March 2, 188s.] THE TROPICAL AGmTCTTLTTJRTST. 



727 



Tea in Java.— A friend in Java writes that 

 anyone going into tea cultivation there is pretty 

 sure of obtaining a partieal acquaintance with the 

 working of the insolveucy laws, ten qevalgder zware 

 schattingen (in consequence of the heavy taxes).— Cor. 



Forestry in China.— A correspondent of the London 

 Gardeners' Chronicle says:— "I noticed that nearly every 

 garden contained a few specimens of the Ohusan Palm, 

 Charm-erops Fortunei, which the natives cultivate for the 

 purpose of supplying themselves with fibre obtained from 

 the sheaths of the leaves, lo fabricate waterproof capes. 

 Paulownia imperialis, with its very large leaves, was a con- 

 spicuous object in one locality, although it did not 

 attain to lnore than about 15 feet in height. Wit'.i the 

 exception of some healthy young plantations of Ounning- 

 hainia sinensis, the Conifer which supplies China Fir for 

 building purposes, I notice scarcely any tree planting 

 operations. This is different to the case in the West 

 Kiver districts, where the people devote considerable care 

 to the rearing of Pinus sinensis. The neglect ol tree planting 

 in one place, and the fostering of it in the other, is prob- 

 ably accounted for by the facilities of getting the wood 

 to market, which is afforded by the splendid West Eiver 

 in the latter case, while in the former there is no river 

 nearer than 8 jor 9 miles to the nearest part of the 

 mountains." — Gardeners' Monthly. 



Kitool Fibre.— The Palm, Caryota urens, Linn., is a 

 native of Ceylon, Malabar, Bengal, Assam, and various 

 parts of India*. Amongst natives of Ceylon it is known as 

 Kitool; in India it is called Bastard Sago, Coonda pauna 

 (Tamil); Erimpnna, or Schundra-pana (Mal.\ Ititabeauti- 

 ful and lofty palm, with a trunk more than a foot in 

 diameter, and 40 feet high. The large bipinnatisect leaves 

 measure 18 feet to 20 feet in length, and 10 to 12 feet 

 across. The fruit is of the size of a plum, with a thin 

 yellow rind, and is very burning and acrid in taste. From 

 the flower-stem an enormous amount of sweet juice can 

 be obtained ; as much as 10U pint* in twenty-four hours. 

 From this juice Jaggery sugar well known in our markets,* 

 is prepared, although it is not the only source, other 

 palm trees yielding it in commercial quantities. The caste 

 who prepare this sugar in Ceylon are known as Jaggeros. 

 The juice is also pleasant to drink when fresh, and an 

 intoxicating spirit, known variously as toddy, arrack, pauna, 

 or pawnee, is obtained by fermentation, and largely used. 

 The pith of the stem contains a large amount of farinaceous 

 matter, equal to Sago in quality. The natives use this 

 largely for food in the shape of gruel, or a kind of 

 bread, Like its relative, the Coconut, Kitool Palm is a 

 source of food and profit to its owner. Elephants make 

 of the leaves their favorite food, and the "heart," or ex- 

 panded leaves, can be made into a capital cabbage, or pickled, 

 or candied. The woolly substance at the base of the leaves 

 is used in caulking ships. The fibres or veins of the 

 leaves furnish the Kitool fibre, and it is largely used by 

 the natives for the making of ropes, fishing-lines, bow- 

 strings, brushes, brooms, baskets, caps. kc. Its great 

 strength has earned for it the name of Elephant fibre, 

 aud ropes made of Kitool are used to tether and secure 

 wild elephants. The fibre has long been known in this 

 country, and under the uarae of Indian gut has long been 

 used for fishing-linos. When made into brushes it is found 

 to be most durable, and some firms will not use brushes 

 made of any other material. It seems to be the best 

 substitute for bristles, as the fibre is strong, tough, and 

 impervious to water. It is, however, rather brittle, and a 

 sudden knock ma}' break it. It can be woven together 

 with cotton for petticoat stuffs, and forms a cheap and 

 flexible fabric for dress-improvers, t xc. Steamed aud curled, 

 it can be used for stuffing purposes in upholstery, and 

 the refuse may be used instead of hair to mix with 

 mortar for building purposes. When dipped in oil it 

 turns from a dull brown to a beautiful black color, and 

 the oiliness may be removed. — Journal of the Society of 

 Arts. 



* We do not suppose that a cwt. of kitul jaggery has 

 ever been exported from Ceylon. We might, perhaps, say 

 the same thing of coconut jaggery. That exported is 

 the product ot the palmyra palm, Borasstts fiabeUiformu.—'&D. 



I Prices of Tea and Coffee in the United 



States. — " A free breakfast fable," as far as tea and 



| coffee are concerned, has prevailed in the United 



j States since July 1st 1872, when the import duties 



] were abolished. In 1871, the average price of tea 



per lb. was so high as 564 to 59 cents, or close 



j on 2s 61. By 1SS3, the average pr'ce had gone down to 



19 to 20 cents, say lOd. Coffee per lb. was up 



to 19 to 22 oents in 1874, say lid.; while in 



1882 the price was 10 cents or 5d., a fall of 



considerably more than one-half. The tea was good 



average Japan ; the coffee fair Rio. 



EuiiBEH Cultivation. — Whether the results at present 

 obtained are commensurate with the outlay of sikll and 

 capital which has been involved it is extremely difficult 

 to judge ; at auy rate we are still dependent on those sources 

 of supply which twenty-five years ago were threatened to 

 become extinct. It is true we are drawing from new 

 sources which have been opened up, but we seem to be a 

 long way off from getting rubber of our own cultivation. 

 Prices are now falling, and probably will reach a figure 

 at which cultivation may not seem a very temptiug bait 

 to intending planters. The facts just now are not what 

 they were in 1856 to 1860 as regards rubber production. 

 Many kinds which at that time could hardly have paid 

 for collecting are so far improved in collection and preparing 

 that they command a far higher price in proportion than 

 the very best Brazilian varieties. AVe would strongly urge 

 the attention of such facts on our Government Departments 

 entrusted with this matter. Is our attention directed to 

 this matter in a way best calculated to secure that amount 

 of commercial success compatible with rapid production, 

 or are we, in endeavouring to compete with the best kinds 

 of rubber, neglecting the cultivation of those plants which 

 give a fair and useful rubber, and which our planters may 

 certainly improve by better methods of collecting? Manu- 

 facturers are deeply interested in this matter. At one 

 time Para, Negrohead, Oeara, and Guayaquil rubbers wero 

 indispensable. The opening up of the interior of the 

 African continent has already improved our supplies, and 

 we are afraid that unless more encouraging results are not 

 shortly forthcoming in favour of cultivation, growers are. 

 not likely to make such grand things by raising crops of 

 rubber plants where other colonial products can be success- 

 fully planted. — India-rubber and Guttapercha Journal. 



Death & Ellwood's Firre Machine is thus noticed 

 by Mr. W. A. Cogswell, President of the Horticultural 

 Society of India: — The only machine, to my knowledge, 

 which has yet approached to what is desirable, nay, abso- 

 lutely needful, is that known as Death & Ellwood's, Simth's 

 Patent, Fibre Extracting Machine, which I have had the 

 privilege of seeing in work recently. It is called the 

 Universal Fibre-Cleaning Machine, and is simple and strong 

 in all its parts. Like some other machines for the same 

 purpose it consists of a drum on which metal beaters are 

 bolted, the drum revolves at a great speed in front of an 

 adjustable plate fixed below its centre, so as to give a 

 scraping action to the fibre which is fed in by hand, over 

 the plate. Immediately below the plate a jet of water is 

 forced which, while washing the gum aud mucilaginous 

 matter from the fibre and ridding it of particles of stalk 

 and other foreign matter, forces it up against the drum 

 and thus keeps it subjected to the action of the scrapers 

 and it is in this the success of the machine lies; unlike 

 others it has an elastic bed of water, instead of' a rigid 

 one <>f wood to support the fibre while under treatment 

 from the scrapers. The price of a single machine without 

 eus>iue is £55. The original outlay, the cost of working 

 and maintaining it would, however, be prohibitory to a 

 ryot. but. a Company might be formed to establish its use 

 in the Jute growing districts, to purchase the plant, when 

 it was ready to cut in the season, from the cultivator, aid 

 such a Company could prepare and completely make ready 

 the fibre for sale in the open market. The native cul- 

 tivators have not the money to spend in purchasing, or 

 maintaining in efficient working order any machine,' no 

 matter how desirable and thoroughly good thai may lie 

 and I am of opinion that such must be first introducer! 

 to the growers in the way which I have suggested, i 

 success is to attend their working. — W. H. Cooswel 



