?I2 



<FHE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[March 2, 1885. 



though planters would be in continous labor difficulties it 

 would be quite possible to work the industry at a profit. 

 But here the case is different. The already very consider- 

 able labor deficiency is increasing most rapidly and the im- 

 migration of Europeans on which all hope depends is ut- 

 terly insignificant. The existing coffee estates, in the 

 struggle to maintain their existence will steadily raise the 

 price of labor, until at last it reaches a limit which will 

 make it impossible for most planters to work at a profit, 

 and force them to abandon their estates. In the face of 

 these facts it is a very open question if immigration will 

 rapidly increase. The conditions of life by which immigr. 

 ants would find themselves surrounded are not altogether 

 attractive and although this has been recognized for years, 

 the Government still continue to maintain laws subversive 

 of all liberty of action, and which deter possible cultiv- 

 ators from settling in Brazil. If these drawbacks, which 

 might be removed with comparative ease, continue to exist 

 by general consent it is scarcely probable that the radical 

 changes in the whole system of land tenure as advocated by 

 Dr. Oonty's will be effected. . . 



If the Brazil landholders sold then- land in small blocks 

 they might possibly as the writer of the report suggests 

 realize large fortunes, but it is easy to foresee that a mere 

 buying and curing of crops would not yield large profits. 

 The curing of coffee is not such an intricate operation that 

 the small producers would find it impossible to perform it 

 for themselves, and it is certain that they would sooner 

 send the article into the market ready for consumption 

 than employ a curer and planter as a middle man they 

 could as well do without. All these difficulties, which we 

 may accept as being in existence although they are not 

 specially mentioned in Dr. Conty's report, will postpone 

 for a considerable time the realization of his radical plans, 

 and if this realization is a sine qua non for the continuance 

 of coffee cultivation in Brazil as represented on the rei ort, 

 there can be no doubt that the industry is passing through 

 a most dangerous crisis which must ruin numbers of estates 

 before it can be solved in a satisfactory manner. ' 



Thus far the translation. Although what the German 

 call chaden freuclc is not a very exalted virtue, it would be 

 to expect too much of human nature if the foregoing were 

 not looked upon by coffee planters in India as good news. 

 There is no doubt that we shall as much benefit by the 

 misfortunes of Brazil, as we were damaged by her enorm- 

 ous crops; and if the conjectures of the report are cor- 

 rect there is a good time coming for us.— Madras Mail. 



Indian Tea in Tihet.— The Shanghai papers, al ad- 

 ine to Mr. Macaulay's attempt to establish a trade con- 

 nexion between India and Tibet, express the belief that 

 the Indian gardens can supply Tibet with teas of ordin- 

 ary quality at a cheaper rate than China, both because 

 the journey is shorter, and because the Indian article is 

 better at the price.— Pioneer. 



Water-Power and the Electric Light. — We 

 have frequently drawn attention to the utilization 

 of the large amount of water-power on Ceylon 

 estates for the generation r£ electric light. Bunga- 

 lows might so bo lighted, and tea-houses, where 

 occasionally night work must be done. At the annual 

 meeting of the Society of Arts, the Chairman, Sir 

 F. Abel, said : — . ... 



An illustration of the application of water-power to the 

 working of an electric light installation, of about the 

 same magnitude as that which Mr. Preece has ;es fcabhsh; « , 

 has recently come under my notice, of which a shgh 

 outline may be interesting. A small stream, a feeder 

 of the Teviot, runs through the grounds of an estate 

 near Hawick, and advantage has been taken ot it to 

 obtain the power required to illuminate the house and 

 adjoining stables. A turbine has been erected at 350 5 aids 

 distance from the house, capable of furnishing about 8 

 horse-power, and requiring 270 cub,c feet of water 

 per unit when working at full power. As the stream 

 does not furnish nearly the required amount in drv 

 weather, a reservoir, in the shape of a lake about 

 an acre in extent, has been constructed 1.1 the patn ot 

 the rivulet; and as the latter furnishes at least 80 cubic 

 feet per minute in the driest weather, the storrng of 

 the water during the daytime in dry weather fuHuShes 



more than sufficisnt power to work the turbine when the 

 lights are required. The turbine, housed in a small 

 building, is connected with a Siemens compound self- 

 regulating dynamo machine, capable of working about 70 

 Swan glow lamps of 16-candle power. About SO lamps, 

 a few of which are 32-candle power, are fitted up al- 

 together in the house and stables adjoining, and in the 

 avenue leading to the lodge, which is 400 yards from 

 the main building ; the latter are controlled by a switch 

 near the hall door, so that they may be lighted up 

 when required. For stopping the turbine at night, a 

 sluice-valve can be closed from the house by means of a 

 simple electrical arrangement. The whole instalation is 

 stated to be a good specimen of the class of work which 

 might be carried out at many country houses, where 

 there is a sufficient supply of water-power within con- 

 venient tance. — Journal fo the Society of Arts. 



Gutta Trap. — Gutta Trap is a substance evidently allied 

 to guttapercha and caoutchouc, employed in Singapore in 

 the manufacture of bird-lime. It is the inspissated juice 

 of an artocarpus, and it is highly probable that there are 

 several similar vegetable productions, such as the maugegatu 

 (Ficus indica), from Visagapatam, which might be introduced 

 into commerce, and employed in the arts for purposes 

 similar to those for which caoutchouc and guttapercha are 

 now so extensively employed. — India-rubber and Guttapercha 

 Journal. 



Dec Kaffec in seinen Beziehungen aim Leben (Coffee, in 

 its relations to Life). By Dr. Heinrich Boehnke-Reich. 

 Leipzig; F. Theil. This is a book written to celebrate the 

 two-hundredth anniversary of the introduction of coffee 

 into Austria and Germany. With a great deal of industry 

 the author has collected all that is interesting concerning 

 the history, the chemistry, the botany, the medicinal 

 value, and the dietetic nature of coffee, together with 

 much information regarding its commerce, the substitutes 

 and combinations which it has called forth, and the varicus 

 methods of preparing it as a beverage. Readers of 

 German will find all this presented in a pleasant style. 

 The facts given concerning England seem to indicate 

 accuracy and wide information. For example, the details 

 of the seizure of the Conroy malt coffee on the part of the 

 Excise and the subsequent modification of the law affectign 

 coffee-mixtures are related with exactitude. — Chemist anil 

 Druggist. 



AOEICDITCHE : HlNTS TO THE D. P. IsSTKUCTION, CEYLON. — 

 As regards the literature of agriculture, the past year basnot 

 been barren. Several valuable lectures were delivered at the 

 Educational Conference in connection with the Health 

 Exhibition, of which we would specially call the reader's 

 attention to that on the higher branches of agricultural 

 education by the Rev. J. McClellan, Principal of R. A. 

 College, Cirencester; and one on "School Farms,'' by 

 Mr. H. M. Jenkins, who advocates that to each of the 

 middle-class schools a small farm should be attached, and 

 that instruction in practical agriculture should be in- 

 cluded in the ordinary curriculum. It is suggested that 

 the farming capital necessary could be raised by sub- 

 cription, and the Education Department should give 

 Bbuilding grants at least as liberal as these hitherto art. 

 given towards the construction of schools of science and 

 Further than this, Mr. Jenkins snggests that in eacli 

 county a suitable farm should be found, whose proprietor 

 is willing to receive apprentices for a term of years; these 

 might thus be thoroughly trained in practical work, and 

 sin h training would be invaluable as preliminary to occupy- 

 ing a bailiff's place. The want of well-trained anil educ- 

 ated bailiffs is a most serious obstacle to the profitable 

 occupation ot land by an owuer. If school farms are 

 formed, then Mr. Jenkins considers that the Educational 

 bxnent should give to their most successful students 

 free scholarships, either for the Normal School of Science, 

 or the I!. A. C. at Cirencester, or the College of Agri- 

 culture at Downton. Also, that the school farms might 

 be recruited by scholarships beiug given to the most 

 successful apprentices at the farm schools. Good steady 

 work is beiug done by the Educational Department, and 

 agriculture is taught in an increasing number of element- 

 ary schools, whilst here and there itinerant lecturers arc 

 collecting good classes from amongst the sous of farmers, 

 schoolmasters, &c. — Field, 



