73« 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[April s, 1885 



the watchman got all the blame. In the few cases 

 which ended in conviction they had a grand friend in 

 Chief Justice Phear, who would quash the whole, if com- 

 mittal had an uudotted i or uncrossed t. We are fast 

 becoming an Alsatia. Our present Chief Justice did his 

 best to put it down, and will no doubt do some good. 

 Not much, whilst jails are houses of gratuitous enter- 

 tainment of high order for the dishonest. We '11 ste 

 the effect of new Code, singly opposed by the G. A. W. P. 

 Watchmen however began to shirk work when 

 exposed to murderous attacks and unable to defend 

 themselves ; so insist on being armed, and Mr. Saunders's 

 pets are getting the worst of it, occasionally. A few 

 more such, aud thieving will require coneideration 

 whether the play is worth the candle. There is a 

 story afloat for which I cannot vouch. A gang of 

 eight thieves started to rob a cardamom plantation. 

 Only six returned to their happy homes. The other 

 two have been sought high and low, like the misletoe- 

 bough bride. What has become of them ? It is known 

 the watchmen of the plantation had guns for shooting 

 monkeys. The fact remains, thieves are fewer in that 

 neighbourhood by a couple. [This, of course, is a 

 goak.— Ed.] A SUFFERER. 



MANURE FOR TEA, AND YIELD ON OLD LAND. 



21st February 1885. 



Deak Sir, — Can any of your readers give me tome 

 information as to the most suitable mnnure (other 

 than cattle manure) for tea ? Has artificial manure 

 been appled to auy extent? 



It is obvious tea will have to be manured, some 

 sooner, some later, the question of time being regul- 

 ated principally by elevation. Tea, although a hardy 

 plant with roots of great penetrating power, cannot 

 be expected to continue giving crops of 400 to .S00 lb. 

 per acre, which means 14 to 28 cwt. of green leaf: 

 if we include primings the figures will be something like 

 28 to 56 cwt. per acre per annum. Low-lying estates, 

 owing to the forcing climate they possess, will doubt- 

 less be the first to show signs of distress, and manuring 

 ought therefore to be commenced in the third or fourth 

 year; the fioc soil generally prevalent in the upper 

 parts of Uimbula, Dikoya and Maskeliya will prob- 

 ably continue giving good returns up to the eighth 

 year, but it is also a question whether these returns 

 might not be augmented, and the estates at the same 

 time kept from falling off by periodical applications 

 of manure, ssyfrom the fourth year. 



The following comparison of yields may be of inter- 

 est to those planting up old coffee land. A field of 20 

 acres, elevation 2,500 feet, abandoned perhaps ten 

 years, was plauted with tea in 1SS0. 10 acres of this 

 field is fine dark free soil, and gave last year 250 lb. tea 

 per acre, and the current year's estimate is put down 

 at 4501b. per acre. On the other half, which is poor 

 stiff soil, the crop last season was only 130 11). per 

 acre, this year it will not he more than 200 lb. per acre, 

 and it is questionable if ever that yield will be ex- 

 ceeded without manure. 



With regard to this field one naturally asks : Will 

 it pay to apply manure to land, which without it 

 does not pay for upkeep? Would it not be preferable 

 to abandon such tea and cultivate only selected por- 

 tions of the estate which have been proved to yield 

 remunerative crops and would therefore be reason- 

 ably expected to respond to liberal cultivation ? S. 



[With the qualification that the manure applied 

 to tea ought to 1 ave a larger proportion of amnion- 

 iacal matter — say dissolved guano — we suppose 

 what is good for coffee will be good for tea, say 

 white castor-cake and either bone-dust or better 

 Btill superphosphate of lime. There are few plants 

 which eo readily respond to manure in increased 

 yield of better flavoured leaf. Colonel Money speaks 



highly of the effect of cow-dung, but says he has no 

 doubt "highly concentrated chemical manures will 

 be eventually much used on tea gardens." He men- 

 tions "Money & Ponder's chemical manure" as 

 patented by Mr. Ponder and himself. All estate 

 refuse should be utilized, and we should think that 

 kaiuit as a source of potash would be useful. We 

 trust those who have had practical experience will 

 write on the subject. Seo Mr. Johu Hughes' re- 

 marks published on pigs 736. We are likely to hear 

 again f.o.u this gemlemau on the subject.— En.] 



GOLD IN NORTH BORNEO. 



27th February 1885. 

 Dear Sir, — The accompanying memo, and certificate 

 of assay may be interesting to your readers. 



The information contained in the memo, may be 

 relied on, as it is compiled from materials placed at 

 my disposal by the Secretary to the Board of Direotors 

 of the British North Borneo Company. — Yours truly, 



W. D. GIBBON. 



JItmo. British North Borneo. 



Kandy, 27th Feb. 1885. 



The certificate of Assay signed by Messrs. Johnson, 

 Matthey & Oo. (copy of which accompanies this) confirms 

 the existence of gold in the Segama, and since then a 

 find has been reported in the Kinabatangan. There is 

 thus every reason to think an alluvial deposit will be 

 found to exist extensively over a very large area. 



The black nietalic sand which the Ohiel Commissioner 

 of Lands, Mr. Walker, always found in conjunction with 

 the gold dust, is an iron sand similar to what is found 

 and smelted in New Zealand. For iron it is of no com- 

 mercial value in Borneo at present, but it is interesting 

 to know, that, if found in large quantities, it will be very 

 valuable, for the specimens sent to England gave a result 

 of 1 J to 1^ oz. of gold to the ton. 



The. No. I specimen of gold washed in Sungei liilang 

 is of very good quality and estimated to be worth 72s per 

 oz. The fifth specimen on the list marked A. rock is 

 the sample which Mr. Davies brought from the Paitau 

 Sugar reported in Governor Treacher's dispatch of the 

 ;j0tli October. This also contains gold to the extent of 

 o dwt. to the ton. 



The crystals sent home with the gold were so like dia- 

 mond, that even the lapidary was deceived till he tested 

 them and found them to be quartz. 



Messrs. Johnson Matthey &: Co. confirm Mr. Walker's 

 opinion that better results will probably be obtained when 

 the dry season will admit of working the old gravel 

 deposits. 



These gentlemen are sanguine about the mineral pro- 

 spects of North Borneo territory and anticipate that valu- 

 able discoveries will be made as the country is developed. 



The Directors of the Company trust that this report of 

 the Assayists will lead to the Chinese taking up gold 

 washing as they do in other parts of Borneo. 



W. D. GiBnou. 



Certificate of ~lssay. 

 The British North Borneo Company 

 Hatton Gardens, E.C., 5th Feb. 1885. 

 For British North Borneo Company. 



We have examined the samples of mineral marked as 

 under and find the following to be the result : — 



No. 1. — Gold washed at Sungei Bilang, Segama River. 

 Quality gold '889; silver -080. 



No. 2. — Ore washed by Mr. Sachse for trial for tin. Pro- 

 duce of gold 1-500 oz. per ton of 20 cwt. of ore — no tin. 



No. 3. — Ores S. Bilang, Segama. Produce of gold -650 oz. 

 per ton of 20 cwt. of ore — no tin. 



No. 4. — Ore fused in a crucible portion of black dust 

 from Sungei Bilang. Produce of gold 1*150 oz. per ton 

 of 20 cwt. of ore. 



A.— Kouk. Produce of gold 0-150 oz. per ton of 20 

 cwt. of ore. (Signed) Johkson,Maithey it Co. 



