September i, 1885,] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



197 



Tea Cultivation — The tea committee has found 

 a very suitable portion of land for the culture of tea ; 

 i^. U at Quartier Militaire. This gives us hopes that 

 Mauritius will soon be able to say, we produce more 

 thau sugar ; we shall no longer be accused of mono- 

 cultuie ;* we export sugar, but we export other pro- 

 duce. We are bei^iiiniug to produce our own eoap, which 

 is sold daily in very large quantities, Mauritian-soap, 

 ]yhich we expect to export to other countries next year, 



N. LAKHlMruR.^Beeu having a turn round the 

 District last week. Gardens I visited all looking 

 healthy except one which has not yet pot over the 

 red spider and green H.v, the former still very bad. 

 Each manager vieing with his neighbour as to who 

 can make the best tea profitably. In the manufacture 

 dark cool rooms with thermometers, &o. , all the go 

 and liquoring several times a day to get the proper 

 tlivor and color of outturn. Weather showery, fairly good 

 or tea. — Houi" and Col.viin! .Ifail. 



Alleged Fu.ngoid Origin of " Beri-beri." — The 

 following statement, if Dr. Taylor's discovery can be 

 relied.'on, seem^ .'ery important : — WeiCliinese Becorilcr) 

 ■ have been favoured by a short visit from the Rev. 

 •Wallace Taylor, M.D., of the A. B. C. F. M. Mission, 

 Osaka, Japan. Dr. Taylor's discoveries regarding the 

 origin of the disease Kakr, better known as beriberi, are 

 of the greatest interest. He traces it to a microscopic 

 spore, which is of'eu found largely developed in rice, 

 and which he has finally detected in the earth of certain 

 alluvial and d^mp localities. 



Cinchona Bark in London. — A mercantile corre- 

 spondent writes to us from London: — "The sales of 

 bark at auction on Tuesday, 30tli June, wmt oH' steadily. 

 The reappearance of Mr. C. G. Meier as a buyer (he 

 having obtained an extensive Continental Agency) caused 

 some considerable sensation, and for a short period 

 had a depressing effect on the sales. The future of 

 bark apparently looks more satisfactory, provided the 

 market is not rusthed with oversupplies from Ceylon. 

 The unit ranges from 4id to 5^d. A very large pro- 

 portiou of the Ceylon bark ranges now below 2i per 

 cent. Bogawantalawa lately hai sent in two or three 

 parcels of renewed officinalis, analysing over 6 per 

 cent quinine. The Dock Companies and wharfingers 

 have arrapfed among themselves a new scale of 

 charge! on tea from Ist July, the main point of which 

 is the docks will allow no discount on charges, ; nd 

 all the wharfingtrs agree to allow a unifirni dis- 

 count 10 per cent of the latlei's charges ; the result will 

 be an increased charge of 40 per cent on present rates." 



Preserving Fishks. — ^ince writing about Ihe Ma-Ira? 

 taxidermist, so famous for preserving fishes in almost 

 their natural states, we have seen the following para- 

 graph in the Indian Agriculturist : — We learn that 

 Dr. Kowell, principal medical officer in the Straits 

 Settlem'-nts, has set an example which might well be 

 followed to a greater extent thau it has hitherto been 

 in this country, although we are well aware of the 

 good work done in a similar direction by Dr. Day 

 and Dr. Shortt. We refer to the fromatiou of a 

 Bcieutitio collection of the fishes and Crustacea inhab t- 

 ing both the seas and the rivers of the Ma'a.van 

 peuintula. Dr. Kowell, we find, obtained the assistance 

 of a taxidermist traired at the Madras Museum under 

 Dr. Bidie, and with his assiatance he has got together 

 specimens of something like 100 difTerent species, in 

 which the natural colours tf thit fi.sh are mo-t 

 wonderfully preserved. It is intended to place the 

 present collection in the Raffles Museum at Singapore, 

 but Dr. Kowell propns s also to send home duplicates 

 of as many his collection as possible to the Indian 

 and Colonial Exhrbiiion n'xt year-, where they may 

 ba eipected to prove objects of attr ction. 



* Curioirs that in all the discussions on coffee in Ceylon no 

 one has irsej this expressive word. We have constantly ui-ed 

 the periphrasis o£ " all eggs in one basket." — Ed.] 



Agricultuke in Mysore. — Colonel Hay, in charge 

 of the Amrat M.ahal Department, h.as obtained the 

 sanctiou of the Dewan to the formation of experi- 

 mental farms in Mysore, for the cultivation of guinea 

 and other grasses, and the storing of green fodder in 

 silos to provide wholesome forage for cattle during 

 the hot season, the scarcity of fodder during the past 

 spason having proved such a gi-eat calamity. 111,500 

 has been sanctioned for the purpose. A recent ex- 

 periment with a silo on the Kungil farm was productive 

 of excellent results.^Cii;i7aHii .Vilitary QazclU], 



A Second Version op "The Red Siioeflower" &c. 

 — The red shoeflower is called by the Sinhalese ' wada 

 mal,' and by them and the Tamils 'sapattumal' io 

 imitiitioQ of the English from the fact that the flowers 

 are used to blacken shoes with. I never heard it; 

 called ' suriya mam.' The Colombo avenue tree, 

 Thespaaia jiopulnea, c&VcX the 'tulip tree' because its 

 flowers are lilce those of the tulip, is the " suriva-guha." 

 The sunflower is the ' suriyakanti ' of the Sinhalese, and 

 I don't think the morning-j^lory is ever called by 

 such name. — Cor. [Our correspondent forgets that the 

 names given were those used in Northern India, not 

 Ceylon. — Ed.] 



Soap at the Whap.p. — The other day some 500 

 cwt. of soap manufactured from illupei oil were 

 sold by public auction at the wharf and bought by 

 Moormen at about RIO per cwt. This is said to have 

 been imported from India by some Ohetties and con- 

 tiscated as undervalued. The Moormen say that for 

 the purposes of duty it w as valued at P^9-75 per cwt., 

 and they laugh at the idea of confiscation for the 

 ditference of 25 cents. The importer is said to be 

 fortunate in securing ready cash all in a lump and 

 on so short a notice in lieu of having to wait for 

 ye.irs to realize his capital by the sale of the soap 

 iu his boutique. — Cor. 



Coppper in Arrack. — In a very interesting re- 

 port by the Madras Government Chemical Kxaminer 

 from which we should like to quote largely if we had 

 room, occurs a paragraph of local interest inasmuch 

 as the spirit in which copper was detected may have 

 been distilled in Ceylon : — 



Copper iii arrack. — It is noteworthy that a great many 

 specimens of arrack contain copper iu appreciable quant- 

 ity. Mr. Newman made an estimation of it in some cases, 

 but it was never found in such amount as to be injurious 

 to health. It is probably derived from copper condensers 

 used ill distillation. The fact is important because cop- 

 per might possibly be found in dangerous quantities iu 

 the arrack first distilled through a corroded copper con- 

 denser; also because a medico-legal (juestion mig'nt arise 

 as to the preseuce of copper iu spirit used to preserve 

 substances submitted to chemical analysis in cases of 

 suspected poisoning. 



Col. Money on Ceyi.on Tea. — Col Money writes to 

 the Indian Tea GaZ'^lle : — Ceylon goes ahead and 

 some wonderful accounts of the yield per 

 acie have come home. But it should be 

 rememl ered young planters are always siuguine. 

 I believe there have been some large yields, 1,000 

 pounds and upwards per aore, but there may be ojcep. 

 tioual causes. One );lauter wriitng lately iu a Colombo 

 paper assumes .'iOO to 400 lb. as the yield in many 

 plaC'S. I think the yield iMl probably exceed Indian, 

 for Ihey iiick pretty well all the » ear round, but it 

 is a quc-tion if they are wise to do it.* But be the 

 yield more or less thf generality of Ceylon tens are 

 very good, and no one can doubt India bai a formid- 

 able rival in that island. I wish they would calculate 

 their tea in mauuds as we do. It is simpler and takes 

 fewer figures. 



* I see red-spider is already in Ceylon. How greatly 

 this pest diminishes the yield in India! It will assuredly 

 do the same there. 



