5 2 4 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[January i, 1885. 



Prince, anxious to do all he could for the advancement 

 of his people and country. Under his mild but firm rule 

 great strides had been made, and doubtless there existed 

 a great future for Johore. On the motion of Mr. 

 Jackson, Kew, seconded by Mr. Dunn, a vote of thanks 

 was awarded to the lecturer.— Edinburgh Courant. 



ON THE COST OF OPENING LIBERIAN COFFEE 

 LAND. 



TO THE EDITOR OF THE NORTH BOKNEO HERALD. 



Sir, — I see by your last issue a note on the cost of 

 planting Liberian coffee land, and as it may be of interest 

 to your readers to know what the same costs in Ceylon, I 

 beg to offer you an estimate made out in Ceylon money, 

 i.e., rupees and cents, and as done in that country. I wish 

 to state that my object more especially is to prevent people 

 who have no experience in planting matters from being 

 misled by estimates that are far too low, and I would point 

 out in the case of planting, that as a " thing of beauty is 

 a joy for ever," so is a well-planted estate. I do not deny 

 that good forest-land could be destroyed for the price your 

 correspondent makes out, but from experience dating back 

 from 1874, I am quite sure no land could ever be made 

 into a respectable property at the prices put down, and I 

 would strongly urge any intending investor not to waste 

 j$20'50 an acre in land devastation. 



My estimate, it must be understood, is only for opening 

 land, and not for bringing it into bearing, which is a very 

 different thing, and I may further add, that as machinery 

 here would cost more than in Ceylon, the total expend- 

 iture under that head would be proportionately greater. — 

 Yours, &c., F. L. 



1.80U 



811O 



323 80 



ESTIMATES FOR OPENING 100 ACRES LIBERIAN COFFEE. 



R. 



Felling and clearing 100 acres at R18 per acre ... 



One set of lines containing 20 rooms each 10 feet 

 • by 10 feet, mud walls and shingle roof at R40 

 per room 



Lining, 8 feet by 8 feet=679 per acre or 67,900 

 pegs, and as a cooly can cut 1,000 a day at 35 

 cents = R23'80 to make. To put in costs R3 an 

 acre 



Holing, each hole 18 in. by 18 in. by 12 in. at the 

 bottom, a cooly will do 50 a day or 1,340 

 coolies at 35 cents=R469. One axeman to 10 

 to cutroots=134 axemen at 35 cents =R46'90. 

 One Kangauy (mandore) to 20 men = 67 at 35 

 ceuts=R2345 



Filling costs half the cost of holing 



Plants (if bought) cost R15 per 1,000=R1,020. 

 A cooly will hand-plant 300 plants a day, 223 

 at 35 cents=R7805. One Kangany to 10 men 

 R770 



Shading costs about the same as planting, say ... 



Roads 2h miles. A cooly cuts 22 feet of ordinary 

 earthwork in the solid, R210. Cutting logs and 

 stumps with mandore R105 



Draining to be added to latter, or R10 per acre ... 



Management for G months at R 120 a month 



Bungalow of two rooms for manager with cook- 

 house... 



Weeding for S months at Rl per acre 



Contingencies, Medical and Miscellaneous at R2 



for an assistant with no successor after that time, or salar J" 

 to an agent over him. 



VI.— Medical assessment (on an average 75 cents per 

 acre), is not considered, nor the item of tools — a high one. 



VII. — Coast advances for procuring labour is also left 

 out, so that taking these further items into consideration, 

 the actual cost of opening 100 acres of land, without the 

 cost of the same as purchase money, would, with experi- 

 enced labour and great economy, amount to R120 per acre 

 all round, and without interest of money. From what I 

 see of Malay labour, the estimate would have to be in- 

 creased to apply the figures to North Borneo. 



Total per acre R8253J. . .R8,253 58 



Or at the present rate, of exchange in Singapore dollars 

 and cents (R226 for $1100) S36'51 per acre. 



Note. — In the above estimate I must call attention to the 

 following: — 



I. — In the holing, 900 holes are not estimated for as fall- 

 ing on waste ground. 



II. — In planting, no allowance has been made for trans- 

 port to the estate and to the coolies in the field. 



III. — In roadiug, no consideration is taken of blasting or 

 stone work of any sort if necessary. 



IV. — No cost of supplying dead plants is calculated which 

 might be stated at 25 per cent on cost of planting. 



V. — The management is only estimated for six months 



GUM HOGG AND ITS USES. 



Under the name of gum hogg, a substance is described, 

 of which it is stated that the botanical source is unknown. 

 It appears to be of a similar nature to tragacanth, taking 

 up a large proportion of water, though it is not absolutely 

 soluble. An experiment in this direction showed that, after 

 being in cold water for twenty-four hours, it swelled up 

 into a soft white transparent mass, occupying the lower 

 half of the vessel in which it was placed ; when agitated, 

 the mass showed no disposition to form a uniform mucil- 

 age, but separated into small, soft, transparent and rather 

 granular fragments resembling pounded ice ; this subsided 

 at the bottom of the vessel again when it was set at rest. 

 A second portion of the gum, by prolonged boiling with 

 water, gave the same result as obtained with cold water. 



The commercial history of this gum in North America 

 is very interesting. It appears to have been introduced 

 into Salem, Massachusetts, about thirty years since. At 

 that time Salem was the headquarters of the East India 

 trade, and this gum came with a lot of tragacanth im- 

 ported to that place from Calcutta. It was supposed that 

 it might be used in place of tragacanth, as a cheaper 

 article, by the shoemakers. It, however, came into the 

 hands of a noted drug garbler of the place, and was re- 

 jected immediately by him as an inferior gum. It was 

 next shipped to Boston for sale, and after a uumber of 

 ineffectual attempts to foist it on the market, it was finally 

 put up at public auction and sold for two or three cents 

 a" pound to one of the principal booksellers. The purchaser 

 made a number of ineffectual attempts to utilize it for 

 different purposes, and finally, somewhat disgusted, placed 

 it in the hands of a chemist iu the neighborhood of Boston ; 

 he made several experiments with it, and discovered its pro- 

 perty of forming a non-adhesive mucilage, when boiled with 

 an alkali. It was soon after utilized for the manufacture 

 or marbled paper, which was just then becoming know in 

 the country. Gradually the secret became known, and as 

 there was a slight demand for the article at different times, 

 small lots were brought into this country. Up to the time 

 of the experiment being made the gum had received no 

 name, but afterwards it was known through the trade by that 

 of gum hogg, and it is believed that name was given it by 

 Prof. Jackson, on account of its obstinacy in resisting the 

 different etforts for its solution, and thus behaving like a 

 well-known animal of similar perverse and willful habits. 



Of late years the gum has gone considerably out of 

 use on account of the irregularity and scarcity of the 

 supply. The process in which this gum takes a part in the 

 manufacture of marbled paper consists of staining the paper 

 and the edges of books in a variegated manner. The gum 

 is first allowed to soak in cold water until swollen, and then 

 boiled with a weak* solution of pearl ash until a thick con- 

 sistent mucilage is obtained, which is strained. This forms 

 the basis or vehicle for receiving the colors and transferr- 

 ing them to the paper, and is placed in a shallow tank 

 about five feet long, three feet wide, and four inches deep. 

 This body must be removed as often as fermentation in the 

 mucilage renders it liquid. In cold weather this is not so 

 frequent, but in hot weather it must be replaced with fresh 

 at least twice daily. The colors used are the ordinary 

 paint colors ground to a cream with thin mucilage of gum 

 arabic. The workman standing over the tank first takes 

 a large brush with spreading bristles, and dipping it in 

 his color, sprinkles it over the surface of the tank by 

 twirling the handle between his hands. The value of 

 the mucilage is now shown, for the colour does not either 

 mix with it or spread over its surface, but retains the 

 circular form the drops would assume upon first striking 



