Mav I, J 886,] 



THE tROPfCAL AiikiCtJtfXJ^Wf. 



m 



Muudl is envious of the maguitioent flavour and 

 arouia uf the tea pioduceii. This he accounts for 

 by the elevation and tlic fine pluckin;,' adopted 

 hero. In Java tliey pluck coarser in consequence 

 of their richer soil and nioreforcing climate. In Java 

 tlie usual i)lanting distance is 3 x 4i in horizontal 

 rows. When the plants are taken from the nursery 

 they are top^jed, and at nine mouths the mother- 

 stem, as it is termed in Java, is cut out. Pluck- 

 ing commences about 18 months after plautiny 

 out. Mr. Jlundt thinks that even higher prices 

 would be realized by Ceylon tea planters it they 

 paid Diurc attention to manufacture, and had 

 better tea houses and machinery, hut it must he 

 remarked that at the time he spoke he had not seen 

 the best factories. From what he had seen of the 

 manufacture, it was his opinion that our teas are 

 over-fermented. In Java they do not "ferment' 

 but merely "colour" the leaf. He thinks also 

 that our tea is ' rolled too much ; they never roll 

 longer than twenty minutes, and Java tea is re- 

 markable for its good twist.* In Mr. Muudt's 

 opinion it would he better that small estates in- 

 stead of putting up a small factory and manufact- 

 uring in a small way with imperfect machinery 

 should combine and erect one large central 

 factory with the best machinery and con- 

 veniences. The result of this, he thinks, would 

 be the out-turn of better made tea with the 

 natural consequence of better prices. With such 

 excellent road and railway communication he thinks 

 no difficulty should arise in conveying the green 

 leaf to the central factory; if the estate was some 

 hours distant from the factory he would wither 

 the leaf and then send it in. 



Coffee. Mr. Mundt believes, will never again 

 amount to much in Ceylon, though the little he 

 had seen struck him as being healthy and free 

 from disease. In Java it is dying out and crops 

 are decreasing year by year. 



As to Cincimiia, Mr. Mundt thinks Ceylon planters 

 have not mastered the requirements and liabits of 

 this product. He has seen very little that is really 

 planted well, it is all planted with the idea of getting 

 returns as quickly as possible rather than with the in- 

 tention of permanently cultivating it. It is planted far 

 too closely and on land where it cannot get sufficient 

 depth of soil to grow properly. Though the elev- 

 ation of most Ceylon estates is too great for 

 Ledgerania, he thinks a bastard ledger, a hybrid 

 between ledger and suceirubra, should do well on 

 good land, but not on the .steep slopes now planted 

 with officinalis and suceirubra. It is his opinion 

 that in the course of a few years a very large 

 proportion of the cinchona planted on the higher 

 estates will die out as the ground is too steep 

 and the soil not sufficiently deep. In Java a 

 very large extent of gi'ound i& planted with really 

 good cinchona, giving an analysis of 10 and 11 per 

 cent of sulphate of quinine, and when this bark 

 is thrown on the market Mr. Mundt fears Ceylon 

 cinchona planters will suffer. In Java they never 

 touch a cinchona tree until it is seven years 

 old. A method they find very successful is to 

 mako grafts of the true ledger on suceirubra stems. 

 This grafting was formerly done entirely in the 

 nurseries but they have now hit on a means of 

 making the graft after the trees have been planted 

 out. There are very few estates there that have begun 

 to shave their trees, nearly all the bark that lias 

 been sent away is from coppiced trees. When Java 

 planters begin lo .shave they will put on the market 

 uiillinns of pounds of bark far richer in qniiiine 

 than can be produced in Ceylon. 



"True; to the cyt Java tea is perlictiun; tu tlio 

 l^aiatcitiB coueiderabl; short of perfectiou,— Kd. 



Mr. Mundt regrets the absence of roads and rail- 

 ways in Java whieli prevents millions of acres of 

 good tea and cinchona laud being planted up.* 

 They have a railway through some of their dis- 

 tricts, but the rates charged are so exorbitant that 

 very few planters make use of it. Java can take 

 a lesson from Ceylon in this respect. The Ceylon 

 railway system Mr. Mundt regards as a magnificent 

 triumph of engineering skill and the scenery of the 

 mountain region he says is very beautiful. 



Mr. ilundt goes to India in a few days after visit- 

 ing the Nawalapitiya and Dumbara districts but ex- 

 pects to return to Ceylon in about a month. 



WYNAAD PLANTERS' ASSOCIATION. 



A general meeting was held at the Pookote Club 

 on the 3rd instaut. Vrt'^ent: — Messrs. Abbott, Achard, 

 Atzeuwiler, Batty, Goodiug, Jowitt, Lamb, Tauqueray, 

 A'auKeesema, Walker and G. Komilly, Honorary Secre- 

 tary. Mr. Tanqueray iu the chair. 



Ro>i<il Commission. — Kead letter from Mr. Pasteur 

 accepting the task of representing thi.s' Association on 

 the proposed Committee to be held in London, With 

 regard to the competition of Government in cinchona 

 cidtivatiou, Jlr. Pasteur wrote as follows: — *' 1 uuder- 

 stauil that, some years ago, iu reply te remonstrances 

 from cinchona ]dauters, the Indian Government stated 

 their unwillingness to give up then the cultivation, 

 for fear of the industry being abandoned by private 

 growers in case of a serious fall in prices occurring ; 

 but they gave at the time a kind of promise, or 

 pledge, that they would not complete permanently 

 with private industry. It would be interesting to get 

 at the actual reply of the Indian .luthorities, which, 

 perhaps, might, strengthen our case against them.'' 



Mailras Forest Act. — The suliject of cattle trespass 

 was discussed, and a draft of a petition to Government 

 on the subject read and approved. 



Ciiii-liuiia. — l!ead letter from the Government Director 

 of Cinchona Plantations ou the subject of the early 

 llowering and seeiling of cinchonas as compared with 

 former years. Resolved that the thanks of the Asso- 

 ciation bo forwarded to the Director. With regard to 

 a private circular seut out last month en the suljjoct 

 of analyses, members are informed that tlie matter 

 is iu abeyance, and are requested not losend samples 

 till they hear fiu-tber on the suljject. Kead letter 

 from Mr. Winterbothani regarding the shavijig of Led- 

 gerianas and otfering samples for experimental analyses' 

 Mr. Lamb also off erod to keep a hundred ]jtdgeriana.s 

 for experiment. Resolved that the As.-ociation wi'l 

 really accept both ntfers and will bear the cost of ana- 

 lyses. — Madras Mail. 



PL-VNTING IN NETHERLANDS INDIA. 



(Tramkiicd for the Strtiits Times.) 

 The advertisement of the North Borneo Com- 

 pany announcing facilities for opening out tobacco 

 estates there has caused attention to be drawn, at 

 Batavia. to the advantages of Cotio for growing 

 that article, from that country resembling Pcli in 

 climate. The Sultan is willing to lease out land. 

 Navigation in the river there is easy and ita 

 mouth is regularly visited by mail steamers. The 

 considerations lead the Batavia Viijiblad lo the con- 

 clusion that tobacco growers seeking fresh fields will 

 do better in Cotie then in less developed North Borneo. 

 Three entcrprizing Europeans have just started 

 tobacco growing near i'adang on the West coast 

 of Sumatra upon hind about :!,OIIO feel iibove sea- 

 level. Throughout last year, their operations 

 proved unsuccessful from planting being set about 

 in the wrong season. The samples of tobacco they 

 have turned out so far, show that the land 

 chosen is suitable. The future only will "show whether 

 the irregularity of tlie rainfall in that quarter may not 

 bar success completely. 



» Half a milliou ot each would ewamp the world and 

 t\ in the eiiterprize.— Bl', 



