248 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [October i, 1885. 



Minerals in Ceylon.— A Dolosbace resident 

 receatly sent us two pieces of stone which veBem- 

 bled jade in their green colouring and pent-ral 

 appearance ; but an expert pronounces on them 

 as follows :— " The green sample is very like ne- 

 phrite or jade, but is in my opinion one of the 

 softer forms of quartzite tinged green with an infu- 

 sion of copper: there is no trace of linie." Another 

 sanguine planter sends us two specimens, one of 

 which he was inclined to think "silver" or "plati- 

 num " ; but he was not here during the gold fever 

 two or three years ago, when we had samples of 

 similar "silver" from all parts of the country, 

 only unfortunately they were no more than " iron- 

 pyr-ites"— sulphuret of iron, as our referee reminds 

 us, util-ized for the manufacture of sulphur and sul- 

 phuric acid :— " Iron pyrites,— A very cominou min- 

 eral in metamor-phic rocks, such as gneiss, So. 

 Color, pale bronze, graduating to silvery white 

 and distinguished from copper pyrites by being 

 proof against the edge of a knife."— The story 

 is that one planter carefully tilled up two of his 

 almirahs with the rich silver ore he had carefully 

 picked up on the otherwise barren totuni, during the 

 mining fever of 1881-3 ! Our friend sends us another 

 sample, which is pronounced upon as follows : — 

 "The black sample is a form of talc schist (talc 

 and quartz), a sort of .soapstone (soapy feel), a steat- 

 ite as known to geologists." In answer to an enqu- 

 iry of ours : — " I believe we have trap rock such as 

 basaltic rock, greenstone, &c. in the island, and 

 there is no doubt of the existence of granite. A fine 

 out-crop of it was found near Balangoda in the form 

 of graphic granite consisting of felspar and quartz," 

 CiGAKS. — Considering the increased demand that takes 

 place every year tor Uurma cigars, a note by Mr. Oabaniss, 

 Assistant Director of Agriculture of British Burma, on 

 cigar making in that province, will be read with interest. 

 Mr. Cahanias personally inspected a number of the 

 manufactories of cigars in Burma, and also a large 

 number of cigar makers working at their own houses. 

 AV^hat seems to have struck him most was the un- 

 necessary waste of good material and the universal 

 habit of converting good material into bad material. The 

 cigar makers generally purchase tobacco of two qualities: 

 the first quality for the wrapper, which frequently costs 

 R120 per 100 viss, and the second quality for fillers, 

 or the in.side of the cigar, at prii:ps varying from K60 

 per 100 viss. If mixed qualities are jpurcbased at about 

 E90 per 100 viss, the sorting of leaves has to be done 

 by the makers themselves. It seems somewhat strange 

 that, as Mr. Oabaniss tells us, the smoking quality, or 

 the second quality, is quite as good as that of the first 

 quality, the large difference in price beiug entirely due 

 to the leaf of the latter being larger and more suita- 

 ble for making wrappers. Mr. Oabaniss, however, does 

 not tell us whether the tobacco lie alludes to is that 

 grown in British Burma, or that imported from Bengal 

 and Madras. A great deal of waste is occasioned iu 

 cutting the wrappers, though the trimmings from these 

 Me often worked in as filling. A larger quantity of thr 

 leaf is more or less damaged when made into cigars 

 by the use of an impm'e gum or paste (or fastening 

 the wrappers. This soon becomes sour, and the cigar 

 becomes mouldy .and unsaleable. Notwilhstanding all 

 Ain n-aste, the prices charged for the cigars, wliich are 



bV i^W's"eri./iW to <"'<-■ '■"P^"^ I"'"' '""' ''^''^■" " '"''K^ !"■"''' 

 lit Mr OabaniS" thinks that, by the introduction of 



more careful systt«. of working as recommended 

 u )m tlie price could ^ reduced to eight annas a 

 bnndml -Calcutta ICnglhhv... 



Mu D MOEBIS OS TE J..MAICA MUi9EtTM AND 



' • ■_'i;he Jamaica CWoKi,,; Standard thus 

 "' ;,„ps a comprehcrive anu able address by 

 """'",';';"';io,r,s :-•• We pblished i,, „„r issue .ff 



l'8th"inst!"a full reporof t^he addreog delivfrod 

 Mr. 1). Morris at '''"' ' * 



auspices of the Go 

 during the »U yt»« 



^^ Mr"'!)" \i orris at the Civertazione given under 

 tho auspices of the Govcrnonf theiivr,^\cB. Institute 

 j.,rinpthe sUytarsofiU i-it&acB, Herefen to 



the enlargement and improvement that have taken 

 place ill the Library and the Museum, and quotts, 

 with high appreciation, the eloquent remarks of 

 the late Richaid Hill — one of the most gified sons 

 of .Jamaica — on the usefulness and advantage of a 

 local Museum. In couneotion with this pai t of the 

 subject, he mentions the great progress that has 

 been made during the past four years in bringing 

 together collections of the Hsh, the birds, the insects, 

 the shells, as well as an illustrative collection of 

 island productions sueli as coffee, cacao, pimento, 

 annatto, fancy and furniture woods, spijes and 

 condiments, meal and starches, dye-woods, essential 

 and fixed oils, medicinal substances, honey wax, and 

 other objects pertaining to minor industries. Mr. 

 Morris also takes personal notice of the collection 

 of the land and Iresh water shells of Jamaica, and 

 states that the task of classification and re-,arrange- 

 ment hss been undertaken by Mr. Henry Vcndryes, 

 " whose reputation and standing in this particular 

 branch of science are a sufficient guarantee that 

 the collection will ultimately be brought to the 

 highes-t condition of elBciency." After mentioning 

 the fact that the grand and noble collections in 

 the British Museum had their beginning in the 

 materials brought together in this inland moie than 

 two hundred years ago by Sir Hans Sloaiie, Mr. 

 Morris m.iintains that in a purely agricultural 

 colony like Jamaica a Museum should possess a series 

 of all that relate to local industries and to a careful 

 and economical utilization of time and money and 

 proceeds to say : — " The importance of such a col- 

 lection as we trust ultimately to bring together 

 within these walls in aiding the development of 

 local industries cannot be over-rated. To our 

 planters of all classes such a collection will be of 

 iucalculable advantage, as it will place before them 

 the nature and character of raw materials and manu- 

 factured products and lead them to acquaint them- 

 selves with the best methods for extracting dyes, 

 fibres, perfumes, drugs and food products from native 

 plants; while at the tame time, they will have 

 before them the raw and manufactured state of 

 foreign prcducis for which both the climate and 

 soil are well a lapted, tending to lay the foundation 

 of new industries. 'Ihe great drawback in the 

 way of prosecuting new agricultural industries is 

 not so much the. growth of the | lan's th'iuselves, 

 but in finding out how to prepare the produce for 

 market in an economical and suitable form and with- 

 out wasting time and money " in blundering (hrough 

 a host of tiials" to the desired ends. Mr. Morris 

 makes due reference to the valuable operations of 

 the Library of the Institute which under the able 

 direction of the energetic Librarian, Mr Priest, 

 " contributes in no small decree, to the diffusion of 

 the best class of current literature, not only amongst 

 the people of Kingston and tha neighbourhood, but 

 by means of its brauohee through many other j.ortion 

 of the island." Meatieli is also made of what the 

 Institute bae done in eslnhlishing a series of publio 

 lectures obtaining the extension to Jamaica of the 

 Cambridge Local Kxamination, and arraUf^ing on 

 behalf of the Government and Ihe community at 

 large, for the proper representation of Jamaica at 

 the seveial industrial exhibition which have taken 

 place during the p.ast lew years. In connection with 

 this matter, we deem it right to record the high 

 appreciation which the people of Jamaica eutertains 

 of Ihe service Mr. Morris hai done, not only in 

 making Jamaica take such a prominent place at the 

 New Orleans Exposition, but in using his endeavour 

 and influence to bring about a removal of the 

 quar.antino restrictions which prevented anything 

 like regular, satisfactory, comniunicatioD with New 

 Orleans, 



