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The Supplement to the Tropical griculturist 



(2) the use of green manuring for transplanted 

 winter rice; (3) the use of oil-cake as manure; (4) 

 the proper conservation of the excreta of cattle 

 as manure ; (5) the introduction of the Naini Tal 

 and Patna varieties of potato ; (6) the use of 

 the iron mill for crushing sugarcane; (7) the 

 use of the shallow iron-pan for boiling jaggery; 

 and, (8) the cultivation of fodder for cattle. 

 —M. Mail, Dec. 24. 



CEYLON COPRA IN 1908. 



"REMARKABLE INCREASE ABOVE 1907. 



In placing the following figures of the quantity 

 of copra exportod from Ceylon during 1908, it is 

 necessary to observe that the prices for copra 

 ruled low from January to September. The low 

 rates, of course, were depressing to owners and 

 speculators who are chiefly interested in the 

 preparation of this important commodity for the 

 Colombo market. The tightness of the local 

 money market and the depressed state of general 

 trade of the country were due, in great measure, 

 to the low values which prevailed during these 

 months for the products of the coconut palm. To 

 add to it, the utter depression in the plumbago 

 trade, in which the well-being of a large number 

 of people is so dependent for their living, caused 

 no little anxiety. In October a more assuring 

 feeling began to show itself and prices for copra 

 began to firm up— until R6075 was reached on 

 the 23rd December. This enhanced rate thisyear 

 is nowhere to be compared to the record price 

 of R86 obtained in February, 1907. 



In 1907 to Dec. 14th we had exported to the 

 United Kingdom 2,645 cwts copra. In 1908 

 the total quantity exported amounts to 26,563 

 cwts., showing an increase of 23,918 cwts. 

 From Singapore to the United Kingdom up to 

 27th November, 1908, 88,365 piculs were exported. 



In 1907 as far as 14th December we exported to 

 the Continent of Europe 331,262 cwts. In 1S08 

 the total quantity exported amounted to 663,687 

 cwts. There is a further quantity of about 

 8,000 to 10,000 cwts. to be shipped to 31st De- 

 cember, 1908, which will bring to a grand total of 

 about 673, 687 cwts., showing an increase of 339,435 

 cwts. Germany, Denmark, Belgium and Russia 

 having contributed so conspicuously in the in- 

 crease of the export thisyear. Spain, it is to 

 be regretted, not having purchased anything, 

 though 1,000 cwts. were exported in 1907. From 

 Singapore to the Continent of Europe up to 27th 

 November, 1908, 834,098 piculs were exported. 



Judging from the auimated state of the city 

 since beginning of December up till the moment 

 we go to press, we have reason to congratulate 

 the varied inhabitants of the island, that the 

 revival of trade — which came into evidence from 

 October— has considerably improved their pro- 

 spects and those of the richer and enterprising 

 classes trading in the products of the island. 

 copra and coconut oil trade op the 

 philippines. 

 In 1907 : By Acting Consul-General Horne. 



Copra.— Copra rises to second place in the 

 export trade on account of the unprecedented 

 prices ruling. The quantities exported have 

 not altered materially in the three years, but 

 prices have risen steadily from c.2'*"to c.3'7 per 

 lb. (about lid to ljd). 



Coconut Oil. — This export industry has great 

 possibilities judging from statistics for the past 

 three years. Coconut oil has always had a large 

 domestic consumption ; its entrance into the 

 export trade is a recent development. It is 

 computed that, seveu years after planting, a 

 coconut tree yields 1 peso (2s) per annum, and 

 it is gradually being realised that under such 

 conditions coconut plantations on a big scale are 

 a very profitable investment. 



CACAO IN THE AMAZONIAN REGION 

 OF BRAZIL. 



It is worth while copying the information 

 respecting cacao given in the Consular Report 

 on the District of Para in 1907, because it 

 shows how little is done there in cultivaton and 

 how much is gained from the indigenous cacao 

 as from the indigenous (wild) rubber. Here is 

 what the Consul reports from his own obser- 

 vation and experience : — 



Cocoa. — During the recent journey of 1,600 

 miles up the Amazon and one of its main tribu- 

 taries, while cocoa trees were to be seen growing 

 (often submerged in the flood of the river) around 

 the huts of the semi-aquatic riverain dwellers, 

 there was no where any semblance of what in 

 Africa would be termed a "plantation." The 

 trees grew haphazard, as near the waterside as 

 possible, and invariably on a level liable to 

 annual inundation. Beyond the immediate limits 

 of the river bed subject to this periodical over- 

 flow the ground often rose in swelling ridges cap- 

 able of easy cultivation. In a local commercial 

 report of the present month of May, 1908, it is 

 stated that "the cocoa crop of the Lower Ama- 

 zon for the present year will be a very poor one. 

 The gatherers have informed the dealers that the 

 high river this year has destroyed half the 

 crop, and that with the fall of the water the 

 rest will be wholly useless." Were anything 

 like organised agricultural life existent along 

 the Amazon and its waterways, the output of 

 cocoa and a wealth of other food supplies would 

 be merely a question of the application of 

 human labour. The only plough I have seen 

 at work in the Amazon was at Itacoatiara, some 

 750 miles up the river, on a fazenda (estate) 

 worked by an old American resident, who came 

 to this region some 50 years ago. This gentle- 

 men, with little or no capital, but the intelli- 

 gent industry of his own hands and later that of 

 his sons, has created a home life on the most 

 comfortable scale, and while producing almost 

 all the food his household needs, he exports a 

 considerable share and obtains from tobacco 

 alone a profitable export stock. The cocoa tree 

 grows wild along the Amazon, and, like much 

 else that civilisation today enjoys, we owe our 

 knowledge of this beverage to the native Indians. 

 The methods of production today are, I believe, 

 little in advance of those the early settlers must 

 have adopted from the native. Not only is 

 systematic cultivation largely wanting, but the 

 manner of collecting and drying the bean leaves 

 much to be desired. It is only another proof of 

 the natural wealth of the Amazon Valley that 

 despite this apathy and want of system the out- 

 put of cocoa should be so considerable. In the 

 middle of the last century, when slave labour 



