August i, 1882.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



145 



To net those prices, taking drying loss and packing 

 charges into account, amounts of respectively about 

 5s 6d, 8s and Os 4d per lb. in London public sale 

 would be required. As, however, Messrs. .Tames Cook 

 & Co., in their circular of the 25th May, quote Ceylon 

 red bark : — 



Fair to good quill 23 to .Ss, 



Young branch Is ,, Is 6d, 



Chips Is ,, 2s, 



Sha^•ings 2s ,, 3s, 



Twigs 4d ,, 8d, 



I am afraid anybody who was to buy in Colombo 

 at " A Late Broker " 's figures would let live, cert- 

 ainly, but not live himself veiy long. 



Quinine manufacturers are not so dense as not to 

 find out the market in which it is cheaper to buy ; most 

 of them have tried Colombo, and (witli one exception, 

 which might be explained) have declared that, as long 

 as present prices are kept up in Colombo, they ran 

 hny chi'apar in London, and as moreover they back 

 their opinion by acting upon it, it may safely be 

 inferred that local buyers on the average have offered 

 and paid as good prices as planters could expect to 

 get anywhere. Against indi^^dual cases in whioli bark 

 at home fetched more than was offered here, I am 

 prepared to quote others, which ended in a total loss 

 to the local buyer. 



Differences of analyses turn up everywhere, and 

 local analyses have stood the test of manufacturers as well 

 as those made by professionals in London. — Yours 

 faithfully, MERCHANT. 



SUOAR-GKOWING IN THE NORTHERN TERRITORY. — 



Tlie following is a copy of a telegram from the Oovirn- 

 ment Resident, Northern Territory, to the Hon. the 

 Minister "f Education, dated May 3Ist. — " Owston 

 arrived from Daly River yesterday, bringing splendid 

 sample of cane grown on Palmerstim Plantation Com- 

 pany's estate. All his cane in first-class condition, 

 and quite equal to cane in Nursery.'' — Adelaide 

 Register. 



FoRE.sTS. — The Secretary of State for India has 

 selected Mr. Edward Dobbs, L.L.D., First Assistant 

 Conservator of Forests under the Go\ernment of 

 India, now on furlough, for the post of Conservator 

 of Fr>reBts in Cyprns :is a temporary arrangement. Mr. 

 Dobbs while so employed will receive a salary of £400 

 per annum, with an extra house allowance of £.50, 

 ,iud all his travelling expenses will be paid — Pioneer. 



Analy.sks of Bark. — Prollius's methods for the 

 estimation of ihe total alkaloid in bark have been 

 tested by Dr. J. Biel (Phnrm. Zeitsehr. f. Rusxland, 

 xiii., 249). who worked independently of Dr. de Vrij 

 (see Pharm. Journ., [.3], xii., 765), but arrived at 

 similar results. Like Dr. de Vrij, Dr. Biel rejects 

 the extraction with chl^roforni mixture as inaccurate, 

 and recommends a modificition of the ether-ammonia 

 process, in which the powdered bark (either South 

 American or Fast Indian) is macerated for four honrs 

 with ten times its weight of ethereal mixture, filtered, 

 decolourized it necessary with powdered lime, and a 

 Weighed portion of the filtrate evaporated to dryness. 

 The crude alkidoid thus obtained is dissolved in 

 dilute acid and extracted by shaking with chloroform 

 after the addition of ammonia. The alkaloid left on 

 evapiiratiug the chlf roformic solution is dried and 

 weigheil and may be purified, if great accuracy ia 

 desirable, by dissolving in acetic acid and weighing 

 the residual resin. The most important difference 

 between Dr Biel's and Dr de Vrij's modifications 

 seems to be in the length of time required for the 

 completi? exlr.ictii-n of the alkaloi'^ from the bark, 

 the l.tter being of opinion that one hour is sufficient, 

 whereas the former maintains that the results will be 

 inaccurate, if the slated period of four hours is not 

 strictly adhered to. — Pharmaceutical Journal. 

 19 



Shevaroy, June Ifith, — The season has turned 

 out, much to our delight and satisfaction fnvour- 

 able and full of promise for the future. Blos- 

 som has set very fnirly owing to timely and ci'ijious 

 rains in April, ahich have continued abnost without 

 intcrmissiun up to the present moment. Should nothing 

 now intervene in the shape of the hundred and one 

 " ills" to which coffee is ■' heir," there is no reason 

 why the long-expected bumper should not be realized. 

 Such a result after two bad seasons would be highly 

 satisfactory, and the anticipation alone is sufficient to 

 pui us in good spirits. An auction sale of land under 

 the Waste Laud rules took place on the 15th ultimo, 

 ^vjIen several lots were knocked down at very little over 

 upset prices. The average rates obtained on this occa- 

 sion were about R3| per acre — a perfect coiitr.ist to a 

 former sale, when, competition being brisk, R30 and 

 40 was obtained. — Madras Times. 



The Waste Lancs in the Tavoy District.— 

 A correspondent sends us the following extract from 

 a private letter in reference to the forest m Burmp. 

 now being advertized : — " I enclose you an advertize- 

 ment of our Government which may interest you. It 

 is the outcome of a planter — late of your island — who 

 has taken grounds at Johore and who was up here 

 on a visit about a couple of months ago. He visited 

 the district now advei'tized, and thought so much of 

 the suitability of the place for cofl'ee that, had he 

 seen it before he went to Johore, he would never have 

 gone there. I understand that he has had some ground 

 allotted to him. I fancy the district advertized is a 

 perfect jungle inhabited by tigers and other wild 



beasts. Some eight or ten years ago, Mr. ■ stal-ted 



a tin mine in that quarter and he had to import all the 

 labour — Chinese. The adventure resulted in the loss of 

 about £20,000, and now the place is ab.andoued. One 

 of the men who were down there told me that a 

 tiger jumped in at the cookhouse window, audcirried 

 oft' what he could get hold of." 



CocHiNE'L CULTIV.4.TI0N IN Tenerifpb. — In con- 

 sequence of the extended use of aniline dyes, the 

 cultivation of cochineul in Teneriffc has received a 

 severe check, so much so that a great many growers 

 are reported to he utterly ruined. The result of tliis, 

 we read in a recent report, h.as been that cons der- 

 able attention has been directed to the cultivition 

 of tobacco. At first this new production gave iiro- 

 mise of a favourable result, there being a fair qn uit- 

 ity collected, and the quality approaching to that 

 of the Cuban tobacco. In consequence of the Spanish 

 Government not fulfilling their promise to purch.ase 

 the tobacco crops for a period of three years, the 

 growers found themselves with their warehouses filled 

 without any prospect of a speedy or remunerative 

 sale. This induced them to aV>andon tobacco cultiv- 

 ation, and to return to that of cochineal; but, owing 

 to a great fall in prices — below, indeed that limit at 

 which growers find their crops pay — they have since 

 attempted sugarcane, the proprietors of the plant- 

 ations having sent a deputation to the island of 

 Madeira to study the making of sugar, treacle, and 

 rum. Although the majority of the growers think 

 that the new production will give an impetus to 

 agriculture, some of the principal persons in ex- 

 perience and knowledge doubt whether this cultiv- 

 ation will give good results, on account of the high 

 price of land, while labour is dearer than in those 

 countries where this article is usually produced. 

 The cultivation of tlie almond is yearly falling off, 

 on account of the indolence of the growers, who do 

 not take the leaet care of the trees already planted, 

 and never think of planting new ones. Within the 

 hast two years the cultivation of the banana has con- 

 siderably increased, and may now be considered as 

 an article of export which is gradually increasing. — 

 Gardeners' Chronicle. 



