264 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [October i, 1885. 



Faber, probably au immigrant or descendaut rf an im- 

 migrant from Nlirnburg, employs 160 persons in bis pencil 

 factory. OrluMS employ lesser numbers, six firms giving 

 crucibles as tbfir exclusive maJiufacture ; tbree, lead pencils; 

 four, foundry facings and lubricants ; seven, stove polisb 

 and lubricants. It will thus be Sfren that except in the 

 branch of pencil-makinci', and perhaps cloctrotyping, the 

 New World has gone, oris rapidly going, in advance of the 

 old in the plumbago industry, which means corresponding 

 advance in the ^teel industry. It is surely a striking incid- 

 ent in the romance of commerce that this ancient eastern 

 isle of " Serendib,'' the scene of the mythical adventures 

 of Sindbad the Sailor, should be the main source of sup- 

 ply of an article so useful in the industries and elegan- 

 cies of life, the iippliances of peace anrl war, and the pur- 

 suits of the artist anil literary man. not only to countries in 

 the eastern henii'<phere, but to the regions of the Far 

 Western woi-M. 



Having noticed the leading establishments in Europe and 

 America, where our Asiatic ore is so largely utilized, let 

 us now turn to one one of the compounds, or yards, with its 

 brick and tar *' barbecue " or platform, and surrouniling 

 sheds, in which Sitdialese men, women, and boys pre- 

 pare, assort, and pack the mineral when receiveil in 

 Colombo from pits, none of which are nearer than thirty 

 miles, and some of which are so distant as the District 

 of Hambantota at the eastern extremity of the Southern 

 Province. Tlie chief exhibitor of plumbago at the Mel- 

 bourne Exhibition of 1880-81 was Mr. W. A. Fernando, of 

 No. 1, Erownrigg-Strcet, Cinnamon Gardens. Colombo, 

 and a desciipti<ni of bis establishment, which the editors 

 of the Ceyloii Obserrci- gave in their jr.iper of August 12th, 

 1880, is, in all sulistaiitial details, correct in August 18S5. 



The description was then stated to be reproduced, and 

 the closing remarks were to the following effect: — 



We now icel confident that the number to which the 

 pursuit gives employment was much under-estimated in 

 1880, and that, considering thnt 5,000 persons were said 

 to be engaged in mining in one year in a single district 

 ot the Nortli-W( stern Province, our higher estimate of au 

 average of 20.000 men, women, and children at present 

 engaged in the various operations of mining, carrying, pre- 

 paring, packing, and shipping Ceylon plumbago, is not be- 

 yond the truth. 



It is curious that the Sinhalese women should entei'tain 

 a prejudice against plumbago as poison, seeing that it is 

 included in the native pharmacopceia. We should have 

 expected members of what Artenius Ward called " the 

 female sect " to have been more trouliled about the soiling 

 of their pi r-ons and clothes by contact with the mineral, 

 but in truth a coating of the shining ore, while easily got 

 rid of by the \\-e. of water, jjroduces no such hideous effect 

 as that so fandiiar to us now in Colombo of the truly 

 uncanny-looking coaling coolies, when proceeding to their 

 houses after Icatling or unloading the bunkers of one of 

 the multitnde of m.-ignificent steamers winch now resort 

 to our harbour. A polish of person, if not of deportment 

 and manners, is the re.'ult of working amongst even the 

 dust of pininbago, and it is curious to sec the darK-skinned 

 coolies of liie pinmbasio stores walking about with their 

 bodies shinine' as if they were electrotype statues vivified. 



In its further metamorphic progress from vegetable to 

 mineral, the foi m of carbon we call plumbago has ccrt- 

 tainly taken a great step in advance of the carbon we call 

 coal, in getting rid of smoke entirely, and also of dirt. 

 Coal, however, cannot be accused, as plumbago .justly is, 

 with causing a whole roof-covering of tiles suddenly to fall 

 off, from the sh'])periue!s created by wind-blown particles 

 of the greasy ndneral. We were greatly amused by Mr. 

 Fernando's slate ment at the time, but others, Europeans 

 included, who have to do with the preparation of plum- 

 bago, have fully confirmed his representatien as to the 

 incompatibiliiy of p'l mbago dust and tiled roofs. In this 

 connection we would advise visitors to |ilumbago compounds 

 to be careful bow they bear themscdves in such slippery 

 places. A sud.Un step on to the polished platform may 

 end in an uidignified tumble. And this reminds me of the 

 sensation produced many years ago in Mincing Lane by 

 the peculiar n])pearaiice of some Ceylon colTee which hall 

 been dried on a barbecue where plumbago had been pre- 

 viously spread. An attempt to impart a factitious colour- 

 ing to tlio iieans was suspected until the requisite ex- 

 planation was afforded. 



As this paper may be read beyond the limits of Ceylon, 

 it may be as well to explain that caflj'jn is a word, curi- 

 ously enough of Malay origin, applied in Ceylon to plaited 

 branches of coconut palms, used for roofing houses, sheds, 

 carts, &c. Comjiound is a yard or enclosure, and barbecue 

 is a platfo! m. 



I have ah-eady shown, what I maybe allowed to repeat, 

 that for the average shipments of 1 2.000 tons per annum 

 of plumbago fiom Ceylon for the past five seasons, the 

 yearly supply of casks must have been 45,000 and that the 

 manufacture of these alone must have given welcome and 

 remunerative employment to carpenters out of work by 

 reason of the partial collapse of the staple colo' ial in- 

 dustry; this apart from the large numbers of persons 

 (estimated above at 2n,0i)0) engaged in miiuug, carting, 

 preparing, packing, and shipping tiie mineral. 



Let us, therefore, hope that the plumbago industry of 

 Ceylon may cc-niinue to prosper and extend, not as the 

 result of wars or rumours of wars, but because of the steady 

 and beneficial progress of the peaceful industries anrl arts 

 which contribute to the elevation of humanity in all th-it 

 constitutes comfort, happiness, and means to cultivate the 

 joftier instincts and destinies of our race. 



The Cultivation of ],]Bi'ia\N CorFi?Ecn fhe M:r- 

 gui experimental plantation m H.uimi O' ntmues to 

 be sn.^cessful, but it is jet dcu'-ful whether Ar;-bian 

 coffee will thrive in Mergui. 'I'lf experim'Ut- in 

 the cultivation of cocoa, nutmeg, i.nd vanil a le' d to 

 show that th^se Ueei can proba! ly be grown and 

 propag.Tted successfully, but further trials in ihepio- 

 pagatiou of t')e nutmeg, and the fi ound^i'iou !■' the 

 vanilla plant are necessary to demonstrate this. — Madras 

 Mail. 



Pumpkins .48 Fodder — Attention has been dirfcicl 

 in Queensland to the value of pumpkins as fodc e ■ 

 for horses. One writirsays :— " I c nsider pumpkins 

 a first-rate winter feed, ki oping the bowels opfn 

 and giving a gloss to tie coat. It I^ very hard toget 

 horses to take to them. I ha^■e irietl almost ever\- wav 1 

 could think of— chopped tbejumpkins up and tdven 

 it with chaff ond corn, (lut salt mo the nosi bajs, 

 boiled it — to no purpose. We h:d a good supply 

 last winter, and wanted to ftid eiu nor^es i n if but 

 they would not touch it. i be > i ly way is to get 

 a horse which has been fed on pumpku s and let 

 them go with your horses. When oi ce a boi>e takes 

 to them he becomes ve y fond if iliis feed. Kor feed- 

 ing prize stock tbey are of great value. One beiled 

 jiunipkin is wirlli two uncooked ones ' — Madras Mail. 



The Tea Tkade in Austkalia — M Jules Joubert 

 writes from Melbourne to a C.deiitta p pet ; — " yir. 

 During my slay in India I used unreniiti,nii; ell", rt.s 

 to induce parties inteiesUd in the tea traiie to alti r 

 their taciics and enlarge their biisiuisj with cur co'on- 

 ies, where a laige and prolitaile market ex.sts lor 

 Indian tias, pr.ivided it be [ropeily and judiciously 

 exploited. May I once moie vtniure to advihe tta 

 planters c r tea syndicates to open in the great centres 

 of population in these colonies retail dejor.s of the 

 genuine articled Let a tii:il be in; de in Sydney snd 

 Melbourne first ; the expi n = c would not be veri great. 

 Indeed I know many tnisfwertliy p' I'pio in ei hi r city 

 who woidd gbidly undi rtake the 'bu.«in'ss' and ni k" 

 all necesiary advances, pr' v ded an agieemcnt be en- 

 tered into by some resp.msible firm or syndicate to keep 

 them supplied with regular sliiim irs. As ir is, ili- 

 majority of fhe te.i shippid is used for mixing wiili 

 rubbish. Theco; sequence is that 'Jndianteas' iire i ot 

 inlhodtmiid thiy would beif tbe;. were sold in tlieu- 

 unadulu r Hid state, when 1 fi cl cmilii cut tb.y hi uld 

 very soon take the lead ot all o'lers." [VV. be !■ ve 

 that Mes-is. J.iines HM:1y & In. <l Melbi u:i.e and 

 Messrs. liv,''!-!. Brown & Co. of Sydui\ have d.no and 

 are doing tlip'r best, but ihc Au- raliaii colonists do 

 not yet und rit. nd giving an ad quate price for a 

 good artic'e, having been so long accustomed to cheap 

 China rubbish, — Kd.] 



