and Magazine nj the Ceylon Agricultural Society.— Sep., 1910. 



279 



U.P.A.S. I. MINIATURE EXHIBITION. 



Rubber from 3,500 feet. 



This little " side-show " to the Annual Meet- 

 ing was— though very email at d arranged 

 hastily and under great disadvantages for want 

 of suitable tables, exhibition cases, &e.— dis- 

 tinctly successful for a first effort. Of Rubber 

 particularly there was a very interesting dis- 

 play, samples having been sent in from several 

 estates in Travancore, Cochin, the Nilgiris, the 

 Shevaroys, and Mysore. No prizes were 

 awarded, so comparisons are not called for. It 

 should be said, however, that the Rani Rub- 

 ber Company, Ltd., showed finest thin pale 

 crepe, thin medium crepe, gristly sheet crepe, 

 thick gristly crepe and scrap — all machine- 

 made and excellent. Venture Estate sent some 

 fine biscuits (Ceara), while Eldorado Estate 

 supplied specimens of Para sheet and biscuit. 

 Hailyburia estate, Peermade, contributed Ceara 

 sheet, and Palapilly Estate, Cochin, Para sheet 

 and biscuits, Thore were samples of Para sheet 

 also from the Travancore Rubber Company. 



The Nilgiri specimens comprise smoked and 

 iinsmoked Para and Castilloa from Glenburn 

 Estate, which were especially noteworthy as 

 the product of trees grown at an elevation oj 

 .3,500 fee/,. These were exhibited by Mr. A G 

 Nicholson, The Indian Peninsula Rubber and 

 Tea Estates, Limited. 



A neat little show case from the Shevaroys, 

 (Brooklands Estate; brought down by Mr C 

 Dickins, showed what can be doue in those Hills 

 in the production of Ceara Biscuits. 



Aglatti Estate, Munzerabad, Mysore, sent 

 Ceara sheet and biscuit ; and a few stray samples 

 of thin Ceara rubber from the estate of the 

 Hon. Mr J C Hamilton were thrown into the 

 general collection, though they had not been 

 brought down for the purposes of the Exhibition. 



This will suffice to show the representative 

 character of the exhibits in ' the Rubber section.' 



Samples of Tea arrived from only three estates 

 in time for the Exhibition (a fourth estate's 

 selections having been delayed), and the tea- 

 tasting and judging that had been intended did 

 not take place, because of the small ' field.' 



Coffee from Coorg and the Shevaroys was not 

 of qualities to call for special remark, the fact 

 being that there were few samples left on 

 estates by the time that notice of the Exhibition 

 was given. 



Coorg exhibited a small show of Pepper, and 

 the Shevaroys one of Cardamoms; but these, 

 also, need only be mentioned very briefly. 



The Hon. Mr J G Hamilton, Planting Mem- 

 ber, exhibited a large series of Coffee leaves 

 illustrating his remarks made at the meeting on 

 the subject of Coffee Hybridisation. At the 

 beginning of the series were specimens showing 

 the type of leaf produced by pure species of 

 Arabiea, both of the ordinary variety and the 

 Coorg variety, of Liberica, robusta, Jamaica 

 Coffee, and Nyasaland Coffee. This collection 

 was followed by a series of leaves of the Arabica- 

 Libonca hybrids, of the '2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th 

 generations, showing very clearly how selection 



and breeding had produced good typos now 

 under observation, and at the same time some 

 of the sports from the dosirod type. The whole 

 collection was most interesting and well dis- 

 played, and it is to be hoped that at eonie future 

 exhibition Mr Hamilton will bo able to exhibit 

 a similar series of finished coffee. 



Mr Hamilton also exhibited a series of leaves 

 illustrating the differences between Ceara Rub- 

 ber ( Vanihot Glaziovh) and the Maniooba varie- 

 ties, Manikot d'chotoma, M. piauhyensis and M . 

 heptaphylla. 



The three kinds of spraying machines 

 were on view, as well as a sample of nitroline, 

 the new -nitrogenous fertiliser about which the 

 Scientific Officer read a paper at the meeting. 



The Scientific Officer exhibited herbarium 

 specimens of a number of leguminous plants col- 

 lected in South India. This collection promoted 

 a great deal of interest and discussion, and its 

 value was much enhanced by the kindness of 

 Mr G H Krumbiegel, the Economic Botanist 

 and Superintendent of the Mysore Gardens, 

 who was good enough to exhibit living speci- 

 mens oiditoria m/anijolia, indigofem tflandulom, 

 and five different kinds of eroialaria, suitable 

 for green dressings, as well as a number of her- 

 barium specimens and drawings of leguminous 

 plants to be found in India. — Planters' Chronicle, 

 Aug. 13 



BANANA FIBRE. 



There is not a village in India that has not its 

 cl urap of banana trees and not a village in which 

 the fruit is not gathered and the fibre in the stalk 

 wasted. It has been left to the Chinese to teich 

 us how the tons of banana fibre thrown on the 

 rubbish heap every year can be converted into 

 banaua cloth and sold at a most remunerative 

 price. A sample of this cloth was recently shown 

 at theChung king fair(says the Allahabad paper.) 

 As this enterprise is a brand new one, high prices 

 are to be expected, but these are sure to right 

 themselves as the demand for this kind of cloth 

 grows and the supply endeavours to keep pace 

 with it. The important point is that this ap- 

 pears to be an industry well suited for exploi- 

 tation in India, and perhaps the Agricultural 

 Department or the Pusa authorities may care to 

 see what they can do with it, for unless the lead 

 is taken by some one, the ordinary villager is not 

 likely of his own initiative to become interested 

 in the matter. 



POULTRY-FARMING IN S. INDIA. 



Captain J F Tyrroll, R. A , thus concluded an 

 interesting article on "The Prospects of Poultry 

 Farming in South India," published in the Nil- 

 giri Fanciers' Gazette : — " This, then, is the 

 general statement I make— that a poultry farmer 

 in South India has the prospect of making a 

 profit of a least R5 per hen per annum. If you 

 believe it and want to increase your annual in- 

 come by R5,000; you must have a poulcry farm 

 of about eight or nine acres in extent with a 

 stock of 1,000 laying hens."— M. Mail, Aug. 17, 



