September i, 1885.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



229 



Correspondence. 



— ^ — 



To the Editor of the " Ceijlon Observer." 



NORTH BORNEO : MR. HENRY WALKER ON 

 CANKER IN CINCHON.\ AND ITS CURE ; 



GOLD AND TIMBER TRADE IN NORTH 

 BdRNEO. 

 Land aud Survey Departmeut, 29lli June 1885. 



Dkar Sik, — In the April number of the Tropical 

 AyricuUiirist, p. 70-4, there is a leiter from some- 

 one in India, asking (or a, cure against grub in his 

 cinchonas. 



I send you the British yorlh Borneo Herald for 

 April, where a possible antidote may be found (see 

 p. 2) in a cure for canker accompanied by white 

 grub in cacao as adopted in tlie Ph.li|piuK?. Tlic 

 ginger is the wild kind found in the Ceylon jungles 

 and has small marble-like roots. [Here follows a sketch, 

 which we regret we cannot reproduce. — Ho.] 



A in the sketch represents the ringing of the tree 

 that is gradually taking place, which must be well 

 cleaned out, and probably grnb will be found in 

 the hole or in the adjacent soil. A bit of ginger 

 should be squeezed in and Uft in the hole. 



B is the wedge of ginger to fit the cut 6'. 



It is worth trying. — Glad to see you take an 

 interest in our gold. I t'jok another trip up the 

 Scgania Eiver in April, and have some 4'z. of gold 

 to show. In addition I proved that woikil.le gold 

 exists on about l.iO miles of the river, cither in the 

 river or in beds of alluvial on the sides of the river. 

 Very suitable for Chinese and Malays. Our timber 

 trade is going to le a big thing. No restrictions are 

 placed on cutting from Government laud, and the 

 export tax is only one cent a cubic foot. 8ix ships 

 have sailed with timber to Australia or China, and 

 the profits are now proved to be very considerable. 

 — Yuurs very sincerely, HENRY WALKER. 



I wag particularly interested in an antidote to 

 canker, or grub, or beetle, which he explained tome. 

 It appears that the coco i in the Philipiiiiies has been 

 for some time atjfected with a difeaae which kills off 

 the trees at short notice, and from which, Captain 

 Schucke about a year ago found his plautation suffer- 

 ing. He tried several remedies but without avail. One 

 day a convict (tho Governm nt are sometimes will- 

 ing to lend convict labour at §4 a month) drew his 

 attention to a sickly tree, and digging round the roof 

 produced a couple of white grub, and further explained 

 that a beetle laid its egea in the hark. Their pre- 

 sence in thebaik causes it to turn to a rediHbh brown 

 like the canker in the cinchona in Ceylon. Having 

 cleaned the tree of these parasites and cut .-iway all 

 the infected baik it was necessary to apply the antidote, 

 which con-iats of ginger root. A bit of the root is 

 Sfiueizcd into the cankered places and also into the 

 bark of the tree, as follows. — A small wedge of ginger 

 is cut, and a downward puncture made in the bark 

 of tho tree. The kuife is held in the wound which 

 is opened by a slight pressure and the wciige tf ginger 

 i? pu-hed in tight. This should be done say in three 

 plic-8, and effect on the tree will be seen in a few 

 days. — British North Borneo Herald. 



[It will b; i.otieed th.nt it is canker arising from 

 the presence of white grub for which ginger is said to 

 lie a cure. We can quite unders^tand the hot ginger, 

 whtn brought iu contact with the grub, being inmiic 

 to the creature, but the remedy would be very ex- 

 pensive. Canker in cinchona is not due to grab. — 

 Ed.I 



FIRING TEAS: WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF 



MANY REPORTS OF CEYLON TEA BEING 



" BURNT" OF LATE? 



•2'Jth .luly 1885. 



De.\r Sir, — In almost every list of tea sales which 

 has coirje to hand lately, the remark Inirnl appears 

 against one or more marks in the list, and on several oc- 

 casions have been commented ou by the London brokers. 

 So much has this bteu the case that no surprise 

 need be felt should Ceylon tea erelong become notorious 

 for this defect. In most instances if enrjuiry is made 

 as to mode of firing, this will ba found to have 

 been done by niachiiery, and those who imagined 

 and worked in the fancied security that tea 

 could not be burned in the old " Sirocco " doubtless 

 attributed the burning to some defect in the machine 

 employed. My cxienence nf r'ryiug machinery is 

 limited to the No. 1 "Sirocco," but that this machine 

 with ordinary care will bu'n tea at a lower temper- 

 ature tnau that recommended by the makers, a recent 

 sale affords ample pi'oof. I do not mean burned to 

 such an extent as to show the black or charred leaves 

 noticeable iu the outturn from tea burnt in the choolah 

 tr.ays, hut sufficiently high-Hred to impart a decided 

 burnt Havour to the liquor and entitle the tea to 

 have rery bnrnt applied to it in the London market, 



Messrs. Davidton & Co , in a circular issued some 

 months ago, pointed to the great advantages tea de- 

 rived from a fioal tiring in the " Sirocco " and laid 

 considerable stress upon the fact that tea could not 

 he burnt at a temperature of 300 decrees, I have not 

 tlie circular beside me. I, however, took particular 

 note of that remark — it has doubtlets iiflucnced others 

 — and decided to work at a tempi rtt ire under that 

 marked on the theiniometer for the liist tiring and 

 the final firing at L'60 to be well on the .lafe side. 

 All through the season th'S system was rigidly ad- 

 hered to ; nevertheless the tea is clas.-ed as burnt. 



I do lol write this in disparagement of the 

 " Sirocco " — from what I have seen and heard of 

 other tiring machineiy, I onsidrthe No. I " Sirocco" 

 the beet and safest yet tried — but users of these 

 machines should be cautioned against working at a 

 higher temperature than 250 degrees especially in the 

 final firing. I ;.m of opinion that it is during this 

 proocFS that the mischief is done and that the temp, 

 eia ure ruiht to be reduced to about 220 degrees 

 for this opeiation. The malty Havour so much valued 

 in Mincing Lane can bu j-eadily developed at this 

 ten.perator.-; with little additional expense or loss of 

 time, and what doe.^ a trifling increase to the cost 

 signify in comparison with the all-important question 

 of m:dntaiuing the lepulation already earned for Ceylon 

 teas. A. F. S. 



THE "COLOUR" OP COFFEE OFTEN DEPEND- 

 ENT ON THE SHADE OP THE MARKET :-HOW 

 TO SECURE "COLOURY COFFEE" IN 

 PRACTICE. 



Deau Sir, — Did it ever occur to tho Wyuaad 

 P. A. that there is a sympathetic relation between 

 the colour of coffee and the io«e of th<- coffVe market? 

 80 that, in a buoyant market, buyers, in order to place 

 themselves en rappo't with sellers in the motter of 

 value, are inclined to stietch tho limits within which 

 the classification of colouiy shall apply ; whereas ou 

 a low and depreescd market buyers are naturally prone 

 to be more fastidious, and tellers for the time liting 

 to acqiiesce in a im re restricted range ? This kind of 

 sympathetic relation is however by no means eon- 

 fined to cofTee and the coffee n arket, but extends to 

 all with which I am acquainted. 



