January t, 1886.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



503 



How TO Make Belts Ecn on thk Centee of 

 Pullets.— It is a common occurrence of belts to 

 run on one side of the pulley. This arises from 

 one of two causes : — Ist. One or both of the pulleys 

 may be conical, and of course the belt will run 

 on the highest side. The most effectual remedy 

 for this would be to straighten the face of the 

 l)ulleys. ■2m\. The shafts, may not be parallel, or 

 exactly in line. In this case the belt would incline 

 off to the side where the ends of the shafts come 

 the nearest together. The . remedy in tliis case 

 would be to slacken tlie hanger-belts, and drive 

 the hangers out or in, as the ease may be, until 

 both ends of the shafts become parallel. This can 

 be determined by getting the centres of the shafts 

 at both ends by means of a long lath, or a light 

 strip of board. — Electriad Trades Jininial. 



Fbater's E0L1.ER AND Otflef, Matters. — Badulla, 

 if it has lost some of its ancient " prestige" 

 as the land of coft'ee, is likely to come very promin- 

 ently info notice as having produced one of the 

 best mechanical appliances used in the manufacture 

 of tea. It is now about 18 years since Mr. .lobn 

 Walker of Kandy started the Bon .\ecord Iron Works 

 in Badulla, the firm being Messrs. Walker & 

 Wilson, afterwards changed to Walker ct Greig. 

 From a small beginning these works soon increased 

 so as to be a rival to Kandy. Notwithstanding the 

 great difScuUy of transport on iron and heavy 

 goods. With the decadence of coffee the workshops 

 became almost silent, and no longer were heard the 

 busy hum of machinery driven at speed and the 

 noisy steam-engine; but this is not to last long, for has 

 not the Bon Accord Works or rather Mr. Frater their 

 manager turned out a machine w-hich, with the 

 rapid increase of tea cultivation in Uva, will test 

 the capacity of the works to the fullest to keep 

 pace with the demand which is sure to arise ? I 

 have already frec[uently expressed my views as to 

 Uva tea proving not only successful, but I still 

 maintain that I'va will produce both the maximum 

 yield and a quality of tea second to no district in 

 the island. I consider the Bailway Extension as 

 good as sanctioned to Haputale, and if to Haputale 

 certainly it will go on to Badulla : for if the Legis- 

 lative Council sanction the loan for railway purposes 

 it is not likely to be rejected at home, and at 

 last the long and bitter cry of neglected Uva is to 

 be partially answered by giving the much-needed 

 relief of a Government Agency separated from 

 Kandy, it immediately becomes all the more necessary 

 that the local Government be placed in more rapid 

 and easy communication with Colombo and the 

 Executive. — J. Irvine. 



Sugar OnowiNn in New ZE-iland. — Although little is 

 being done at prefont to carry out the proposals of the 

 association recently formed in Christchurch to establish a 

 farm for silk and fruit culture at Hokianga, other indus- 

 trial undertakings are being considered which, ii given 

 effect to, caimofc fail to exercise a beneficial influence 

 upon this part of the colony. During the last session 

 of Parliament encouragement was given for the I'ro- 

 dnctiou of sugar from plants grown within this colony. 

 A bonuB of £l.fi*>(; was olft-retl for tile jiroduction 

 of the first 1,000 tons of sugar of either beet, sorguui, 

 or any other sugar-jiroducing plant grown in the 

 colony, and the produce prepared for market by 

 raacliinery permanrntly fitted up in the colony. The 

 settlers in the Waikato di-.trict are at jjresent con- 

 sidering the advisability of securing this handsome 

 bonus offered. Several meetings have been held, 

 and to some extent an agreement has been come 

 to with the farmers and the rapitalists who wouWl 

 provide the manuf;tctory plant. It is suggested that 

 the manufactory should be erected in the neiglihour- 

 hood of Hamilton, and a number of farmers .are 

 willing to grow the beet at IGs. per ton. The capital 

 required is estimated at about £25,000, and should 



I the enterprise be put fairly afloat, it cannot fail to 

 I have a most beneficial effect upon the "Waikato 

 district generally, and iude(!d upon the colony a« 

 ; a whole. At the present time about .£700,000 is 

 ; sent out of the colony for sugar, in its various 

 i forms, every year : and if a portion of this drain- 

 age of capital covdtl bo stopped by the production 

 within the colony of the sug.ir required, the a.ldi- 

 tional capital in circulation will produce a vivifying 

 effect wherever it is felt. Years ago the experi- 

 ments carried on in various parts of the ^Yaikatu 

 district sliowi^tl that sugar-beet, could be grown well 

 there, and the content of sugar was large, ranging 

 tip to upwards of 1-1 per cent. With one manu- 

 factory in successful operation others would soon 

 follow — thus, not only saving the outflow of capit/il, 

 but providing a large amount of profitable labour 

 for our jjeople, and the employment of our spare 

 c&^\ta\.~-Ait(ilo~Nt:ii:-'/.ealiii(dei'. 



iNSEcr AYuiTE Wax. — There couhl not be a prettier 

 illustration of human labour as consisting only in 

 moving matter from one place to another than the 

 accouut of the " insect white wax" trade in China 

 given in a Parliamentary lieport by Mr. Hosie, a 

 member of our consular staff at I'ekin. In the west 

 of the pnivince of Ssu-cbuan (the province bordering 

 on Thibet) grows the insect tree, an evergreen with 

 thick, dark lBa\es. In March and April peasbaped 

 excrescences or galls are found attached to the 

 bark of the boughs, and in each of these galls 

 there is a swarm of brown creatures, each with six 

 legs and a pair of club antennae. In the east of 

 the province, on the other hand, grows the wax tree — 

 usually a stump about six feet high, with numerous 

 sprouts rising from the gnarled top. In the early 

 part of May the insect carriers are buiiy carrying 

 the insects from the insect trees in the west to the 

 wax trees in the east. Packets of galls are suspend- 

 ed close to the branches, a few holes are pricked 

 with a needle in the packets, and the insects creep 

 rapidly up the branches to the leaves, and excrete 

 the wax. After ninety or a hundred days the wax 

 is about a quarter of au inch thick ; the branches 

 are lopped off and the wax removed by hand. The 

 Chinese then place the insects themselves in a bag, 

 squeeze them until they have rendered their last 

 drop of wax, ami finally throw them to the pigs — 

 a depth of ingratitude in which, alas ! " that Heath- 

 en Chinee is not peculiar." The accouut of the 

 journey through Central Ssu-cbuan which Jlr. Hosie 

 undertook in order to forward specimens of the 

 insect wax trees to Kew is very readable, and if 

 the libraries were in the way of subscribiug to Parlia- 

 mentary Papers would be widely read. Mr. Hosie 

 and bis party struck westward to the city of Chia- 

 tiug, on the right bank of the Min river; visited 

 the famous Jlount O-mei, ami did not .see the 

 "Glory of Buddha" (they " viewed the mist, but missed 

 the view"); and then went southwant to the highest 

 Hiivigable point of "the Kiver of Golden Sand.' 

 All along they journeyed thi-ough fertile country, 

 bathed in happy sunshine .and smiling industry, pa.ssing 

 here a potter by the roadside shaping his clay, 

 there a herd of swine, all carefully shod with 

 hempen shoes. Some native verses which Mr. Hosie 

 found scribbled on the wall of au inn, and of which 

 he gives a translation, have a more European, not 

 to say Cockney, ring in them : — 



Within this room you 'II find the rats. 



At least a goodly score, 

 Three catties each they 're bound to weigh, 



Or e'en a little more. 

 At night yon '11 feel a myriail bugs, 



That stink, and crawl, and bite; 

 If doubtful of the truth of this, 



(iet up and strike a light. 



" Oatties," it shovdd perhaps be explained for the 

 uninitiated, are not animals, but weights, a "catty" 

 being eciuivalent to l,j lb. — Pnll Mall lUulyet. 



