AfRiL i, 1885.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST 



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Pinus Sinensis.— Ibis wood, so largely used by 

 the Chinese for Tea-boxes, is, wo learn,' growing well 

 iu the forest nurseiies formed in the east of Cape 

 Colouy. There seems no reason why it should not 

 succeed iu the Himalayas. We commend this matter 

 to the attention of tho Agri- Horticultural Society. 

 — Indian Tea Gazette. [And why not on the Ceylon 

 hills?— Ed] 



A Core for Thirst. — An old Indian writes to the 

 Standard : — I see that your special correspondent states 

 that our soldiers in the Soudan suffer greatly from the dry 

 air of the desert ; that their faces get parched, and that, 

 they are tempted to waste their precious supply of water. 

 I have lived for many years iu India, and perhaps my ex- 

 perience will be of a little service when I say that a little 

 olive or other vegetable oil rubbed over the lips and face 

 will prevent the parched feeling complained of, and thar a 

 small piece of lime or lemon iu the mouth will check thirst. 

 It ought not to be a difficult matter to provide a lemon or 

 two for each soldier leaving Snakim for iierber. — Pioneer 



Cotton. — There will be a splendid crop of cotton in 

 Egypt this year estimated at three millions and three- 

 quarters of cantars, the largest quantity ever-grown, 

 and at the same time the quality is above the averag-. 

 In a few years, when Colonel Scott Moncritf't's 

 irrigation work aud plans are more advanced, and when 

 lands, now waste, are luxurious with cot'on, wheat 

 or sugar, and when English rule has a fair chauee, 

 Egypt will, says an Alexandria correspondent, again 

 become the land of Goshen. — Madras Mail. 



The North Borneo Company has recently been 

 lengthening its cords and strengthening its stakes in 

 the shape of taking over fresh tracts of country. 

 While wishing well to the enterprising gentlemen 

 who have undertaken to farm Northern Borneo, we 

 must confess that we should have heard with more 

 satisfaction that they had been engaged in strengthen- 

 ing their administrative system so js to enable our 

 Government to rebut conclusively all c niplaints 

 brought aga : nst the British administration ot those 

 regions by Powers whose subjects consider themselves 

 inadequately protected. Unless we are considerably 

 misinformed, there is a storm brewing in that quarter 

 which bodes no good either for England or the 

 chartered company with which Mr. Dent and Sir 

 Rutherford A'cock are so closely associated. — Pall 

 Mall Gazette, Feb 27ih. 



Tanned S aices and Fnors Skins.— Even the delie- 

 tea. skin of a frog can be tanned. An opt ra glass 

 covered with the handsomely marked skin of a garter 

 or a small water snake will become fashionable. Card 

 cases, small books and little bedroom clocks are soma 

 of the articles in the mauufacture of which they are 

 used. The surface of the skiu is thickly glazed and 

 iu such things it takes a long time before the scales 

 begin to stand up. The upper portion of slippers aud 

 shoes and eveu dressing-cates are made fiom the 

 larger snakes. Nearly all of tbem come from Afr.ca, 

 but a good many are also obtained from Brazil and 

 other parts of South America. It is a singular f.e' 

 that the skins have to be taken to France to be tanned. 

 — Detroit Free Press. 



Cinchonas in Java are thus notic d in the lei- 

 ter of the Singapore Free Press from the Dutch Colouy : - 

 I am glad to see at last one Government resolution 

 of the L'Sth Dec. Ia3t. whereby it is decided that, for 

 the future, si ps aud seeds of the Government Kina 

 plantations of the C. Ledgeii.ni, Succirubra and 

 Officinalis, which tl ey do n t require themselves, 

 will he sold at publi : auction wiihmt limited prices. 

 It will hardly be believed or crelited by tho e who 

 do not see enough of our short sighted colonial policy, 

 tint till now, whenever these supetluous slips and 

 seeds were ofl'eied at auction, and private planters 

 could not all.. rd to pay the high prices fixed I y 

 Govtiiimiut, the slips aud seeds were ordered to be 

 caiefully destroyed. 



Croton Oil Seeds for Hapotale. — Golconda la t 



sabs of croton oil seeds (about 5 cwt.) realized 6'5s per 

 cwt. aud quoted " line fresh." — Cor. 



New Gai.way, 20th March. — Very busy iu a general 

 way with tea, and our coffee crop is only now coming 

 in. I have not much to tell that's new. Coffee, tea ami 

 cinchona are now looking well, except patches of the 

 former that have had a second dose of //. V. A large 

 area of this district is likely to be put into tea during 

 the coming year. I should think wheat and barley 

 would grow in Uva, and Government should give a 

 few enterprizing natives some seed, or, better still, 

 have say two acres planted on Government account to 

 show it will grow. 



No Sugar in Theirs. — Fancy attempting nowadays 

 to live a single day without sugar, no tea, no coffin, 

 no jam, no pudding, no cake, no sweets, no hot toddy 

 before one goes to bed ; the bare idea of it is too 

 terrible. Aud yet this was really the abject con- 

 dition of all the civilized world up to the middle of 

 the middle ages. Horace's punch was sugarless and 

 lemonless ; the gentle Virgil never tasted the con- 

 genial cup of afternoon tea ; and Socratos went from 

 his cradle to his grave without ever knowing tho 

 flivor of peppermint bull's eyes. — Detroit Free PrcsB. 



Encouraging News of Tea Grown at Hum 

 Altitudes in Ceylon. — A correspondent wri'es : — " My 

 totam is at an elevation of from 5,000 to 6.000. The 

 tea in bearing — only a small acreage running from 

 about 5,000 to 5,500 — five years old on October last 

 pruned last December : average yield to date of made tea 

 is 512 lb. per acre. Broken Pekoe reported on in Lon- 

 don as very fine, worth 2s 4d to 2s 6d per lb. and could 

 take any quantity at that figure : jat tine Assam hybrid 

 almost indigenous and mixed with pure indigenous." 



TueTea Duty : Bogawantalawa, 12th Maich. — We 

 have been enjoying most seasonable weather for the 

 lust two months, and, although blossoms are late, 

 there is every prospect of a good coming crop. The 

 rapid growth of tea is surprising everyone, and it is 

 siucerely hoped that the threatened increase of duty 

 (3d per lb.) will not lie enforced. At 400 lb. per acre, 

 it means Ro0 per acre off the proceeds, aud that means 

 all the profit ! We ought to memorialize Government 

 at once. It will all come on the poor producers, say 

 what people like. 



The Proposed War Tax on the "Cup that 

 Cheers." — Says the Madra* Mail : — InlS(i4 the United 

 Kingdom received 71 millions of lb. of tea from 

 China, and \ million of lb. from India. In 1874 

 the China tea amounted to 10 millions, and tho 

 Indian tea to 2 millions of lb., aud iu 1884 the 

 China tea amounted to 9£ millions of lbs., aud tho 

 Indian tea to 5J millions. So that already the con- 

 sumption of Indiau tea in the United Kingdom is iu 

 the proportion of nearly 2 to 3. So if the duty is 

 increased as proposed, two fifths of the yield therefrom 

 will be obtained from Indian and three fifths from 

 China tea. This is hard upon India after the sacrifice 

 of ber import duties to please England. 



Brazil Rubber Tree'.— Consequent on the decreasing 

 supply of raw rubber in the past few years, a law has 

 been passed iu Brazil, prohibiting the tapping of rubber 

 trees about 2h metres from the ground, the tapping of 

 of young trecB, or those less than twenty-live years old, 

 and the injury or destruction of young trees. The 

 fine is lixed at SI, 000 each infraction, and as an en- 

 couragement to p'anters a premium of 51.000 is offered 

 for each thousand trees planted and cultivated, at two 

 years of age, besides other favours to cultivators. To 

 guard against foreign ci mpetitioi , an export duty of 

 So, 000 is levied on eveiy rubber plant, and i?100 on 

 every kilogramme of rubber seed exported.— Printing 

 Trades Journal. 



