Februarv f, 1883,] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



667 



Coffee. — In considering t!ie countries to which 

 Coffee samples shall be sent from the last exhibition, 

 the Centro da Lavoura e Commeicio has resolved to 

 make a special effort as regards Russia. This country 

 is a small consumer of coffee. — Bio Neins, 



LiBERTAN Coffee. — Some interesting information is 

 furnished by the United States, Consul at Monrovia 

 respecting tlie coffee-tree iu Liberia. The coBee indus- 

 try there is said to be growing rapidly, and the exports 

 are becoming heavier every year. When properly culti- 

 vated, Liberian coffee-trees ought to average 3 th. when 

 10 or 12 yeaas old. Owing to lack of cultivation, 

 however, they do not average one-third of their 

 capacity. — British Trade Journal, 



Fibre Machinery.— During the last few daya trial 

 has been made of a new machine, patented by Messrs. 

 Death & EUwood, for extracting fibres, and, we, under- 

 stand, that it has proved thoroughly successful. The 

 novel feature in it is that the dirt is washed and 

 winnowed from the fibre as it passes through the 

 machine by a jet of water and a fan, and so, by a 

 single process, the fibre comes out clean and leady 

 for use. It has been tried upon aloe leaves, plaintain 

 stems and hemp, and has, we are told, succeeded with 

 all, but especially with two former. We shall have 

 more to say on this invention later on, but we Imay 

 mention that it is of small compass and coses less than 

 £iO.— Planters' Oazette. 



The Chinese Sabah Land-Farming Company.— 

 A meeting of the shareholders of the above Company 

 was held at the offices of Messrs. Myburgh and 

 Dowdall, .Shanghai, on the 2nd January. The chair 

 was taken by Mr. E. Major, and there were 18 

 shareholders present representing 2,034 shares. The 

 Chairman then said himself and another director Mr. 

 Taa Tsz-chun would proceed by the next mail to 

 Hongkong, en route to Sabah to commence business. 

 He also said he had received a letter from the Go- 

 vernor of North Borneo acknowledging receipt of one 

 third of the purchase money for 40,000 acres of laud 

 and promising the assist the Company as far as lay 

 in his power. He said it was the intention of the 

 Directors to proceed without incurriug unnecessary 

 expense, and that they had engaged an experienced 

 planter to meet them at Sabah. He concluded by 

 notifying that scrip would be issued iu the course of 

 a few days. In reply to another shareholder the 

 Chairman stated that there was not much malaria in 

 Sabah and that the couhtry was as healthy as most 

 tropical regions.—.^. C. Daily Ni'ivs, 



Ooi'FEE. — The following is from Mr. Consul Berual's 

 report on the Trade, Navigation, Commerce, &c., of the 

 Consular district of Havre, for the year 18S1: — "An 

 enormous increase took place in the importstion of coffee 

 during the past past year, and the Havre market was the 

 object of observation of all the rest of the world. A\Tien- 

 ever prices receded speculators continued to piu-chase, 

 and committed the fault, whenever a better feeling existeil, 

 of raising their demands to such a rate as to check both 

 business and export. The natural result of this policy 

 was to increase the stocks held to such an extent that 

 they amounted at the end of the year to 756,017 bags, 

 against 428,000^ bags in 1880, and 285,000 bags iu 1879. 

 The consumption for the whole of France was 64,780 

 tons in 1881, against 57,733 ton in 1880 — an increase of 

 12 per cent. This amount would be very much greater 

 were it not for the onerous duty disposed on this article, 

 which from 50 fr. per 100 lb., at which it stood before 

 the Franco-German "War, has been raised to 150 fr. At 

 present prices this represents on *good,' 'far,' and Mow 

 ordinary ' qualities 156, 175, and 195 per cent, respectively. 

 It is clear that no trade can stand such excessive duties, 

 aud tliat a large reduction is urgently needed. Had this 

 been done a quarter of the large stock would very pro- 

 bably have been absorbed. As it is, the 12 per cent, 

 increase which took place was solely owing to the low 

 prices." — Produce Markets' Sevicvj, 



Rubber in Brazil. — Vice-Consal Bolshaw roportino 

 on the trade aud commerce of Kio Grande del Norte' 

 says that inrtiarubber does not appear to prooress a^ 

 it promised, tlie ultimate extraction showing that th® 

 Mangabura (Hancornia speciosa) has got exhausted' 

 probably on account of the land where they grow 

 being very dry and very different from those of the 

 provinces of Para and Amazon. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 

 Notes and Statistics of Cinchona Bark. — By John 

 Hamilton, Loudon : J. W. Collings, Botolph Lane 

 1882 — In a pamphlet of 17 p.ages the author gives 

 Ui a collection of statistics of the imports of cinchona 

 bark into Great Britain (12 years). United States, 

 France, Germany (.t years) Italy ((i years), the Nether'- 

 lands (12 years). The quartities and values have been 

 calculated in English weights aud money, and the 

 localities whence the bark was imported are noticed 

 in the statistics of the three first-named governments. 

 The information here given can hardly be obtained 

 elsewhere, certainly nowhere in such convenient form. 

 — Chemist and Drw/ijisi. 



An Invaluable Nut. — If the Kola nut deserves one 

 half of the praises bestowed upon it in a pamphlet which 

 lias just been forwarded to us, its more exiensive intro- 

 duction into England would be hitdily desirable. Having 

 been submitted to exhausiive analysis, it has been found 

 to contain more caffeine than the' best coffee, and 

 the same active principle as cocoa with less fatty 

 matter. The negroes on the West Coast of Africa are 

 said to prefer it greatly to either tea or coffee, on 

 account of its health-crtating qualities. This is not 

 all, however ; the nut also possesses the virtue of 

 being a sovereign specific to remove the effects of 

 recent intoxication. It is now used for this purpose 

 on a sugar plantation at .Jamaica, There the necrose 

 make it into a cream with water, and brincr them- 

 selves round iu a moment. A further aescrtion goes 

 to the effect that those who habitually consume de- 

 coctions of this invaluable product soon lose all taste 

 for iilcoholio stimulants, and even acquire a strong 

 repugnance for them. If this can only be proved, the 

 perplexing problem of how to cure dipsomaniacs' will 

 be at last in fair a way towards solusion. It would 

 only be necessary to keep them in seclution until they 

 had iicquired a taste for Kola, and that they might 

 be set free without any risk of their reverting to the 

 use of alcohol. — Globe. 



Sugar Cultivation in Fiji, if the labour difficulty 

 can be overcome, ought to assume large proportions. 

 The Fiji Times gives a specimens of what is being 

 done in this direction:- 



" The majority of the Rewa excursionists returned by 

 the steamer ''Thistle" on Thursday, and they report that 

 the ceremonial starting of the Nausori mill was suc- 

 cessfully accomplished, with all proper pomp and 

 circumstance on the day fixed. The breakfast was 

 a grand success, and upwards of ore hundred guests 

 did honor to the occasion. The tables were laid iu 

 the mdl, and most interesting speeches were delivered 

 both by Ml-. Murray, the manager, Mr. Fairgrieve, 

 the inspector. Sir John Gorrie, tbc Hon. the Colonial 

 Secret iry, Paul Jeske, Esq., and others. From Mr. 

 Murray's remarks, it appears that upwards of 10,000 

 tons of machinery, timbtr, ironwork, sand, gravel, &c. 

 have been employed in erectmg the mill, and the 

 great bulk of this had been carried by native labor, 

 who had never sfen anything of the kind before', 

 without a single accident having occurred. The first 

 column was put in position iu Septembir 18S1, only 

 ten months before the mill commenced crushm-'. 

 Twenty tons of cane conld bo crushed in an hour, or 

 with two shifts, upwards of 400 tons a day. 'Mr'. 

 Murray paid a high tribute to tli.' skill of Mr. Kidd' 

 the engineer, who had left only a few days before for 

 Sydney, under whose skilful superintendence the whole 

 of the works had been carried on." 



