and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society. 



399 



of Tampico. Tho same class otland is now being 

 sold as high as £10 an acre, to which has to 

 be added the cost of clearing, about £2 10s. 

 The men who started their orange growing 

 about six years ago are not only making a very 

 good income out of their fruit, but have also 

 made a very profitable business by selling young 

 buddod trees to new settlers at £10 per 10D. By 

 purchasing and setting out these trees the new 

 settlers can expect a crop within four years. 

 This may be estimated at from 200 to 300 boxes 

 of fruit per acre, worth 3s. a box or more, aijd 

 the production increases annually until the trees 

 average 10 boxes each, or about 750 boxes of 

 fruit to the acre. After clearing the land and 

 setting out the young trees, a profitable return 

 is secured by planting potatoes on the same land 

 between the trees. This crop will realise from 

 £20 to £30 per acre, but should not be repeated. 



Banana growing is another profitable industry; 

 and during the past year several large com- 

 panies have been formed for the cultivation of 

 this fruit. The best lands are along the banks 

 of the Panuno and Tamesi rivers, and can be 

 purchased in large tracts for about £1 an acre 

 uncleared. Plants from Jamaica are being 

 imported in preference to cultivating the native 

 Mexican fruit. Altogether, it would seem that 

 this district offers rather exceptional chances to 

 the emigrant who is not afraid of work, knows 

 something about land, and has a little capital. 

 — Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, Aug. 14. 



TEA-BRICK MAKING AT HANKOW. 



Description of the Pkocess. 

 Vice-Consul-General Albert W Pontius, U.S.A., 

 of Hankow, makes the following report on the 

 brick-tea industry of that Chinese port: — "In 

 the Russian concession there are two brick-tea 

 factories which, with the other two in the 

 British concession, are undoubtedly the most 

 important industrial institutions of the port. 

 Brick tea is made from ordinary tea dust. It is 

 first steamed in a cotton cloth bag and then 

 placed in a wooden mould, much the same as is 

 used for making ordinary clay bricks, but 

 stronger and not so deep. The mould is placed 

 under a powerful press and the pressure is 

 maintained until the requisite consistency is 

 reached. Th« bricks are then removed and 

 wrapped up in common white paper. They are 

 exported in bamboo baskets holding 1 to 14 

 piculs (1 picul=133-| pounds). The Mongolians 

 before drinking boil the tea so as to get the 

 most out of it. This boiling does not injure the 

 taste, as there is no flavour to lose. Tablets 

 are made of the very fine kinds of tea dust. 

 About 2\ ounces of dust in a dry state without 

 steaming are poured into a steam mould on a 

 cylinder and put under a pressure of two tons. 

 When the tablets are removed from the mould 

 they are wrapped in tinfoil, then in paper, and 

 finally packed in tin-lined boxes. The whole 

 of this export goes to Russia. These factories, 

 which are fitted with costly modern machinery, 

 employ many thousands of natives. An idea of 

 the importance of this branch of the tea trade 

 may be gained by the total value of brick and 

 tablet tea which passed through the Customs 

 during the last ten years, amounting to more 

 than $18,000,000." 



NOTES FROM NYASSALAND. 



The possession of capital, however small, is 

 not too frequent nowadays among those who 

 have had the requisite planting experience and 

 are still young and enterprising enough to 

 seek their fortunes in a new country. But 

 the attractions of Nyassaland, as described by 

 our correspondent hereafter seem to be more 

 numerous by far than are generally known. 

 With land for lease at 6d per acre, or free- 

 hold at 5s to 7s 6d. good climatic conditions 

 for tropical products and even (in the High- 

 lands) for English fruits and vegetables, and 

 above a'l plenty of native labour wanting 

 employment, the advantages of the region 

 hitberto known as British Central Africa are 

 great. The dangers or drawbacks of climate 

 (including blackwater fever) are duly men- 

 tioned ; but most of these are avoidable with 

 reasonable precaution. Our readers will be 

 grateful to " H.B." for the amount of useful 

 information he gives in a small space. 



M'lanje, B. C. Africa, Aug. 21. 

 British Central Africa, or rather Nyassaland (as 

 our name has been changed) is 



WITHOUT A NEWSPAPER 



the "Central African Times" having stopped, 

 or shut down, some months ago. The country 

 can easily support a paper, as we have over 600 

 Europeans beside Indians and Eurasians or 

 Burghers in the country; so there is a good 

 opportunity for anybody to start a paper. 



OUR LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 



has been formed and there are three Unofficial 

 Members. There was a formal meeting in May ; 

 the next is to be in November. There is great 



DISSATISFACTION IN REGARD TO THE SELECTION 



of the L. C. members ; one is the head of the 

 Church of Scotland Mission, one the Manager 

 of the African Lakes Corporation, and the other 

 the Manager of the British Central African Co. 

 All these are subject to the dictation of a Com- 

 mittee, or board of directors, and liable to dismis- 

 sal or removal any day ; they are bound to give 

 (according to their agreements) all their time 

 and attention to their employers' interests, for 

 which they are paid, and not one of them has 

 any vested interests in the country. 



The Chamber of Commerce protested as 

 none of those chosen by the Governor for the 

 appointments were eligible and the plant- 

 ing industry was not represented, but were told 

 the appointments were already made; so you see 

 we are still subject to autocratic Government. 



OUR STRAWBERRY SEASON 



is on ; the yield of this lovely fruit here is enor- 

 mous, equal to the home garden. Ceylon climate 

 (as far as I recollect) does not favour this fruit. 



HINTS TO NEWCOMERS AND 

 INVESTORS. 



Aug. 29. 



As land is getting scarce in Coy Ion and some 

 of your young planters may want to try this 

 country for a living or making a fortune, I send 

 you a few notes : — 



Freehold land can be bought in Nyassaland 

 at from 5/- to 7/6 per acre, and a lease for 6d 

 per acre can be got from Government. 



