Al/Gt)gT I, 1885.] 



THE TKOPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



131 



In Bengal about three-fourilu of the cultivation are 

 fouud ill the Darjeeliug district, which had 33,^^17 acres 

 uudtT tea iu 18S3 ; Jalpaiguri had 9,220 acres; Ohittagong 

 2,yOD; Lohardug^a 2,752, and Haziirib;\gh 1,02;J acres. 



In the Korth-Western Proviuces there were 4,775 acres 

 ia the Dun, the rest beiug iu Kiimauu and Garhwal 

 (3,043 acres). 



Iu the Punjab no tea is grown except in Kangra 

 (7,9G4 acres). There was a small plantation at Kotgarh 

 in the Simla district, but no information has been re- 

 ceived foucerniug it, and it is understood that it is not 

 now working. 



In Madras there were 4,773 acres on the Nilgiris and 

 5S0 acres in Travaiicore. Elsewhere in that Presidency 

 the inilustry is unimportant. 



In Burma there is very little tea planting. There is 

 one plantation of 150 acres at Akyab and another of 9 

 acres in Tonghoo. 



COFFRE CULTIVATION. 



The figures are so defective that it is not possible to 

 make any useful comparison witli former years. In 1^83 

 the whole area under mature plants was ly5,v:*39 acresand 

 the entire yield 30} million pounds, a greatly diminished 

 yield even as compared with the imperfect returns of 

 previous ye:u's. The causes which have injuriously 

 atfected the cotfee industry iu recent years are well known, 

 and as the subject has been fully discussed in the reviews 

 cf the sea-borne trade of the couutry it is not necessary 

 to return to it here. The acreage under mature coffee 

 plant was thus distributed in 1^63: — 



Mysore 82,108 acres. 



Madras 53,917 „ 



Cojrg 4l,()00 „ 



Tx-avancore 6,268 „ 



Cochin 1,938 „ 



Jiengal 8 „ 



Makooes. — There has been a large crop of these fruits, 

 which means that the poorer people will make an extra- 

 meal a day. Eat, however large, fine and sweet the mangoes 

 be iu Jaffna, they have, uulike the mangoes of the ^Vestern 

 Province, somewhat of an acid taste. This is true in Jaffna 

 of most of our fruits. The jak in size will beat out 

 any in tlie Sinhalese country, but those nice bags of 

 honey, when the fruit is ripe, combining all the delicacies 

 of tlie honeycomb and the essence of the sugarcane, you 

 do not taste in Jaffna. Our soil perhaps contain too much 

 of saline matter ; and our fruit-trees, instead of being left to 

 grow as well as tliey can, require a lot of cattle-niuniu'e. 

 But this Ls just what is not done. The fact is, the work- 

 ing people do not care for the exquisite dehcacy of garden 

 cultivations, but 'only seek something to .satisfy hunger if 

 only the article be not absohitely nauseating. — "" Ceylon 

 Patriot." 



Useful Plants i.v the Island of St. Thomas. — In a 

 recently issued report on the Island of St. Thomas, Danish 

 AVest Indies, it is stated that attention has recently been 

 drawn to the possibility of utilising the soil of the island 

 and making it productive. An attempt was made some two 

 years since to revive the cultivation of the Sugar-cane, 

 but it has resulted in heaTy losses, and uow that the 

 price of sugar is so ruinously low, this branch of industry 

 will probably be entirely abandoned. The cultivafiou of 

 Aloes [Agaves] and other fibre-producing plants is now 

 being tried. The climate and soil seem well adapted to 

 such plants, the hills are thickly strewn with them, and 

 if the leaves were collected, many hundred tons of fibre i 

 could be annually exported without an acre of land being 

 planted. Actual trial, it isfaid. has, however, demonstrated 

 that dj. a ton for the crude leaves is the highest price 

 that can be paid, but as this price does not appear to 

 offer any inducement to the peasants to collect the wild 

 leaves which ai-e so numerous, they remain untouched. 

 It remains to be seen whether cultivation will reduce 

 the cost of collection by localising plants, and thus rendering 

 the gathering of the useful jjortion-s easy, rapid, and 

 economical. — Gurdtneis^ Chronicle. 



OoLOKLEss Cement. — The following recipe is said to pro- 

 dace a perfectly colorless cement : — *' In an airtight bottle 

 7o grams of indiarubber cut into little pieces, are mixed 

 with 60 ,i;Tams chloroform. After complete solution of 

 india rubber, 15 grams of mustic are added, and the 

 mixture warmed for eight days till the latter is dissolved 

 also. — Queensland Planitr and Farmer. 



Seicds as "Weioiits. — In many provinces of lu.lia tho 

 seeds of Abrus precatorius are used as weights, the unit 

 of weight or seed being called the "retti," the latter 

 term applying especially to the weight. The wei^dit. as 

 appears from an article by I\Ir. Chubb in the I'/Ktrniuccnt- 

 i'-al Jo/'rnaly varies from 1'92 grains to r97;» grains. 

 Mucuna capitata is the seed which is the origin uf the 

 " massa" = 8 "retti." — GarJeiKr.s' Ckronicle. 



Cevlon Tea in Liverpool. — A correspondent writes : — 

 "It is only just getting to be known here. As yet not 

 much comes into the northern markets, but it is likely 

 that in due course it will force its way. The brands ' Black- 

 stone,' ' llookwood,' and others have come to this market. 

 What we waut is leaf of the full drinking kind ; yon 

 know iu the colder northern climes thej say we like a 

 good, strong cup of tea.'" — "Ceylon Advertiser." 



Liquid Manure. — Probably nothing conduces nu)re to 

 the success of the majority of vegetables than bei-g hber- 

 ally supplied with liquid manure. It is far more stimul- 

 ating and quicker in its effect than heavy dressings of 

 dry manure. The reason for this is ubvious, as it is 

 supplied iu such a way that the plants are able tu absorb 

 it at once. It may be made from fresli droppings of the 

 cnw, horse, sheep, >;oat — ^iu fact nearly any animal. All 

 that is required is to allow tho water to remain on it for 

 four or six days, so that, when it is used, it may be per- 

 fectly clear. Its strength, of course, must be regulated 

 according to the requirements of the crops for which it 

 is intended. — Queensland 7*/rt/?/(^/* a/t</. Farmer. 



The En31l.\ge Commission. — An inquiry was commenced 

 last week at the Agricultural Department of the Privy 

 Council which promises fo have an important bearing on the 

 future of agriculture in this country. Lord "Walsingham 

 presided over a commission of agriculturists, who will take 

 evid-^uce as to the best means of preserving green crops 

 by tlie ensilage process for the use of stock in the winter. 

 It is beyond a duubt that the British farmer's best chance 

 of competing with the foreigner is in the rearing of cattle, 

 ami some of the witnesses who have been examined state 

 that they can keep more than double the stock by using 

 ensilage, which has other advantages, such as making sure 

 of securing a crop by harvesting it in all weathers and 

 enabling an extra crop to be had. Some witnesses spoke 

 of substances that were regarded as waste products of the 

 laud being greedily devoured by animals, Mr. Harris, M. 

 P., menti- niug that the lusbes grown in the Devonshire 

 valleys, and used for bedding, were actually eaten after 

 acting as a covering for the ensilage and getting its flavour. 

 The silos for preserving the green crops spoken to by the 

 witnesses ranges! from structures specially made to ilig- 

 ging a hole in the ground and merely stacking it, suflici- 

 ently weifjhted to extract and exclude the air. Lord 

 WaLsingham's agent (Mr. Woods) spoke to ensihige beiug 

 a valuablt^ auxiliary to dairymen, as it could In; sent by 

 rail in casks, and it had actually become an article of 

 commerce, and was sold at JMalclon, iu Essex, for 50s. a 

 ton. The general scope of the evidence so far as it has 

 gone, is that the process only requires to be known to 

 be generally adopted. Mr. Motiat, agent of llie United 

 States Department of Agricultur-/, referred to the reports 

 to the American Government iu the niattfir, and to a 

 tcur in France with Mr. Kaius-Jackson, the promoter of 

 the ensilage competition at the SmithfiHld Club, The 

 Commissioners will recommence their sittings tomorrow, 

 and evidence will be taken at intervals dui'ing the Parlia- 

 meufcary session. -^Londou -Times. 



" ROUGH ON CORNS." 



Ask fi)r "Wells' "Bough on {Vmis.'' Quick relief, com- 

 plete, permanent cure. Corns, warts, bunions.' W. 1$. 

 yiiini i Co., Madras, Sole Agents, ^ 'jn^^'i ■ . 



