S02 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[May 1, 1886. 



CrBRi;S AND IPECACUANHA: INFOEMATION 



WANTED. 



Cth April 18SC. 



yiR, — Wonlil you or perhaps any ot your miraer- 

 oui-, rfadfv?! furnish me with some data for the 

 enltivalioM of the above products ? c..'/., conditions 

 under which best grown, yield per plant, mode of 

 cultivation, Ac, and marlset value. Kcliable in- 

 formation would bo most acceptable to, yours faith- 

 fully, PIONEER. 



[Has " Pioneer " the volumes of the Tropica! 

 A:ii'ifiilti»'i»t'.' If not let him get them. .We could 

 fill OHc-fourth coluuni with references to the pages 

 where the above products are noticed.— Ed.] 



THE PKEPAEATION OF COCOA (CACAO). 



Wattarantenne No. 2, Kandy, 12th April 188G. 

 Deau Sin, — I believe that there are few (it any) 

 in this island who arc better able to judge of the 

 marketable quality of Cocoa than Messrs. Volkart 

 Brothers, who are extensive traders in the com- 

 modity. From the correspondence in your issue of 

 the 1st instant, you will see that they draw a wide 

 line of demarcation between quuliti/ and superiieiol 

 appearance; the latter is very easily obtained, and 

 if my object had been to attract notice by a mere 

 golden appearance of the "Wattarantenne" Cocoa, 

 I might have left Mr. Jefferies and Gangaroowa 

 in the shade very long ago, but my object has al- 

 ways been to gain, a good name, not only for Wat- 

 tarantenne, but for the Ceylon product in general. 

 The letter of Messrs. Volkart Brothers amply shows 

 the commercial world that altliough the Cocoa pre- 

 pared by me may be deficient on the minor point 

 of a rich and glowing appearance, yet that, as far 

 as regards quality obtained by successful ferment- 

 ation, it is far superior to the Gangaroowa produce 

 however excellent the latter may be as a catch in 

 the European mai'kets. I believe that you will agree 

 with me that the essential quality of all good Cocoa 

 must be successful fermentation — a process which 

 must be obtained by unusual skill and patience, and 

 I do say that you arc guilty of a very tuuili act 

 of exaction in calling on me just at present to 

 give publicity to the method by which I ha\'e 

 obtained the much desired fermentation, but when 

 your numerous experienced and scieutilic corre- 

 spondents have disclosed in your columns the 

 methods by which they liave attained the nuich 

 desired end, I too might be induced to come for- 

 ward and exjilain the process I ha\e adopted, and 

 I have no doubt that Mr. Jefferies too will come 

 out with his secret of color, if secret it be. I 

 beg to enclose for publication a letter of Messrs. 

 Volkart Bros, of date (ho .'jth April 1H8(;, which 

 speaks for itself. 



Thanking you for so generously opening your 

 columns to the ventilation of a topic of public 

 and commercial interest, I am, sir, yours faith- 

 fully, ,J. P. COLTON. 



Colombo, 5th April 1886. 

 J. P. OoLTON. Esq., — Dear Wir, — lu reply to yoiu- 

 letter of the 29th ultimo, we beg to inform you that 

 the lot of cocoa you inquire about, shows iu our 

 opinion an improvement over tornier parcels with re- 

 gard tooutw.ard appearance; as to color, however, we 

 should say more evenness is still required. — 1'ours 

 faithfully, (Signed) ' Voi.K.Mii' Beotheks. 



P.S.— On tho whole the parcel is very satisfactory. 



NATIVE AGKICULTUllE AND THE D. V. I. 



Dear Sir, — I believe few are aware that the students 

 of the Agricultural School uuili-r the leadership of 

 Mr. .Tayawurdaua are eiirryiiig on paddy cultivation on 

 lands belonging to Mr. W. Aboyaratno of Kirillapane. 

 I admire Mr. Green's euorgy in endBSVduViiig to teach 



the natives bow to grow two ears of paddy where one 

 is only now grown, but Mr. Green must know well 

 that many native cultivators can ill-afford to spend 

 K22 for a Swedish plough, when native ploughs are 

 available for Pv2-.50 each. It is to be hoped that Mr. 

 Green will get our mechanics here to make a much 

 lighter and cheaper plough having nearly all the deep- 

 ploughing qualities of tho Swedish plough. Mr. 

 Abeyaratne has further shown his public spirit by 

 furnishing the Agricultural students with seed-paddy 

 free of cost, besides ploughing and sowing at his 

 own expense some of the adjoining portions of his 

 fields in the orthodox native fashion. It was very 

 unfortunate that last season's crop was destroyed by 

 large numbers of eorn-fly and unpropitious weather. — 

 Yours truly, M. 



Cevlon Te.^s.— Only 400 packages were offered in 

 sale this week, and a few of the higher grades not 

 reaching their reserve prices were withdrawn. The 

 same remarks as to the relative value Indian pekoe 

 souchongs and pekoes apply to these teas. The marks 

 "Highlands" and " Middlet(Jn ' showed desirable 

 qualities and commanded fair prices. Most of the other 

 marks comprised small breaks which always receive less 

 attention. — N.McNair & Co., atith Marcli. 



" Co.vi, Tkr SroAii." — The Manchester Society of 

 Chemical Industry has had reported to it "a new 

 substance" named saccharine, "extracted from coal 

 tar,' ■ and possessing "sweetening properties far stronger 

 than the best cane or beet-root sugar." The chemical 

 name of saccharine is "anhydro ortho sulphauine 

 benzoic acid," and " one part will give a very sweet 

 taste to 1,000 parts of water.' It has no injurious 

 effect on the human system, and patients suffering 

 with diabetes are said to have been treated with it 

 without inconvenience. Its use as a substitute for 

 sugar, and for medicinal purposes where sugar is 

 not permitted, is considered probable. Dr. Fahlberg, 

 a German chemist, is " the inventor." He combined 

 it with glucose or starch sugar, obtaining dextro- 

 saccharinc ? scarcely distinguishable from tlie best 

 mvi-M.—Brudstrcet, Feb. I88C1. 



Tea Season 18S(;.87. — Say Messrs. Stenning, In- 

 skipp * Co. in their Indian Tea Beport of 25th 

 March;— ".\ word of |caut!0n to planters at this time 

 may not be out of place, and we would urge, as 

 we have often done before, the advisability of ad- 

 hering to <i vwtlcmtclij fine sijstem of pliicl.iini. 

 The comparatively high prices that have ruled for 

 the commoner classes throughout the past season 

 have been mainly due to better quality, the re- 

 sult of a careful method of plucking, and not so 

 much to short supply, moreover, it is probable 

 that the improved position of Common China Con- 

 gou will lead to a large export from that quarter 

 next season, in which case common grades of Indian, 

 it of poor quality resulting from coarse plucking, 

 will only realize hnv prices." 



MvsoUE Gold. — The yield of gold from the mine 

 of the Mysore Company at Colar last month was 

 considerably less than in the immediately preceding 

 month, though there were three more working days 

 in March than in February. The shipments of 

 Mysore gold from Madras for the twelve months 

 April 188.T to April 188(1 (exclusive of May 1885 

 when there were no shipments), were 8,788 oz. 

 worth K 1,49,200. In the hve months December 

 188.'; to April 188(1, tlie shipments were 5,772 ozs. 

 w^ortli RH, 00,000, or at the rate of i;!-852 oz. worth 

 B7, 20,000 per annum, from only one shaft. The 

 Company has two squ;ire miles of land, strongly 

 accentuated by auriferous indication. It might 

 sink and cipiip a dozen shafts with the tOO.OOO 

 additional capital just placed at its disposal for 

 the special purpose of developments. The industry 

 is still iu its infancy -its robust infancy.— il/. Mail. 



