THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. |August ij 1889. 
Mb. W. J, Forsyth, formerly of Maturata, 
Ceylon, and who has since travelled about a great 
deal — has at length, we learn, settled down in 
Guatemala to open up and cultivate a large coffee 
estate of his own. We wish him all success with 
our old staple and it will be of interest to learn 
whether the leaf fungus or bug troubles Mr. 
Forsyth's trees and how he is off for labour. 
Cotton Cultivation. — We trust Mr. Blackett 
will respond to Mr. Holloway's challenge in respect 
of the profitable character of cotton cultivation 
in his experience. Of course it is quite possible 
that cotton, which may be shown to be scarcely 
worth cultivating by Europeans, may prove a 
fairly profitable industry for natives. But in Mr. 
Blackett's caBe, his splendidly fine crop was valued 
so highly that it could scarcely fail to be profitable? 
Planting in Bdbma. — We call attention to 
Mr. J. D. Watson's letter and extract from Mr. 
Hudson's Beport given in our page 
The latter once more shows what a splendid 
country Burma is bound to become when cultiva- 
tion extends over her splendid alluvial soil ; but 
fortunately for the present generation in Ceylon 
and other parts of the East, that time is not yet 
— labour is very scarce and means of transport 
difficult. Men now-a-days fight rather shy of 
pioneering work such that which Mr. Hudson 
indicates. 
Exotic Timber Trees. — The Assistant Con- 
servator in the Central Province (Mr. Alexander) 
has distributed a circular to planters all over the 
hill districts, which, if duly responded to, ought to be 
the means of bringing in very useful information. It 
contains a " Table showing comparative growth, &o. 
of exotic timber trees, place of growth in district, 
province, elevation, rainfall ; also giving the name 
of trees, their native country, height, girth, age, how 
planted, aspect of soil, general uses, with remarks." 
The trees specified with their habitats are as 
follows : — 
Eucalyptus Marginata, jarrah, Western Australia ; 
E. ftostrata, red gum, East Australia ; E. Diversi- 
oolor, karri pine, West Australia ; E. Globulus, blue 
gum, Tasmania ; E. Obliqua, stringy bark, New 
South Wales ; E. Paniculata, iron bark, East and 
West Australia ; E. Resimfera, red gum, New South 
Wales; E. Robusta, mahogany gum, East and West 
Australia ; E. Longitolia, brown gum, West Australia; 
E. Gunnii, Tasroauia ; E. Calophylla, red gum, East 
and West Australia ; Acacia Decurrens, black wattle, 
Victoria and N. S. Wales; A. Melauoxylon, black 
wood, Victoria and N. S. Wales ; A. Dealbata, silver 
wattle, Victoria and N. S. Wales ; A. Pycnantha, golden 
wattle, Victoria and N. S. Wales ; A. Longifolia, 
Victoria and Tasmania ; Araucaria Excelsa, Norfolk I. 
pine, Norfolk Islands ; A. Ounninghamii, Moreton 
Bay pine, Queensland ; A. Bidwillii, Bunya Bunya 
tree, Queensland ; A. Oookii, Cook's pine, New Ca- 
ledonia ; Biota Onentalis, Chinese arborvitse, China 
and Japan ; Oasuaridna Quadrivalvis, the sheaoak, 
South Australia ; 0. Equisetifolia, swamp oak, Eastern 
Asia ; Oupressus Macrocarpa, large coned cypress, 
California ; C. Torulosa, bhotan cypress, North India ; 
C- Sernpervireus, common Cypress, Persia ; Oryp- 
tomeria Japonica, China and Japan ; Cedrela, Toona, 
Indian swamp cedar, India ; Galliandara Samen inga- 
Bamen, South America; Cedrus Deodara, Indian cedar, 
North India; PrenelaKobusta, rocky bay pine, Aus- 
tralia ; Grevillea Robusta, silky pine oak, Queensland ; 
Pinu.s Longifolia, long-leaved pine, Himalayas ; Pinus 
lusignis, the remarkable pine, California ; Myroxylon 
Pereirse, Jials;iui of Peru, Salvador; Jambosa Vul- 
garis, rose apple ; Malay Archipolago ; Eriobotrya 
■Japouica, luquat, Japan ; Tiustauia Uonferta, Queens- 
land ; Tectona GrandlS, teak, India, JJurmah ; Swiet- 
touia Mahagoiii, maliagony, Central America. 
Bdoab Cultivation in India. — Few people 
have a proper idea of the extent to which sugar 
is produced in India almost entirely for home 
consumption. The area under cane is estimated 
in the latest official report at 2,500,000 acres yield- 
ing on an average of coarse sugar, 20 cwt. per 
acre— so that the total crop is equal to 2 J million 
tons of sugar. But this is not all. Apart from 
the cane, an immense quantity of sugar (jaggery, 
&c.) for native use is made from the palm-trees, 
more especially the date, in Central and Northern 
India, the palmyra further south, and only very 
little from the coco-palm which scarcely extends 
beyond a fringe on the shores of Travancore and 
Cochin. The statistics of area under palms are 
however manifestly imperfect: an account giving 
for all India: — 
Date palm 168,262 acres 
Palmyra „ 14,100 „ 
Coco „ 2,930 „ 
while another report gives for Madras alone 
Coconuts, dates and palmyra 29,800 acres. 
And there must certainly be more than 2,930 acres 
of coconuts in all India. An article on this subject 
from the Pioneer we have marked for our Tropical 
Agriculturist. 
Tea Culture and Preparation. — Direct answers 
to these three questions, I am not able to give, but 
as a contribution to the discussion on the questions 
involved would say : — 
1. If the inquirer has been following any parti- 
cular line of advice, and think he is aggrieved, he 
surely knows best who is responsible to him and in 
what way. 
2. That to have tea leaf in paying quantity is of 
greater importance than either strength or flavour 
and that to get leaf in such quantity on many 
patana and old coffee soils will not be possible 
without the help of some kind of manure. The 
opening up of such soils while applying the manure 
will enable the roots to reach the subsoils on 
which so much of our hope depends much sooner 
than they would otherwise jjp. 
3. The question of quantity or quality can hardly 
be decided even so far as Ceylon is concerned until 
we know how many pounds of poor Chinese quality 
has been made fit for sale by the blending with it 
of our superior quality. And if we did know this 
surely it would he better for us to send quality to 
that amount, as well as the corresponding amount o f 
buality required to blend with it — as long as the 
cost of production aDd sale was covered — rather than 
continue to bolster up the China trade by sending 
quality only. — N. 
Indian Mustard Oil.— It is suggested by correspon- 
dents of Indian journalists that merchants in the 
Agra district, which produces large quantities of mus- 
tard seed, should form a syndicate, purchase the oil- 
pressing mills on sale in Bombay and Calcutta, and 
prepare mustard oil on a large scale for export to 
London. The oil-cake could also be exported, though 
a good deal would be consumed as cattle food in India. 
A hundred pounds of mustard seed, advocates of this 
scheme say, give from 34 lb to 36 lb of the oil, hence 
300 lb of seed has to be sent to England to produce 
108 lb of mustard oil. It is therefore manifest that 
sending the oil in place of the seed is the most profit- 
able from of procedure. To promote this project the 
merchants should advance money to the cultivators 
to grow pure mustard and cress crops. The common 
garden cress yields a superior culinary oil, and is very 
easily cultivated. One hundred pounds of cress seed 
will give 57 lb of oil ; thus 200 lb of cress seed gives 
as much oil as 300 lb of mustard seed. If the Assam 
tea planters would press and export the mustard-seed 
oil, and retain the oil-cake, it would supply them with 
an excellent manure for tea plants. The cress could 
be easily sown between the rows of tea plants, now 
taken up by growiug weeds and grasses, notwithstand- 
ing the spring deep hoeing. — Chemist and Druggist, 
May 25th. 
[To grow a green crop to be buried before seeding 
is a mode of fertilizing : to grow plants for their 
seeds would exhaust the soil and injure the tea 
bushes— Ed.] 
