December, 1908, 



Edible Products, 



rupees. Ia 1906-07 about 39 millions 

 of hundredweights were exported— 

 bringing ia about 18*5 crores of rupees. 

 These figures and similar figures of tlie 

 current year, when the prices are high, 

 go to snow that the prices of Indian 

 rice in the foreign market varies from 

 about 1 shilling 9 pence per bushel to 

 4 shillings. On the other haud, the 

 price of American rice fluctuates be- 

 tween 2s. 6d. to 4s. lOd. per bushel. Hence 

 attempts should also be made to obtain 

 a better price for our product in the 

 foreign markets. This can only be done 

 by suiting our articles to these markets. 

 It is said that the last process to which 

 American rice is subjected before placiug 

 on the market consists in polishiug. 

 This gives the grain a kind of pearly- 

 lustre and increases its value in the eye 

 of the purchaser. This process is very 

 simple and consists of covering the 

 grain with a thiu coatiug of paraffin 

 aiid passing soft pieces of skiu over 

 them. 



Another thing to which attention 

 should be paid is the improvement in the 

 quality of the grain. It is well-known 

 that rice varies in quality and price 

 enormously, A bushel of ordiuiry rice 

 may be worth aoout one rupee, whereas 

 the same quantity of superior rice would 

 fetch nearly five rupees. Cultivators 



generally prefer to grow the inferior 

 sort of the grain, because they largely 

 grow it for personal consumption ^rather 

 than as au article of merchandise. I Be- 

 sides this, the initial cost of growing 

 rice and the difficulty of finding a mar- 

 ket for it acts as a discouragement. 

 Tue extensiou of the railwayj.system 

 and the development of the foreign trade 

 of the ordiuary country will remove the 

 latter difficulty, whereas the former can 

 only be met with by mercantile farming. 

 Unless capitalists turn their attention 

 to scientific farming on a large scale, 

 any considerable improvements in the 

 agricultural industries of this country 

 can hardly be hoped for. 



Lastly, great beneficial results may 

 follow if the recent experiments of Mr. 

 Smith, the Deputy Director of Agricul- 

 ture, Bengal, prove practicallyj, success- 

 ful. His experiments indicate that it 

 is quite possible to grow a crop of spaddy 

 in rotation with jute in the same year. 

 If this is practicable without the risk 

 of rapid soil exhaustion, the output of 

 this grain can be increased in this coun- 

 try enormously, and thus increase the 

 income of the cultivator, as well as 

 benefit the consumer, by lowering high 

 prices of this necessary product — Indo- 

 European Commercial Intelligence and 

 Trade Register. 



THE SOEKABOEMISCHE LANDBOUW VEREENIGING, JAVA. 



Offers the following Prizes for Papers on Tea Cultivation in Java. 



A prize of 100 florins for I 



(Een prijs f. 100,— voor I 



A prize of 150 florins for II 



(Een prijs van f. 150,— voor II 



A prize of 150 florins for III 



(Een prijs van f. 150— voor HI 



A prize of 100 florins for IV 



(Een prijs van f. 100— voor IV 



A prize of 

 (Een prijs 

 A prize of 

 (Een prijs 



A prize of 

 (Een prijs 



A prize of 

 (Een prijs 

 A prize of 



(Een prijs van f. 100— voor IX 



150 florins for 

 vanf. 150— voor 

 200 florins for 

 van f, 200— voor 



200 florins for 

 van f, 200 — voor 



200 florins for 

 van f , 200 — voor 

 100 florins for 



V 

 V 

 VI 

 VI 

 VII 

 VII 

 VIII 

 VIII 

 IX 



Coolies; levying and use of working force. 

 Werkvolk: aanwervenen benutten werkkrachten). 

 Choice of seed, collection of seed and nursery. 

 Zaadlkeuze, zaadlinning en kweekerij). 



Treatment of young plants (?) 

 Outginning en aanleg plantsoenen). 

 Maintenance of the plantation (?), weeding and 

 tillage of the grourd. 



Onderhoud van den aanplant : wieden en grond- 

 bewerking). 



Mamiring : cattle, artificial and green manures. 

 Bemating : stal-, kunstmest en groebemesting). 

 Diseases and pests and their treatment. 

 Zietenen plagen, en hare bestrijding). 

 Pruning and plucking. 

 Suoei en pluk). 



Preparation of the products. 

 Bereiding van het product). 



Working up of the product: sorting, packing and 

 despatch, 



Afwerking van het product: sorteering, afpak 

 en verzending naar de afecheephave. 



