96 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[July i, 1885. 



The "Tropical Aobicoltukisi" in all its volumes 

 has been added to the College Library of the Royal 

 Agricultural College, Cirencester. 



"The Fermentation of Tea," writes Mr. Johu 

 Hughes, " is indeed a most injportant subject, but I 

 think, like tlie aualytis of Si(af/e (which is attracting 

 so much attention in this country), it should be 

 investigated looally. Fermentation in hot climates 

 proceeds so much more rapidly than in temperate 

 zones." 



Ceylon Teas in London. — A gentleman in the Tea 

 Trade writes from the Lane :— '■' London, 8th May.— 

 Since my last letter to you a large quantity of Ceylon 

 Tea has been brought to auction and mostly sold. 

 Our market still remains in a firm condition, especially 

 for the finer grades, which have been well competed 

 for. Au invoice from the Hardenhuish estate has 

 shown decided improvement both in style and liquor, 

 the teas b- ing something similar to those from the 

 Loolcondera estate. A shipment from the Oliphant 

 estate (which I gather from the T. A. to be one of 

 the most elevated in Ceylon) was sold this week, but 

 the teas were greatly deteriorated in value by their 

 being over-firtd ; this over-firing is still to be noticed 

 in a large quantity of Ceylon Tea." 



The Death and Ellwood Machine in Jamaica.— 

 The trials of fibre cleaning machines, conducted by 

 a committee appointed by the Government of Jamaica 

 have o included, and in a recent number of the Official 

 Oazette, we find a copy of the committee's report on 

 the working of the machine. It differs from that of 

 the Calcutta committee, and this is doubtless due to 

 the presence of Mr. Death himself in the one case, 

 and the want of anyone expert in the use of the 

 maohino in the other, for this Jamaica record is by 

 no mtais satisfactory. Thus we find that from 

 310 lb. of gieen pineapple leaves, only 25 lb. of 

 wet fibre, or 8 lb. of dry fibre were obtained in 7 

 hours 20 minutes ; from 4SS lb. banana stems, only 

 34 lb. of wet fibres, or 6^ lb. dry in 2 hours 20 

 minutes ; from 247§ lb. rhea stems, 13| lb wet, or 

 4i lb. diy in 4 hoars 12 minutes. Similar results 

 w'ere obtained in the case of other fibre?, and the 

 committee express their regret that they are so far 

 below what they had been led to expect. We under- 

 stand, however, that the General Fibre Company will 

 shortly send out a represertative to the West Indies 

 to demonstrate what the machit-e can do when pro- 

 perly handled. — Planters' Gazette, 



Planting in Tavoy, British Burma.— Mr. Jas. D. 

 Wat-sou writes:—" I am quite well and jolly, and 

 products are nourishing nicely. I send you a photogr aph 

 of my estate taken by Mr. A. H. Loansdale, head-master 

 of the Tavoy school ; also one small photo of a coffee 

 tree in full bloom taken by our euerf/etic Diputy 

 Commissioner, Mr. C. J. A. Dubo : it will remind you 

 of the good old times in your lovely island, Leylon. I 

 am now busy felling again for cocoa, tea and Liberian 

 coffee. Have fine nur-ieries, and plants splenaid, ranh 

 and vigonus. Fine rains this sea>:ou : January rain, 

 February rain, .March rain, and we e-xpect iu April 

 about middle." The photographs have duly come to 

 hand and that of the colfec tree in ii>wer should 

 be a cure for " sore eyes " to an old cotfee planter, so 

 grand is the display of blossom. Tiie view of the 

 "Model Duko Estate " gives us a glimpse of Libtrian 

 cotl'eo and other products backed by abundance of veget- 

 ation with buildings peeping out at oue or two 

 points. The worthy manager and a kangani come out 

 ell. We have a long report in the printer's hands 

 from Mr. Watson, who, as the planting pioneer of 

 Tavoy, is practically demonstrating how model estates 

 should be formed. 



Jamaica at the New Orlaens Exhibition.— We 

 learn from Mr. Morris, that, besides making a large 

 and al^tractive exhibit, Jamaica bids fair to open 

 large trade reliitious with New Orleans, and one of 

 his chief duties, successfully accomplished, was to get 

 the quarantine regulations against Jamaica which have 

 been in existence for nearly 30 years removed. Mr. 

 Morris adds: — "We have vindicated the climate and 

 sanitary conditions of our island as being the best in the 

 West Inrlies, aud hence we shall have unrestricted trade 

 with the Southern Stiites of Ameri a all the year 

 round. This will have a great effect upon our fruit 

 trade and smaller industries, and it is really in these 

 just now (in the univtr^-al depression which has over- 

 come our larger industries) that our true safety lies." 



Tea Boxes from Japan.— Mr. H. D. Deane of 

 Maskeliya haa made good us^- of his time in a holiday- 

 trip to the Far East, to judge by the following extract 

 from a letter received from him : — " Yokohama, 23rd 

 April. — Of our travels, I have but little time to write, 

 but you may be sure we are having a very jolly 

 time of it. We stayed a fortnight at Hongkong, two 

 days at Canton, a week at Kobe and Hiogo, two 

 days at Otaka, a week at Kiote, doing from there 

 L,ake Bewake .lud the rapids, and we shall stay here 

 and at Tokio &c. until the mail after this, when we 

 return to Ceylon. I believe 1 have been able to be 

 of use to Ceylon tea-plantirs in that I have managed 

 after a lot ot trouble to arrange for an unlimited 

 supply of well-seasoned tea boxes of cedar and pine- 

 wood : the ^at^B at which I can place them 

 in Colombo I enclose on a separate memo : — 



Cost of 1,000 tea boxes 19 x IGJ x ISJ, to hold CO J^Tet. 

 to 70 ft) delivered in Oolonibo at ... ...R55500 



Plus Colombo charges and duty, say 5 per cent 275 



Plus, say lauding aud brokers' charges 5 per cent 275 



Boxes about |-inch thick dove-tailed and packed 

 iu shocks, of best seasoned wood ...R560o0 



Cost of 1,000 tea boxes 17 x 14 x 15, to hold 3» 



to 45 lb delivered at Colombo at ... ...R50000 



Plus Colombo charges aiid duty, say 5 per cent 2-50 

 Plus, say lauding and brokers' charges 5 per cent 2'o0 



Boxes above j-inch thick dove-tailed and packed 

 iu shocks, of best seasoned wood ...R505-00 



I will bring samples with me by next mail. The 

 quality of tlie boxes is Al, better than ouis iu Ceylon 

 iu every way : they are dovetailed by machinery 

 by a system called the " lock-hook," which is so much 

 stronger than our old system that no nails except 

 those used for lioopironiug will be required, aud 

 they are so beautifully made that wo planing is re. 

 quired on the estate, both the sides, tops aud bottoms 

 fitting together exactly. I cannot tell you what 

 the landing charges will be in Colombo, but I 

 have in my enclosed estimate allowed 10 per cent 

 for duty (?) and lauding and brokers' charges. [Iho 

 Government might well forego duty on ao article calcul- 

 ated to benefit a rising agricultural industry.— Ed.] 

 The larger boxes me.asuie abont 71 Ions of 40 cubic 

 feet to 1 000 boxes and the smaller about 6), tons ; but 

 in any ca'e the charges on this side as far as Colombo 

 are correct, and I chall be able to deliver the boxes at 

 Colombo (the purchaser to pay lauding charges) at 

 Kri55 00 per 1,000 on tho larger size or 55J cents 

 per box, aud l!5y0 per 1 ,000 on the smaller size or 

 50i cents per box, provided each order be not less 

 than 50 tons, for which measunment I have obtained 

 special rates of freight— the sizes of course can be 

 altered if di sir, d I at present give the sizes for « hich 

 the machine i^ set to cut." [We give Mr. Deaue's 

 experiment the advantage of an advertisement because 

 ho has personally visited Japau and taken trouble to 

 bring a new aitiola to aid our planters. As in the 



