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2nd.— Caravonica, as a perennial big tree, must be a great advantage for 

 its simple and inexpensive culture, its great yield and its power as a tree to 

 stand trying seasons, monsoons or droughts, whereas annual herbaceous cotton 

 often perish in the germinating of the seed or in the growth either in floods 

 or in droughts. This is the fate often in the United States. As to the pests ; 

 remedy could be made by spraying tobacco water, or better still by cutting 

 off all the branches and leaving only the mutilated trunks just after the crop. 

 The trees will grow again in time for the next crop ; or even set fire to the 

 small parched grass under the trees, burning it completely so that all pests will 

 perish at same time that all green foliage of the cotton trees will be scorched. 

 I did this here in the very patch of Caravonica I. Silk, of which you gave the view 

 in your November Tropical Agriculturist. The result was the heavy crop you 

 see on the trees after seven months from the time of the fire in January, as 

 during the wet season, February-May, the scorched branches put forth innumerable 

 secondary branches loaded Avith blossoms ! This is a simple, speedy, inexpensive 

 mode of culture and pruning. 



3rd. As to . the value of its lint not being catalogued in the Liverpool 

 Weekly Report, it is not my fault. I am not a millionaire. I cannot grow millions 

 of bales of it— especially at the Australian wages of 9s, a day and no man to 

 work even for that ! 



My cotton so far has been sent here and there all over the world for 

 specimens more than commercial deals. Messrs. Elliton & Co., Cotton Brokers, 

 valued it at lOd. per lb. in November, 1901, when Upland was 6'12, Pernambuco 

 6*72. Egyptian 8|, Broach 5^, B'unggar 4-|, Bengal 4 3-16th, as stated in the " Liver- 

 pool Daily Post " of 26th November, 1904, page 10. But in the same cotton columns 

 of that issue of the " Liverpool Post" the following special paragraph 

 appeared : — Queensland cotton. We have received from Dr. Thomatis of Cairns 

 a sample of cotton raised by him. This cotton is allied to Peruvian, good 

 in colour, long silky and strong in staple and 'would sell here readily 

 at something over 9d. per lb. This cotton is ' too good in quality and too 

 expensive for the reqiiirements of nine-tenths of the spinners of Lancashire." 

 My cotton of the. season just cultivated will reach Liverpool in April, and 

 I intend to have it sold by public, auction so that all buyers from Lancashire 

 and the Continent will have a chance to judge of the value of this new 

 ■cotton, which is being largely grown in India where land and labour are 

 not wanting. Thanking you in anticipation.— Yours, 



DAVID THOMATIS. 



Cairns, Queensland, Dec. 29. 



The Ceylon Board of Agriculture. 



The Seventeenth Meeting of the Board of Agriculture was held in the Council 

 Chamber at 12 noon on March 5th. 



His Excellency the Governor presided. 



There were also present Sir Alex. Ashmore, k.c.m.g., Lieut.-Gove"rnor, the 

 Hon'ble Messrs. Nicolle, Crawford, Waee, C.M.G., and J. Ferguson, C.M.G., Messrs. J. 

 Harward, E. E. Green, H. T. S. Ward, R. Morison, G. W. Sturgess, C. Diieberg, 

 C. J. C. Mee, F. Beven, I). Joseph, Dr. Willis, Dr. H. M. Fernando, the Maba 

 Mudaliyar, and the Secretary. 



Visitors :— Mr. A. F. Borden, of the United States Department of Agriculture, • 

 and Mr. A. B. Jayasuriya. 



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