SjO 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[JONE t, 1886. 



Cinchona. — Then the GoTernment lia^ soraething 

 lietter than mauy a gold mine in its cinchona 

 plantations on the Nilgiris. These estates, oeeiipy- 

 ing an area of 850 acres, represent an outlay of 

 £208,174, and the actual amount realised has 

 been £109,2fi0. So thut virtually thf Gnvornraent 

 has been recouped for its whole investniejit, and 

 it now owns upwards of half a million of cinchona 

 trees, of which a moiety are Ojfieiualis and Stic- 

 ciruhra. — Mailrus Mnil. 



Tea Bulxino. — In the number of your journal for 

 .January Vth 1881, there is an article headed " Tea 

 Bulking iu India and Ohina," from which T would 

 ask y^ur permission to reproduce the paragraph whi^^h 

 describes thd method it bulking adopted by 1 lie Ohin»se. 

 The method i8 as follows ; •• Immediately after the 

 final firing, and while the tea is still hot, it is spread 

 iu even layers, two or three inches in thickness, one :)n 

 tKe top of the other at the end of a godown, the height 

 and breadth of the heap being according to the siz'^ of 

 the parcel, or chop as it i.s there called, to be made. An 

 ordinary wooden rake is then drawn down the face of 

 the pile, thus rakins; an equal quantity fr.im all the 

 layeri, and securing (the all-important point) a 

 thorough mixture of the tea. As fast as it is raked 

 down it is shovelled into baskets and weighed, an 

 equal quautitv being put iuto each chest." — Honir- 

 aTid Colonial Mnil. 



Tea : the Weather Reports fkom Assa.m are gen- 

 ei'ally favourable, although the nights continue 

 rather cold in some parts, and a few gardens in the 

 Dibrughar District have had their tea plants and 

 buildings damaged by heavy storms. A good deal 

 of injury has also been done by hail to many gardens 

 in Kachar the plants being completely stripped of 

 their leaves. Those gardens which have escaped 

 the hail promise a successful season, flood rain 

 has at last fallen in .South Sylhet, but the season 

 must from the long drought prove a late one. The 

 reports from the Darjiling and the Terai are fairly 

 favourable, but more rain would be acceptable and 

 in the I)uars, where it has been very dry good rain 

 has now fallen Chittagong has also had a good fall 

 ot rain, and there has been a little in the Ha/ari- 

 bagh District but the continued cold weather has 

 rather damaged the prospects in the Kangra Val- 

 ley. — '^alrutta Eniilisluimti. 



The it. S. Go%'ernme"jt'h Tea Faum. -Commis- 

 5!ioner Colman, of the Department of Agriculture, 

 has quite an unfavorable report upon thf govern- 

 ment tea farm at Hummerville, S. C. Mi-. \'ardell, 

 the superintendent, writes him that the scvi-re winter 

 and protracted cold weather have stripped the tea 

 ]i]ants of their foliage. He says that he thinks 

 :'.ome varieties are dead to the root. He has found 

 one variety standin'; in certairi places that endurer. 

 the cold better than others, and from which no 

 leaves have lallen He i"^ now engaged in plowin;; 

 between these plants, but.sayslhat he discourages all 

 applications for (hem, because they are evidently 

 enfeebled by the cold weather and in no condition 

 for removal, ('onnnissioner dolman is understood to 

 be of the opinion that this cKperiraental tea farm 

 had better be abandoned, as he is having propagnled 

 on the ground? of the department tea plants sulli- 

 eient number to meet .all calls lor them, r.rail 

 xtreel yiiaah imr,. [Full details ot this failure will 

 be given in the Tropical Aiirifidlurist. — En.] 



RrrECTS oe thi: htf irrnniCANE IM Frn 

 The cry of "Pity poor Fiji!" m.ay well again be 

 rained. In the midst ot severe depression the archi- 

 pelago has been desolaterl by a hurricane. DhIriIs 

 like the following ought Iu make lis- thankful that 

 we aie beyond the infiuence of Cyclones :-Durmg 

 iho morning news ota specially disastrous c'laracter 

 '■.as received from the natives on the windwanl 

 side. They reported that on the Wednesday 

 night the nea had broken in on them and 



had rushed np in furious strength to between 50 

 and 60 feet above the usual high tide level. This 

 had completely wrecked the whole windward side 

 of the island which is undefended by a sea reef, 

 and the water had done more damage than the 

 wind. The town", ot Vadr.avadra, Yodua, IJrela- 

 Nacavanadi and Vauuaso and Malowai were com- 

 pletely washed away. Lamiti has partially destroyed 

 and in Vanuaso a shark was kiUe.Hamong the houses. 

 The whole coast line is comnletely wrecked and 

 changed in'*appearanoe and the condition of the 

 people is pitiable in the extreme. — Fiji Times. 



The Latest Repout or a " Peufected" MiCHiNE 

 FOB Clearing Rhea Fibre is thus given in the 

 Gardeners' Monthly in a letter from New Orleans : — 

 Mr. I. Inneuat has on exhibition in Machinery 

 Hall a machine for cleaning and preparing for 

 nse Jute and Ramie taken in their rough state 

 from the fields where grown. It would seem that 

 he has perfected his machine ; if so he will really 

 be a second Whitney to the S.>uthern States. The 

 cotton States use millions upon millions of yards 

 of jute bagging every year. The jute can be made 

 a very successful crop in the Southern States — 

 the only difficnlty is to sufficiently cheaply pre- 

 pare it for use. With a machine that will properly 

 and cheaply do its work the South will have a 

 new paying crop and millions of dollars that now 

 go , abroad can be kept in the country. What it 

 would do for jute it would do tor ramie cloth lirfna 

 which nearly rivals silk. 



The Rise of the Tea Industrt in Ceitlon. — It i«t 

 not surprising that some at least of those who 

 have invested their money in Indian tea, and 

 adhered to the industry through good and evil 

 report should feel somewhat anxious upon the .sub- 

 ject of Ceylon rivalry in tea. It is not soothing 

 to the feelings of the juoneers of an important 

 industry to tlnd that ere their projects are completed, 

 and before the sunshine follows the rain, a neigh- 

 bouring island, wdiich had been regarde.l by many 

 as played out, should suddenly assume a new vitality, 

 and blossom out in tea which is not only of excellent 

 flavour but which owing to the favourable geographi- 

 cal .and topographical conditions uiuier which it 

 is grown can be placed at a favourable price on 

 the Iiondon market. Some of the pioneers of tea 

 who, to use a phrase taken from our tr.ans-.\tlantic 

 cousins, have put " their bottom dollar" on tea in 

 Assam, Caehar, Darjeeling, and thf' Kangra Valley, 

 must, as we say, feel anxious le;:t some ot their well- 

 laid plans should " gang aglee." I.et them take 

 h^art. There is more than room iiiough for all. 

 Undoubtedly Ceylon is a rival and a fornndable one, 

 but this should serve to stimulate rather than to 

 weaken the efforts of Indian tea planters. Their 

 cuminon enemy ir. China, if the li 1 m mrty be used 

 in regard to a irado competitor. Tea planters in 

 India and Ceylon are on their metal. They are 

 anxious to make good tea, and they wish to do this 

 iheaply. They are keejiing their eyes open very 

 wide, and are earnest in seeking (he best methods 

 of ensuring these objects. We believe that it is 

 impossible to keep down the unfailing enterprise 

 of the Briton, and that as obstacle-, beset l\im he 

 lakes in fresh (|uantities of determination to over- 

 corn ■ them. .Mready the import of teas fi'om India 

 and Ceylon lias made some havoc in the shipments 

 from f'hina. and tlm game goes on merrily. The 

 consumer is beginning to realise that there in 

 economy in the teas grown by Ills own countrymen. 

 They are sirong end possess a llavour, which grows 

 on the palate. Dealers, wliolesale and rctad, recognise 

 this, and there never was a better prospect than at 

 the present time for these teas. Iiot the friendly rivalry 

 between India and Ceylon continue, and may planters 

 profit by theexperience ot o.ich other —H. rf- C. Utiil 



