and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society. 



599 



A FRENCH ESTIMATE OF PLAN- 

 TATION RUBBER. 



Tho conclusion reached by M. Edouard Payen, 

 in an article on rubber which he contributes 

 to the Economistc Frangais, is that the present 

 situation is not permanent, and that it is pro- 

 bible that in ten years' time it will be necessary 

 tu turn towards the plantations of the Far East 

 when we wish to foresee the state of the rubber 

 market, instead of to Brazil and Africa, as is 

 the case today. It is almost certain now that 

 there is no lack of this article to fear; but if, 

 on this side, security is obtained, it is lost in 

 the countries for which the exploitation of the 

 wild rubber is a source of riches. These 

 countries must prepare themselves, while there 

 is yet time, to support without too much 

 inconvenience and hardshiD the consequences 

 of the competition of plantation rubber. The 

 writer mentions that Professor Perrot, of the 

 Ecole de Pharmacie of Paris, recently esti- 

 mated the land under rubber in the Far East 

 as follows : — Malaya, 186,000 acres ; Ceylon, 

 182,000 ; Java, 60,(100 ; Sumatra, 32,000 ; Borneo 

 and New Guinea, 10,000 ; India and Burmah, 

 30,000 acros. Specialists think that if, about 

 1916, the Far East produces 15,000 tons of 

 rubber, planters should count themselves very 

 fortunate. - LAC Express, May 14. 



COPRA FROM THE DUTCH EAST 

 INDIES. 



The British Consul at Amsterdam, reporting 

 on the trade of that neighbourhood, remarks : 

 —Copra has sprung into prominence in the 

 Netherlands in recent years. The Netherlands 

 consumed in 1908 about one-sixth of the world's 

 production, much of which comes from the 

 Dutch East indies. Most of tho copra for the 

 Dutch market comes to Amsterdam, whore it is 

 manufactured into various kinds of oils, edible as 

 well as for the manufacture of soap. In 1906, 

 1907. and 1908 the following quantities were 

 imported into the Netherlands : 47,689, 52,632 

 and 71,432 tons respectively, of which tho share 

 of Amsterdam was 38.567, 46,744 and 57,702 tons 

 respectively. Great care is taken in the Dutch 

 East Indies to secure a fine quality of copra, as 

 it is only from the finest qualities that the best 

 edible fats derived from this source can be pro- 

 duced. Small crops are anticipated for 1909. 

 During 1908 the average price for Java copra 

 was £ I 14s 4d per bale of 220 II) L & C. Ex- 

 press, May 14. 



JAVA COPRA 



is fast losing its good name in the market 

 owing to careless methods of preparation. The 

 Chamber of Commerce at Samarang has urged 

 the Java Government to take action by ins- 

 pecting all copra prepared for foreign markets, 

 so that only the certified article shall be ex- 

 ported. The Chamber has drafted a bill for the 

 purpose which ia now under the consideration 

 of the Government. Java copra has a high re- 

 putation from being mostly dried in the sun, 



and not artificially. But now fire-drying has 

 become so common that the time is approach- 

 ing when Java copra can no longer be marketed 

 as fair, merchantable sun-dried. There is danger 

 of its being classified low as fair merchantable, 

 or fair merchantable, kiln-dried. Further dis- 

 favour has fallen upon the article by preparing 

 it from unripe coconuts. — Straits Times, May 28. 



SOUTH CAROLINA TEA. 



Mr Consul Donnelly, reporting on the Con- 

 sular district of Savannah, says:— ...Tea, which 

 was for a long time considered one of the pro- 

 ducts peculiar to the Far East, is now accepted 

 as fully naturalised in the south, and it is stated 

 by those interested in the matter that South 

 Carolina tea will soon be as well known to 

 drinkers of this beverage as is the best leaf of 

 Formosa or Japan The South Carolina teas 

 that seem to thrive best are of the better varie- 

 ties, and teas grown in this State can now be 

 bought at one dol (4o 2d) per lb, which are said 

 to compare favourably with good grades of im- 

 ported China, Japan or Formosa teas in flavour, 

 quality and price. Good foreign teas cost in 

 this country as much as 1 dol or more per lb. 

 South Carolina tea could not compete in price 

 with much of the cheaper importations. The 

 majority ol the people here are not tea drinkers 

 — cottee being the favourite beverage, but there 

 seems to be a change taking place in this re- 

 spect. — Financier, May 1. 



A BIG CROP OF COCONUTS. 



A paragraph in an F. M. S, Contemporary 

 states that there is on Klanang Estate a coconut 

 tree which had upon it a short time ago 360 nuts. 

 Though it has not quite so many at present, the 

 tree is still a very remarkable sight. Not only is 

 it literally loaded with large nuts, but a number 

 of small ones are to be seen in the earlier 

 stages of development. Curiously enough th« 

 tree is by no means a large one, and is only 

 about eleven years old. 



PRUNING ORANGE TREES. 



" Orange Tree " asks : — Do orange trees require 

 pruning ? If so, stjite to what extent. 



The answer to this question might be "Yes" or 

 "No," but to be more definite I would say that 

 anyone who requires to ask the question will be 

 well advised to let his trees alone, for he is more 

 likely to do harm by pruning as the word in 

 generally understood than by allowing nature to 

 take her course. You give me no idea as to 

 whether you are referring to old or young trees, 

 but it may be worth whiie indicating in a general 

 way the principles which should guide the owner 

 of an orange tree in his treatment. 



We will suppose that you are referring to young 

 trees just planted. Contrary to the generally 

 accepted ideas I believe that it is as important 

 to cut orange trees hard back at the time of plan- 

 ting as it irs to so treat apples, pears, and other 

 deciduous fruit trees, and for the sam 3 reason. 



