Assam Broken Pekoe (handsome appearance; 

 tipy ; extra strong, with choice quality). ... ... l-lj 



Chests Assam Broken Pekoe (tippy; rather small; 

 strong; with fine quality;. ... ... 0-7J 



— Tea Gazette, 



Timber. — The strength of many woods ia nearly doubled 

 by the process of seasoning, says the North- Western 

 Lumberman, hence timber used in its green state is 

 not only weak, but is exposed to continual change of 

 bulk, form and stability. Wood will always warp 

 after a fresh surface has been composed, and will change 

 its form by the presence of moisture. The effect of 

 moisture on dry wood is to cause the tubular fibres to 

 swell ; hence if a board be wet upon one side the 

 fibres there will be distended and the board will bend. 

 The natural law that governs the shrinking or con- 

 tracting of timber is most important to practical men, 

 but it is too often overlooked. The amount of the 

 shrinkage of timber in length when seasoning is so 

 inconsiderable that it may iu practice be disregarded, 

 but the shrinkage in transverse directions is much 

 greater, and presents some peculiarities which can only 

 be explained by regarding the structure of the wood as 

 resulting from its mode of growth. — Indian Agriculturist. 



Regarding the Japanese Teas of the present season, 

 the following remarks from the Japan Herald will 

 be interesting to some of our readers ; — We hear that, 

 to-day 16th, two or three musters of the Second Crop 

 Teas have been shown, and that the quality is con. 

 sidered very satisfactory, the leaf being carefully and 

 well manipulated, and favoured by the tine weather 

 which we have so far enjoyed this year ; the cup 

 quality is also excellent. The general character of 

 Japan teas has been this season far above that of 

 the last three or four years, and it may tend to 

 restore them to the great popularity which they 

 once held in the American market. — On the follow- 

 ing day this appeared : We inserted, in our issue of 

 last evening, a paragraph about the Japanese Tea 

 Trade, in which — trusting to the universal dictum 

 of all the chaszes out here — we stated that the gen- 

 eral quality of this year's crop was superior to ' that 

 of the last three or four years.' However universal 

 the opinion of the excellence of this season's crop 

 may be out her.-, — if telegrams may be believed, — a 

 contrary opinion prevails in the Slates. We are in- 

 debted to a friend for a copy of the following mess- 

 age, which was received this morning from New 

 York, which is apt to cast a doubt on the minds 

 of our own tea-tasters as to the accuracy of their 

 judgniPut : — "New crop — quality not appreciated by 

 buyers" — (this sounds like sarcasm on the reports 

 sent from Japan) — "teas ex first steamer selling at 

 Ihirty-eight cents per lb. Your export being excessive, 

 importers are afraid of its effect on this market. 

 Prospects are not encouraging." We commend this 

 telegram to the consideration of the native merchants who 

 are going in for the direct export trade. — N. O. Herald. 



WH.iT Tea to Make.— The brokers say, that 

 pale liquoring under-fermented teas, with greenish in- 

 fusion, are not now in request. What is wanted is 

 a good thick malty liquor, with a bright copper- 

 coloured infused leaf. — Tea Gazette, July 15th. 



Rubber.— The Indigo Planters' Gazette asks:— "Have 

 any of our district friends ever tried to experiment- 

 alize with the Ceara rubber tree ? It is said to yield 

 a quick and decent profit. It seemingly is likely 

 to thrive in Tirhoot, for we saw a plant iu a factory 

 compound the other day over twelve feet high, 

 planted about eighteen months ago, in very poor soil. 

 Seeds are, we believe, to be had from the Secretary 

 of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society." 



The .\rea planted with Coconuts in the Fiji la- 

 lands is no less than 9,166 acres. Copra, which is 

 the dried kernel of the coconut, is the largest in the 

 liet of exports, and its declared value at the Custom 

 House was iu the years — 



1875 ... ... £40,003 



1876 ... ... 45,903 



1877 ... ... 79,403 



1878 ... ... 122,194 



Thus in three years the trade in this one article 

 has trebled itself, and as the settlers have been for 

 some time extending their plantations, each year pro- 

 mises to yield an increased quantity. The coconut 

 tree takes from five to seven years to mature, and re- 

 turns are, therefore, slow, but nevertlieless sure, and 

 usually some other product, such as cotton, is cul- 

 tivated in conjunction. About 50 coconut trees are 

 planted to the acre, and in full bearing will yield an 

 annual crop of about 100 nuts each. The acre will 

 thus produce say a ton of copra, worth on the plant- 

 ation £12 10s, besides coconut fibre, hundreds of tons 

 of which are exported to Sydney, and used in various 

 manufactures. The coconut industry is by no means 

 an unprofitable one.— Indian Agriculturist. [In Cey- 

 lon the trees are not in full bearing under from 

 12 to 20 years, and the average yield of trees is not 

 much over one-third of a hundred nuts. — Ed.] 



Sinhalese Laborers for Queensland. — Evidently 

 those who framed the notice for Sinhalese emigrants 

 to Queensland, appearing in last night's Observer, are 

 under a wrong impression as regards the laboring 

 classes in Ceylon. It is a well known fact that la- 

 borers in Ceylon are chiefly composed of coast or 

 Malabar coolies and country-born Tamils, and that 

 there are but a few laborers among the Sinhalese 

 who hire out their labor, and, of these, the number 

 employed on coffee estates or acquainted with estate 

 work is very small. The laborers on coffee estates 

 are, as you know, coast or Malabar coolies under the con- 

 ductorship of Jaffna Tamils. The Tamils from Jaffna are 

 capital workmen. They also now form a large portion of 

 the laborers on the estates: but they are as a rule employed 

 in building and planting. It seems therefore that the 

 term " Sinhalese " in the notice is used iu a general 

 sense, meaning not laborers who are Sinhalese by birth 

 but labourers born in Ceylon. If the latter is the mean- 

 ing, native Tamil laborers, who are more entei-prizing 

 than Sinhalese, will accept the terms advertised and 

 emigrate : but, should it be confined to Sinhalese, it 

 need hardly be said that the Sinhalese man, who is 

 remarkable for his stay-at-home tendency, will not 

 care to quit a life of ease and indolence for that 

 of toil and separation. — Cor. [In a few districts, 

 notably Rakwana and Western Dolosbage, Sinhalese 

 laborers have often done good work for the coffee- 

 planters, and even iu Dimbula we heard last season 

 of a proprietor who could get as mauy Sinhalese to 

 come and work for him at a certain rate of advance 

 per head, as he chose to have. Hard times are 

 making the Sinhalese laboring people a little more 

 reasonable in respect of plantation work. — Ed.] 



