March z, 1885.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



671 



Italian Coffee — We have the authority of the 

 Manchester (England) Guardian for the statement that 

 " coffee planting is being tried in the neighbourhood of 

 Koine. Signor Antonnicola has of late years cultivated 

 the berry at his country estate, the Villa Cesisa, the 

 result being 2,000 kilos to the hectare, valued at £S0. 

 The cost being £12 per hectare, he has cleared £68 

 per hectare profit." — American Oroa /. 



Ceylon Tea at Home.— On a new sample of tea 

 roughly prepared, sent home to him, an old Ceylon 

 coffee planter ("P.M.") writes as follows :— " It 

 arrived safely and in excellent order, as crisp as if out 

 of a sirocco and of exquisite flavour. If we can 

 export tea like that, I feel sure it will do well. 

 The liquor was of a pretty amber colour and strong. 

 To do it justice we used the same quantity is of 

 the tea we were using, but that was too much. We 

 found the best quantity to be one-third less thau that, 

 which of itself would be a good saving besides the 

 superiority of the beverage." 



Lylk's Improved Patent Tea Eoli.ee. — In the interests 

 of our tea planting friends, it may be useful to draw atten- 

 tion to a further improvement just registered in this roller, 

 which has already much to recommend it. Of course where 

 there are so many rollers in the market each has its special 

 votaries ; but judging from the testimonials given by some 

 of the largest concerns in Assam and Cachar, this roller is 

 certainly not behind the rest in public favour. While it 

 is the cheapest in the market and the most difficult to 

 get out of order, it is certified to be invaluable for rolling 

 badly withered leaf, and of vastly improving old leaf. 

 The complaint that some planters had of the difficulty of 

 replacing its worn out interior battens or ribs has been 

 entirely remedied by substituting substantial solid beech 

 wood sections for the barrel, which all fit into each other 

 and are fixed in grooves, ard can be changed in a few 

 moments. All screws and projections are entirely avoided, 

 thus rendering it almost impossible to tear the bags, which 

 consequently will not last much longer. We understand 

 that spare parts are available, and the old machines can be 

 fitted with the improvements at small cost. The machine 

 secured a 2nd class diploma and medal at our late exhib- 

 ition before the present alterations were effected, and it is 

 probable now, therefore, that with its recent improvements, 

 it will rapidly increase in the public favour. The Ageuts 

 are Planters' Stores and Agency Co., Ltd. — Indian Tlanti rs' 



Slavery in Brazil. — There is a considerable number 

 of politicians and voters which claims that the Rio 

 Branco law is amply sufficient to meet the emancip- 

 ation question, and that by a strict compliance with 

 its provisions, conflicts will he avoided and the move- 

 ment be steady and allow of time for substituting 

 free labor for the slaves. L-t us sue how the district 

 of Cautagallo, province of Rio de Janeiro answer 

 statesmen. On the 24th ulto. the minister of a 

 ure ordered the payment of $34,650 for the eman- 

 cipation of 30 slaves, freed in that district for ac- 

 count of the emancipation fund. The average is ! 1,155 

 per slave, a price so utterly preposterous that we 

 cm hardly bring ourselves to believe that Sr. ( ar- 

 ueiro da Rocha sigmd secu an order. The daily prfS3 

 are constantly publishing the cost to the fund of hiv- 

 ing slaves in oilier provinces and never has th t cost 

 been anywhere like the amount paid to the fortunate 

 slave holder* of Cantagallo. The planters have refuted 

 the arguments of their own party, that the Rio Br'ai eo 

 law will emancipate Brazil. Death may release the 

 bonds of the slaves, but at §1,135 for each Biave 

 certainly the emancipation fund never will; and if 

 Cantagallo estimates the value of is slaves at this 

 scandalous price, why should not the other provinces 

 do likewise'; The planters of Cautagallo who demand- 

 ed, and tiie government which paid. $1,155 for the 

 freedom of each slave, have a heavj ..s'tt'e 



morally and we sincere]; tiust that Sr. Cam 

 Rocha may 1>p called upon for some explana'ii 

 matter, so nearly approaching a scandal. — Rio .V. • ;, 



Tiie T. A. in England. — A correspondent sends u 

 a cutting from the Field of Dec. 13th containing the 

 following recommendation in a " Notice to Corre- 

 spondents " : — 



W'r should strongly advise you to get Ferguson's " Trop- 

 ical Agriculturist," published monthly at Colombo (Lon- 

 don Agents, Haddon cV Co., 3, Bouverie-streei I, ami list- 

 ing £1 6s per annum. The fourth volume is in progress, 

 and every number contains useful hints and information 

 on all the Sinhalese industries. 



The Central Factory System.— The Barbados Agri- 

 cultural Society has sent out another circular address- 

 ed to the proprietary body and others interested in 

 the welfare of the island, in which a committee appoint- 

 ed by the society to receive and consider suggestions 

 for action in view of the evils which threaten the 

 Colony, reiterate their conviction that the Usiue or 

 Central Factory system is the mo-it practical means 

 of rendering the manufacture of sugar profitable, and 

 thereby averting ruin ; and it calls upon them to con- 

 sider the resolutions, which the society hopes will meet 

 with hearty support. A loan of 750,000?. will be re- 

 quired to carry out the scheme, and it is suggested 

 that application be made to the British Government 

 for the necessary assistance, either in the shape of a 

 direct loan, or a guarantee in raising in the English 

 market the required sum. — Colonies and India, 



A Profitable Pitch Lake. — A correspondent, writing ti 

 a Trinidad contemporary, says : — " You have receutly, and 

 I think, most, opportunely, called the attention of the 

 public of Trinidad to the unsatisfactory working of the 

 Pitch Lake leases in relation to the Government, and the 

 extracts from official documents lately published by you 

 are highly interesting and instructive. It seems that ex- 

 cept five acres reserved by the Crown, the whole of the 

 late is practically in the hands of three individuals at an 

 annual rental of only about 200/. Last year the exports 

 were 4,868 tons of boiled, and 34,277 tons of raw asphalt, 

 the duty ou which was about 1,100/, the Government thus 

 receiving about 1,300/ only. It is no secret that the lessees 

 now form a ' ring,' and have put up the price so as to 

 give an enormous profit to themselves, with the natural 

 tendency, by restricting its use, of checking the growing 

 increase in the exports. The expense of digging and shipping 

 is under Ss or g2 per ton, freight to Europe 20s. and to 

 the United States S3, and selling price there 40s to 45s, 

 and §12 here, leaviug a certain profit of S3 per ton — 

 or say SI 20,000 per annum to be divided between a few 

 individuals, not one of whom can be said to have any 

 substantial stake in the island beyond what they thus get 

 out of it." — Cohans and India. 



Coffee IN Coorg. — The coffee enterprise in Coorg is at 

 present passing through the most critical stage in its 

 existence. J>ut while in other parts of Coorg its cultiv- 

 ation has been more or less a failure resulting in heavy 

 less of the capital, the good management, judicious ex- 

 penditure, and well directed » fforts of planters, based 

 upou the experience gained in tin past, have resulted iu 

 securing most satisfactory results in that recently opened 

 tract of country in south Coorg, known as the " Bamboo." 

 There, and ou the Suntikoppa side oi the Mercara plateau, 

 are to be seen fine sheets of coffee extending for miles 

 together. The secret of success has consisted in the early 

 propagation of suitable shade trees as a protection against 

 the numerous enemies of the plant, and in the pursu- 

 ance from the commencement of a system of high cultiv- 

 ation. With the fine crop which was picked last year, 

 the largest yet known, it was confi ;pected that 



tin' labour given and the outlay incurred, would at length 

 bi' repaid by handsome profits ; hut the result has bet 

 only a disappointment; for the heavy tall if 40 per cent 

 in the price of the berry has upset all calculations, leav- 

 ing little or no margin for profit, 'the result is that 

 hanks and agents refuse to make advances on the «rop, 

 and that estates are gem rally unsaleable. This is a great 

 discouragement to the European gentlemen, fully 200 in 

 number, who have taken to the cultivation of coffee in 

 Coorg as a means of livelihood, and also to the numerous 

 s who have been induced to embark in the enterprise, 

 and who often, from no fault of their own, now find them- 

 selves in i led circumstances.— lUni. <i ■/>>< , /'. ./. 



