j'-'I-V J, 



rfiaj.} 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



35 



Ari'.c!P03, of the planter in 3. PauKi, who placed some 

 Italians in the stoclis. Thaju z municipal of the nearest 

 town makes a Tory lame oxousc, for he says he only 

 hcarcV of the occurrence through the S. Paulo papers. 

 And they want immigrants ? — Eio yeios. 



A MiNAS Gkraks paper says that a larva has been 

 discovered in a district thei-e, that feeds on the 

 leaves of the coffee-trees. It is of a green colour and 

 difficult to detach from the branches. Over 50 were 

 found on a twig. Whether this will affect con- 

 suming markets is questionable, but in any case it 

 should bo looked into. —Rio I^ews. 



DuMBARA : The Monsoon, &c. — 3rd Juiie. — It cert- 

 ainly looks bke the S. W. this nioruing. If it is 

 the S. \V., it has come in very quietly. Oathe 1st 

 aod '2ud we had over 3 inches of rain, bringing our 

 rainfall at date up to 1391 : so ne are better off 

 than we were last year. The cacao crop came in 

 with a rush. It will be all in by the end of June. 

 Estimates are turning out short, doubtless owing to 

 the pods being ripened before attaining their full size. 

 lldopeltis is extending its ravages. Catching the insects 

 is very expensive work and does not have any effect 

 apparently. The only thiug I can ste for it is shade, 

 and under shade we will not get nearly as much 

 crop a< we do in the Ofen, but " half a loaf is better 

 than no bread," which will be the case whenever 

 shade is not resorted to. The Cooig fig (or " atti- 

 maram" of the coolies) makes a fine shade tree — it 

 always did for coffee. I have often Been a patch of 

 coffee, green and nourishing under one of these trees 

 whin all around it was dead. I believe the splendid 

 crops that we hear of their getting in Coorg are 

 all due to the shade of this tree. It grows easily and 

 quickly, aod is not a dense shade, and it it the 

 very thing for cacao where the cacao has been 

 cstablislied. 



OiD Cevlon Coffee Planters o.v Tea. — Both Me.ssrs. 

 MacLeod and Sinclair have returned to Ceylon more than 

 ever impressed by what they have seen and heard at home 

 regarding the good prospects for our tea. The former has 

 a hundred acres of tea on DousiJe, a half of which is 

 already giving leaf, and two hundred acres to be added, 

 making 300 acres in all. It is not his intention to put up 

 machinery just yet, but in the meantime he will dispose 

 of his green leaf to neighbors. He continues to have an 

 interest in lielgravia, which has thus far done well for him, 

 whilst Mr. Sinclair is equally 'fortunate with the coffeo 

 crops from Eearwell, of which he continues to have ex- 

 cellent accounts. It is evident from the information 

 gathered in the Lane by these friends that the feeling in 

 favor of the Ceylon tea enterprize has taken a firm hold 

 of the London financial mind. Public sales and broker-*' 

 reports are so unanimously in favor of the article that it is 

 impossible any longer to resist the iufcrcnco that the in- 

 dustry must be remunerative and the demand for- Ceylon 

 leaf is now on a thoroughly established basis. Brokers 

 declare that, even with 20t',000 acres of land under tea 

 and in full bearing, giving say, SCO lb. an acre, or a total 

 yield of 011,000,000 lb. of such tea as we are now send- 

 ing home, we need be under no apprehension about finding 

 a demand for it all at fairly remmierative prices, having 

 regard to the extremely low rate at wliieb it can be pro- 

 duced in Ceylon. ]5ut there is only one opinion in the 

 Lane as to plucking. They say " Do not go in for coai su 

 plucking, but- produce an article with which China cannot 

 eompcto and you will always obtain your price for it." 

 Five hundred lb. an acre of really good leaf will find a better 

 and readier market and pay Ijctter in the long run than 

 SOOII). or l.COOlb an acre of coarse leaf. It may suit Assam, 

 Chittagong. and Dooars planters to go ir. for quantity in 

 competition with China tea, but not Ceylon or Darjeeling. 

 ^[r. I). Keid is doing the colony a service by exposing 

 for public examination the accounts of bis JLariawatto 

 estate in the reading-room of the Westminster Palace 

 Kooms. A sale of extraordinarily fine Blackstono tea bad 

 been made just before the mail left and bad been noticed 

 and commented upon in the " City " article of the London 

 Timci. — Local " Times." 



The "Tropic.\l Aghicdlturist,"— A home subscriber 

 writes :— 



" It is an excellent magazine for those who are acth-eli/ 

 and 2'>ractically engaged in tropical agriculture, and I wish 

 you every success with it." 



A Hint to the Ceylon Authorities.— The Director 

 of Agriculture in Madras has made a' suggestion 

 with regard to the prizes to be given at Agiicultural 

 Shows which is certainly worth a trial, and has 

 met with the approv.Tl of the local Board of 

 Revenue. Instead of giving the whole of the prizes 

 in money to successful competitors at Agricultural 

 Kxhibitions, it is proposed that presentations of good 

 specimens of stock, of agricultural implements and of 

 selected seeds, should be made. The nature and kind 

 of the stock and seeds, as well as of the implements, 

 would of course be determined according to the agri- 

 cultural conditions of the district in which each ex- 

 hibition was held. It is thought that, by the adoption 

 of this suggestion, the improved stock would get into the 

 hands most likely to make the best use of it, whilst 

 at the same time it would lead to a general improve- 

 ment amongst the cattle. — Calcutta Enijlishman. 



"That Uisekable As.sistant." — A tea planter, 

 writing to the Calcutta Englishman, says : — I feel 

 like a Soudan special correspondent writing in 

 a zareeba under a bail of bullets. Only my zareeba 

 is a corner verandah of the factoiy, wliere my simple- 

 minded manager (who imagines I am inspectiug the 

 roll) can't see me, and the hail of bullets is bail — • 

 imminent hail, from some exceedingly disgusting look- 

 ing clouds which are sweeping up from south-south- 

 west. Why hail should so ficquently come from the 

 south I do not know, unless it is because that is a 

 pleasant quarter to reside in: 



^\^leu Eeouomisiug Agents are not writing, 

 AA'hen Directors leave the Board Room (with their fees), 

 You *d think they were not capable of blighting 

 Or smashing up a Manager with case. 

 The hail may come and all the bushes smother, 

 Still it melts away quite sweetly in the sun ; 

 Oh ! take one consideration with another. 

 The tea planter's life is not a hajipy one. 

 Except when be can lay all the blame on that 

 miserable assistant. 



Marking Fruit (C. L. A'.).— This is the produce of 

 Seraecarpus anacardium, is a large tree, 50 feet bi^b, a 

 native of the mountains of the East Indies, and is called 

 JIarking Fruit. 'What constitutes the fruit is the swollen 

 receptacle, which, when ripe, is yellow, and is roasted in 

 ashes and eaten by the natives. They have the flavour of 

 roasted in ashes and eaten by the natives. They have the 

 flavour of roasted apples ; but wheu nuroasted they ta.ste 

 astringent and acrid, leaving a painful sensation on the 

 tongue for some time. When niiripe it may ho made into 

 good bird-lime by pounding it. The nut is heart-shaped 

 and seated on the receptacle, black, and consists of a 

 cover or shell composed of two skins — an outer and an 

 inner — and a kernel. Between the two skins is con- 

 tained a black, acrid, resinous juice, which, before it 

 is ripe, is of a palo milk colour. This black acrid juice 

 of the shell is by the natives applied externally to 

 remove rheumatic pains, aches, and strains. In tender 

 constitutions it often causes inllammations and swelling 

 but where it docs not produce these effects it is an eflicaci- 

 ous remedy. It is iu general use for making cotton cloths, 

 and the colour is improved and prevented from runnin.g 

 by a little mixture of quicklime and water. The juice is 

 not soluble in water, and is only diifusible in spirits ot wine, 

 for it soon falls to tho bottom unless the menstrum be pre- 

 viously alkali,sed, but then tho solution is pretty complete, 

 and of a black colour. It ginks in fixed oils and unites 

 perfectly with them, but tlie alkaline solution acts upon 

 it with no better success than jilain water. The kernels 

 are rarely eaten. The wood in reckoned of no use, not nidy 

 on account of its softness hut also because it contains nuicji 

 acrid juice, which makes it dangerous to cut down and 

 work upon. — Junynul of Jlurlicittture, 



