504 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



CARAVONICA COTTON SEED 



Is I) ling offered in abundance, since Dr. Tho- 

 matis's intimation that tho Berlin Company em- 

 ploying him is the sole seller. Messrs. Sturmfels 

 Limited, Wool and Produce Brokers, etc., of Bris- 

 bane write that they as Agents for Messrs. Seven- 

 sen and D'Oliveyra of "Gualdanar" Plantation, 

 Solomon Islands, have written the Berlin Com- 

 pany, informing them that on behalf of their prin- 

 cipals, and in conjunction with Messrs. Anthony 

 Gibbs & Sons, they sold Caravonica Cotton in 

 Liverpool last June — the cotton was grown on 

 Gualdanar from seed procured in 1907 from the 

 Plantation owned by Dr. Thomatis near Cairns, 

 North Queensland. They have a large quantity 

 of the seed for sale as will be seen from the 

 advertisement elsewhere. 



CEYLON COCONUT 0!L. 



Vice-Consul W H Doyle, of Colombo, reports 

 that the commercial phenomenon of a greatly 

 increased demand for coconut oil, accompanied 

 by greatly reduced prices, is discernible in a 

 comparison of the figures representing tho ex- 

 portation from Ceylon during the first half of 

 the current calendar year with the figures repre- 

 senting the same trade in the first half of last 

 year. His review follows : — 



The quantity exported in the period January 

 1 to June 30, 1908, was 45 per cent greater than 

 that exported in the same period of 1907. The 

 price was approximately 45 per cent lower this 

 year than in 1907. 



The increased demand is in some part duo to 

 the new food purposes for which coconut oil iR 

 being employed, but in larger part due to the 

 reduction of price. Coconut oil last year reached 

 the record price of 5S5 rupees [$189.77) per ton. 

 As the price increased the quantities purchased 

 fell off, until in November last prices broke 

 sharply, and at the beginning of 1908 oil was 

 quoted at 350 rupees ($L13'54) per ton. July 1 

 ((notations were from 350 to 355 rupees per ton 

 (of 20 hundredweight). 



The price of 585 rupees was considered prohi- 

 bitive by the large buyers, and they reduced 

 their purchases to the quantities of immediate 

 needs. The buyers remained out of the market 

 until the stagnation in the trade had forced 

 prices down to what they considered a reason- 

 able level. They are now buying in greater 

 quantities than ever before. 



In the six months ended June 30, 1908, Ceylon 

 exported 10,683.2 tons of coconut oil, as against 

 7,466.3 tons in the corresponding six months of 

 the preceding year. These figures, while the only 

 ones available for purposes of comparison, do 

 not adequately indicate the present comparative 

 activity of the trade as more than two-thirds of 

 the oil exported this year has been sold since 

 the middle of April. Exporters report that the 

 demand is steadily growing. 



Direct exports of coconut oil to the United 

 States in the first half of 1908 amounted to 

 2,338-15 tons, as against 1,626'95 tons in the 

 first half of 1907. In addition to the direct 

 exportations, considerable quantities are sold to 

 London and subsequently to American buyers. 



The practically stationary price of oil, in the 

 face of tho increased demand, may be attributed 

 to the unusually large yield of coconuts which 

 has continued since the end of last year. I am 

 informed by the superintendent of a large 

 coconut estate that at each plucking this year 

 the trees have yielded three times the number 

 of coconuts plucked last year. Thus, while 

 coconut growers are not receiving the high prices 

 of last year for their coconuts and copra they 

 are earning even greater profits from the same 

 number of trees. 



Reports received here from all of the eastern 

 countries are to the effect that the crop of coco- 

 nuts is unprecedentedly large and that the 

 prospects are for the continuance of large crops. 



In the opinion of local exporters of coconut 

 oil, the price wili not rise appreciably, no 

 matter how great the demand, while the coco- 

 nut trees yield abundantly, as they do not court 

 a repetition of the lean months which followed 

 the checking of the demand by prohibitive 

 prices. — Oil, Paint <L- Drug Reporter, March 29. 



ON RUBBER TAPPING. 



The latest on rubber tapping that I have seen 

 is contained in the following private letter re- 

 ceived from Ceylon : — 



"The old way of tapping rubber trees was to 

 pare the bark off in strips about 6" wide. 

 These led down to a central cut and into a tin 

 receiver. The place thus cut could not be 

 treated again until the bark grew, or for from 

 two to three years. I have seen trees thus cut up 

 to 40 ft. from tho ground and some trees quite 

 ruined. The new system rings the tree with 

 small punctures. Below this the bark is 

 smoothed to allow the latex to run down into 

 a circular gutter which leads into a cup. 

 I fail to see how this can hurt the most 

 tonder tree, and it is said hero that it does 

 not. Besides you can treat the same area 

 again in five weeks. It is claimed that the 

 latex is a waste product and that, given a good 

 soil and sufficient rainfall, its removal does not 

 injure the tree at all. After making the punc- 

 tures the tree is sprayed with water but why I 

 could not find out. The apparatus has not yet 

 come from Home, so I saw none at work. B — 

 is tapping trees of three-and-a-half to four years 

 old on the old system and the trees seem none 

 the worse, while the rubber fetches the same 

 price as that from old trees, though the latex, 

 cup for cup, may not give the same amount of 

 dry rubber. As to yield, a tree of ten years will 

 give from 31b. to 51b., but planters have not 

 taken so much here on the average. An estate 

 in the Straits gave 3i lb. average from trees 

 five to ten years old. Wild rubber trees belong 

 to no one and are consequently hacked .to death. 

 From 5 lb. to 10 lb. are taken out of thorn. The 

 removal of the latex does not seem to hurt, but 

 this yield moans that the whole bark is taken 

 off and the tree killed. The new system will 

 change this." 



Gkorgos. 



— M . Mai, May 8. 



