746 



THI TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[April i, 1885. 



ground an iuch deep. A good Boaking would be so 

 grateful at present. 



I saw some very good vanilla at Pallekelly lately 

 which waB yielding a line return of pods. It evid- 

 ently wants a lot of care in preparation, but then 

 the price is such a fancy one — as high ai 30s a lb. 

 for the best quality — that there is an ample reward 

 for all the attention which may be bestowed on it. 

 But the best sample of vanilla which I have ever 

 seen is that grown by Mr. Wright in Colombo. There 

 the plant is strong and succulent, and the pods are 

 equally large and tine. It is a plant which wants 

 care and regular attention, responds to manuring, 

 and gives a good return. It is a sort of thing which 

 many people might grow in their gardens, and that 

 profitably. 



In California, where the small orchard system is in 

 vogue, ladies have done well for themselves in grape 

 growing and raisin manufacture, living comfortably 

 and laying part by for the inevitable rainy day from 

 the proceeds of their lot ; and it seems to me, that, 

 in the cultivation of vanilla, there is a field for the 

 energies of a similar class in this country, who at 

 present do not find it very easy to get ends to meet 

 even with the strictest economy. If carefully and 

 steadily attended to, a very small patch of vanilla 

 might yield as much as R500 a year ! but it wants 

 both care and attention, and wont do without it. 

 The secrets of its cultivation are easily learned. 



I hear from Badulla that the coffee prospects there 

 are very very poor. Other places are better, but on 

 the whole there is nothing that I know of very bright; 

 and as for the prices at home, they are pa»t speak- 

 ing about. 



In regard to the improved tea roller on Elk&duwa 

 of which 1 wrote in my last, I should be very sorry 

 indeed if I have given the wrong man credit for the 

 improvements, as suggested by your correspondent 

 " Kamrup." There is the possibility of the same idea 

 having occured to the manager of the Elkaduwa group 

 as to Mr. Firming, and from what I can learn this 

 is really how the ihing stands. I suppose I was wrong 

 in calling it a hand-roller, seeing that it was attached 

 to a water-wheel when it accomplished the tabulated 

 work you have already published. Of course it could 

 be driven by hand ; but I learn that it is not so 

 certain that the same result could be got from it 

 by manual labour, as was obtainable with water-power. 

 1 am obliged to "Tell Everything" for bringing out 

 this fact, which I had overlooked, for it is well that 

 we should know exactly what a machine should do, 

 and how it does it. Pepfercorn. 



SUGAR, TOBACCO AND HEMP IN THE 



PHILIPPINES. 



(Translated for the "Straits Times.") 



By list advices (March) from the Philippines, there was 

 every prospect of sugar growing in those islands being 

 relinquished by many planteri. and tobacco continuing 

 to fall off both in quantity and quality. 



Neither in hemp another of our leading produce 

 articles, has there been much business done. When 

 prices were fluctuating, (peculations upon a large scale 

 were set on foot in hopes of a rise, until a sudden 

 fall turned the expected gain* into losses. It is only 

 cautiousness and regularity in business transactions, 

 under the guidance of long experience, that can yield 

 any profit to make up for the toil of those who by 

 trading in the produce of a country, aid in furthering 

 its well being. This fibre has greatly improved in 

 quality in some producing districts. In others the 

 quality has remained stationary and in a few it has 

 fallen off, 



ON TEA. 



FAIR TRADE AND THE DVEY 

 We append an extract taken from the London 

 Evening News which, as developing an ingenioui 

 attempt to introduce Fair Trade under the shield 

 of Imperial Federation, may be of interest even to 

 readers in Ceylon : — 



Fair-Trade. 

 Imperial Federation and Fair Trade. 



We take the following from the columns of the New York 

 Herald, and we leave the head lines " Threatening Our 

 Trade," &c., as they stand in the original : " 

 Threatening oue Trade 



What may Follow the Federation of the British 



Colonies ; 



Protective Customs Union ; 



Why Canada Does not ask for Reciprocity. 



The telegraphed accounts of Sir John Macdonald's speech 

 at Toronto on Wednesday on the subject of reciprocity will 

 excite no surprise among these who are aware of the secret 

 political movements both in England and Canada during the 

 past six months. Canada, which for years past has been 

 seeking a new reciprocity treaty with the United States in 

 the lines of the old treaty of 1854, now, at the bidding 

 of her Premier, sees even the fishery clauses of the Wash- 

 ington treaty expire without an effort on her part to renew 

 it. This is remarkable in view of the fact that Canada is 

 not prosperous, and sadly needs the market for her fish 

 which the United States affords, but which will be closed 

 against her on the 1st of July next. A well-known Canadian 

 who has recently returned from England, and who is in a 

 position to know all the facts, explained this apparent apathy 

 on the part of Canada to a representative of this paper in a 

 way which makes it very clear, aud which will probably cause 

 some of our business men to open their eyes. 

 reciprocity. 



" Reciprocity !" said he, laughing, when the subject 

 was broached. "Canada does not want reciprocity— at 

 least not such a treaty as we would be likely to get from 

 the United States. We would be willing to have a free 

 exchange of natural products, agricultural produce and raw 

 material, but not of manufactured goods ; and the United 

 States would not be likely to consent to a treaty which 

 would not admit their manufactures free into Canada. 

 But we don't want a reciprocity treaty anyway. We have 

 a much bigger scheme in view." 



" What is that ?" 



" Why, Imperial federation. What do you suppose took 

 Sir John to England last October, but to talk over this 

 scheme with public men in England and prepare for the 

 new political movement ? Sir John is an old man, and does 

 not make winter voyages across the Atlantic for amuse- 

 ment." 



politicians' wants. 



" But there is no demand in Canada for Imperial feder- 

 ation ? " 



" No, and there was none for confederation twenty years 

 ago ; but when the politicians made up their minds that it 

 had to come it came, and the same thing will happen now. 

 In England there is a cry for some action on the part 

 of the Government for the restoration of commercial pro- 

 sperity. In the present frame of mind of the English people 

 no Government would dare to|go to the country and say that 

 it was doing nothing to remove the existing depression. 

 Already the Tories have taken up the cry for ' Fair-Trade,' 

 and with that they mean to force the hand of the Govern- 

 ment or to oust them. In either case Imperial federation 

 is sure to come." " But what good will Imperial federation 

 do to the depressed British tradesman ?" 



At this the Canadian, who is one of the most polite of 

 men, almost whistled, but rapidly recovering his dignity 

 he continued: — "Imperial federation means a customg 

 union of the mother country and all the colonies of the 

 Empire, aud the imposition of a tariff on the products 

 of all nations which place a duty on British and colonial 

 goods. At present most of the nations of Europe have 

 protective tariffs which greatly restrict British trade. 

 England buys from them but cannot sell to them, aud 

 but for the new markets she is constantly opening up 

 among half civilized nations would he ruined. England 



