August i, 1885.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



tot 



Coca Seed. — A correspondent writes from up 

 country : — " Have you any idea where I could buy some 

 coca (Erythroxylon) seed ? What is Mr. Blacklaw's 

 address in Brazil ? Could he procure it, do you think ? 

 Would he do so, or would he be ani^ry at my re- 

 mitting money to him for the purchase and dispatch 

 of some ? Everyone who has got seed from Pera- 

 deniya has failed in raising plants." Mr. Blacklaw 

 will certainly not be offended at our correspondent's 

 request should it reach him ; but he may not be 

 able to procure the seed. His address is: — "A. S. 

 Blacklaw, Esq., Mangaratiba, Province of Rio de 

 Janeiro, Brazil." But what are the enterprizing J. P. 

 Williams & Bros, of Henaratgoda about ? As the seeds 

 are successfully raised at the Peradeniya Gardens, may 

 it not be possible to procure plants there very shortly ? 



Telegraph Poles.— Mr. George Simpson writes to 

 us on the subject of telegraph poles ; — There is one 

 wood and one only which unites in itself all the 

 qualities requisite for the purpose, and that wood is the 

 pi'oduct of our colony of Western Australia. It is the 

 wood known as "jarrah," a species of eucalyptus, 

 whose special qualities are that it is absolutely imper- 

 vious to atmospheric inHuences, it cannot be acted 

 upon adversely by sfa water or sea insects, is non- 

 inflammable, and having been tested for shipbuilding 

 purposes for over forty years, and also as piles for 

 docks, is found practically indestructible. M. de 

 Lesseps, no mean authority, has testilied through his 

 engineer-in-chief that after a teat of seven years the 

 jarrah used for piles in the Suez Canal sho-ved no signs 

 of deterioration, and adds that apparently it does not 

 allow of decomposition or of being deeply afteoted by 

 rot. Why, then, not try jarrah ? The wood is abund- 

 ant, and can be readily delivered in this market at 

 about half the price of teak, and in lengths considerably 

 exceeding those of the average telegraph poles. — Pall 

 Mall Budget. 



Erythrinas and Leaf-disea.se. — As dadaps have 

 never been planted as shade trees for coffee iu 

 Ceylon, and as we have always regarded as absurd 

 the idea that the erythrinas were in any degree re- 

 sponsible for leaf-disease, we feel rather sore that in 

 the following proceedings of the Madras Ai;ri-Horti- 

 cultural Society the Ceylon Olserver should seem to I e 

 connected with so unfounded a theory. It was in 

 Java the idea orij^ioated, which is thus difp ised of : — 

 Read letter from the Director of Revenue Settlement 

 and Agriculture, dated '29th January, 1SS5, forward- 

 ing for information an extract from a letier published 

 in the Wefklij Ceylon Obserivr for 27th November 1SS4, 

 which states that the wiiter was told as far back as 

 1840, that coffee leaf-disease wa.=i caused by planting 

 " Dadap " trees between the coffee plants for shade, 

 and that his experience since has convinced him that 

 this is the case ; for, wherever coffee is planted on 

 forest land, or where no "Dadap" trees are used for 

 shade, there is no sign of leaf-disease ; and requesting 

 to be informed whether from knowledgeand experience 

 of the subject the statement that planting Erythr'ma 

 trees for shade causes coffee leaf-diseaee. Read also 

 communication from the Director of Revenue Settlement 

 and Agriculture, dated 4th March 1885, No. 388-A, 

 informing that the enquiry regaiding the alleged in- 

 fluence of KryOirina indica (Dadap or Indian Coial 

 Tree) in producing leaf-disease when planted for shade 

 among coffee trees has elicited replies from several 

 geutltmen well qualified by their practical knowledge 

 to speak with authority on the subject to the effect 

 that there has not been observed in .Southern India 

 any connection between the presence of KrylUrina 

 trees and the production of leaf-disease, but that, on 

 the contrary, the effect of planting Erythrina has been 

 distinctly beneficial, not hurtful to the coffee trees 

 which it is planted to shade ; and that the replies 

 given are in complete accord on the point. 



The Putch and English Labour Sv.stems Compared. 

 — The Jlelboume Lciu/cr, reviewing a work ou New 

 Guinea, states: — "Mr. Chalmers is an admirer of the 

 system pursued by the Dutch in Java, but he has had 

 no personal experience of the working of that system, 

 so that his opinion does not carry much weight. Per- 

 haps he is not aware that even now there is such 

 a thing as forced labour on the coffee and sugar 

 plantations. There is a Dutch law in force which 

 provides that the forced cultivation of the sugarcane 

 is to be totally abolished in 1890, but there is no 

 such limitation in respect to the forced cultivation 

 of coffee. The prosperity of Java has ensued from 

 the continuation of a policy which is virtually a 

 modification of slavery. It was not until 1800 that 

 the slaves were nominally set free, and they then 

 fell under the " culture system." The event waa 

 also followed by the introduction of large numbers 

 of Chinese. It should, besides, be remembered that 

 the Dutch system has not been a success elsewhere. 

 In Java there are 400 inhabitants to the square mile, 

 while in the remainder of the Dutch Indies there are 

 only 13. Mr. Chalmers might have asked himself 

 this question : If the Dutch system is so excellent, 

 how is it that there are no fruits of it visible in 

 the western half of New Guinea ? It would, perhapp, 

 be hardly fair to ask what the Dutch are doing in 

 Sumatra. It is certain, however, that, looking all 

 round the globe, the Eoglish system works better 

 than the Dutch. Ceylon will bear favourable com. 

 parison with Java; and if we look to another quarter 

 of the globe, we see British Guiana showing much 

 more fatisfac'ory progress than Dutch Guiana. The 

 English Bystein, when allowed free scope, is entirely 

 successful. 



Ceylon Tea Wanted in China.— A mercliant 

 writes :— " What do you think of foreigners writing 

 from China for Ceylon tea 1 You will be interested 



in reading the enclosed from . Some friends 



at home actually sent him a sample of Ceylon tea, 

 and so pleated is he with it that he wants to get 

 supplied direct from Ceylon. This is praise, indeed." 

 Yes, for the correspondent, a married resident at 

 •Swatow, has been accustomed to get his tea from 

 Foochow, and " though in some seasons we can get 

 it very good, we recently enjoyed the change to a 

 sample of Ceylon." Hence the present enquiry, which 

 may lead to many more foreign residents in the 

 Far East going in for boxes of our product. What 

 a change since the time, a few years ago, when 5- 

 catty boxes from Hongkong sold by Messrs. Geo. 

 Wall & Co. nearly supplied the whole Ceylon market. 



Mn. Mylne, of the firm of Messrs. Mylne and 

 Thomson, of Beehea, recently visited British Burma 

 with the object of introducing the Beehea sugarcane 

 tniU into the province. The experiments conducted by 

 hi.n with a Beehea double-squeeze mill were generally 

 satisfactory, as far as they went. But it appears that, 

 owing to the large siz") of the cane grown and the 

 draught poiver of the cattle, which is great, something 

 more than the mill experimented with is required for 

 Burma. The dillicnlty, it is thought, will bo solved by 

 the coustruction of a doublesqneezo mill with a large 

 I reak-roll.-r, and Mr. Mylne is going to have such a mill 

 made in England and sent out to Burma, The several 

 methods of boiling cane juice adopted in South Behar 

 were also shown the Burmese cultivators, and the 

 methods were admitted by them to be superior to their 

 own. Mr. Mylne, a contemporary says, intends 

 sending a small party of Indian ngricul'urists to Burma 

 to try the cultivation of various Indian crops on a 

 limited scale. The men will be selected from Shahabad. 

 Sugarcane, peas, wheat, Indian corn, and gram are 

 among the crops with which it is proposed to cxpori. 

 ment. — Jiombay Gaztlti, 



