226 
THE TRdPlGAL AGRICULTURIST. [October i, 1889. 
Next, what is graphite or plumbago ? It is almost 
pure oarbon ; and, though some varieties are very 
pure, it is generally found mixed with from one 
to five per cent of iron, silica and alumina. 
Though generally given as not inflammable, when 
Strongly heated in air or oxygen it burns, form- 
ing carbonio aoid gas. Now both in the case of 
mica-schist and graphite, the inducing cause of 
rhetarriorphism is the heat derived from intrusions 
df igneous rock. Varieties of mica schist some- 
times doour almost wholly composed of mioa, and 
not unfrequently a hydrous mica is found 
with a greasy feel. Now this greasy feel is a 
characteristic of plumbago, (as also of talc) 
and the ooourrence of a mass of mioa of a 
dark color and a greasy feel would be very apt to lead 
one to look upon it as a transition form of mica 
passing into graphite. It is more than likely that 
the Bilica and alumina in the graphite were derived 
from the mioa schist (very probably through the 
medium of the highly heated water or steam), but 
that is all they have in common. In the manufac- 
ture of grey cast-iron, graphite crystals are formed 
by the combination of the charcoal and iron. This 
much, however, is certain, — that mica is essentially 
composed of silicates of alumina, potash, and 
magnesia, and graphite or plumbago of carbon, and 
nearly pure oarbon. It would hardly appear prob- 
able therefore that plumbago was a metamorphosed 
form of mica. — Yours &o., C. D. 
[Of oourse not : like coal it is of vegetable origin. 
That taken for granted, the interesting questions 
remain : — Is it still in oourse of formation amongst 
our primitive rooks ? and if so whence does it derive 
its carbon ?— Ed.] 
BICE CULTIVATION : ME. ATHERTON 
STICKS TO HIS TEXT. 
Batticaloa, 1st August 1889. 
Dear Sib, — I thank Mr. Elliott for his laboured 
oritioism on my communications to your paper 
regarding paddy cultivation : he simply corroborates 
all I have stated, and does not controvert them 
in the least. 
I can hold a plough with his best instructors, 
and give him lessons on paddy cultivation, whioh 
has been my study since the time Mr. Elliott was in 
his nursery; but I confess that although I have culti- 
vated some of my fields I could never make them 
pay 76 per oent 1 Mr. Elliott talks of his three 
months' experience compared with my fourteen 
years' residenoe in the province : let the public judge 
between us. If we got some of the " hard bargains," 
why did he tax them so heavily that they cannot 
be cultivated without serious loss ? 
He admits that his assessment as Grain Commis- 
sioner '• on paper" revised the oommutation from 
R60.000 to R90.000, an increase of R30.000 which 
I hold is 50 per cent. The fact of his estimate 
not being realized is owing to the large extent of 
land being since laid waste by excessive oommuta- 
tion, and the inability of the farmer to meet the 
Government dues, whioh by the by is usually paid 
by " paper currency "1 
You oan imagine the hardship on those who 
have oultivated their fields against all odds to 
prooure feod for themselves and their family, to 
keep starvation from their door. God help them 
if the Government will not. 
Nothing that has yet been said disproves my 
argument as to the evils of the excessive oom- 
mutation, and its destructive influence on cultiva- 
tion. — I remain, dear sir, yours faithfully, 
EDWARD N. ATHERTON. 
[And still, Mr. Atherton says nothing about 
" bad seasons " which have probably as much as 
anything to do with local grumbling. — Ed.] 
Cinnamon Advances. — We fear that in res- 
ponse to the letter of "B." Mr. Jardine from his 
long experience will say that the "advance," 
Bystem to the peelers, is not to be got rid of very 
readily. Restrictions oan no doubt be applied and 
perhaps by degrees these may be so arranged as to 
point to a good time when the workers might be 
induced to do without "advances." It is a case of 
Festina lente ! 
Tea Prospects and Cultivation. — The Ceylon 
planters are prepared in the most active and en- 
lightened way to respond to the renewed demand whioh 
has set in for their teas in London. They are encour- 
aged by this reaction and the general assurance from 
experts, that theirs is the tea of the future, to do their 
very best, by careful cultivation and preparation 
to send on teas that will give satisfaction. 
There is further encouragement to our planters 
in the latest news from China, conveyed by our 
special telegram, to the effect, that the China 
exports are 2H million lb. short. A further cause 
of encouragement is the increasing demand for fine 
Ceylon teas for Australia and New Zealand, and 
Persia, and for ordinary teas for the Bombay mar- 
ket, so increasing the importance of the Colombo 
tea selling market. Very important analyses of 
Ceylon (as compared with China and Japan) tea 
recently effected by Mr. Cochran show the supe- 
riority of our teas and give further enoouragement 
to planters — We are all very hopeful that the 
people of the United States will yet prove good 
customers for our teas, and the Secretaries of the 
Ceylon Amerioan Company are busy with Mr. 
Pineo making all needful arrangements previous 
to the latter starting on his journey for the West 
to make known, far and wide, the virtues and 
the superiority every way of Ceylon teas. 
A Java Tea Syndicate. — The Honorary Sec- 
retary of the Soekaboemi Agricultural Association 
sends up in pamphlet form the report of proceed- 
ings of a meeting of this Association held on 14th 
April last, when, amongst other subjects discussed, 
that of tea came up. We are told that the President 
(Mr. G. Mundt) in a lengthy speech called the 
attention of the meeting to the disquieting fall 
in tea prices, which the latest news of the sales 
held in London evidenced. He was of opinion that 
most of the estates in Java had themselves to 
blame for the low prioes that their produce obtains, 
through aiming more at quantity than at quality. 
But the quantities of inferior Java tea that were 
sent to Europe spoilt the market for the better 
produoing estates, which thereby saw their existence 
threatened. It also appeared to him, judging by 
reports received not only from the Netherlands but 
from England and Germany, that the buyers were 
doing all in their power to lower the wholesale 
prices to the injury of planters, but that nothing 
was done to increase the consumption of the article 
by a corresponding lowering of the retail prices, 
and this had caused the question to arise in his 
mind, whether the time had not come to interfere 
and take the sale of the product into their own 
hands by means of a syndicate to be formed, on 
the pattern of those syndicates the object of which 
was to push British India and Ceylon teas and seek 
new markets therefor. This speech of the 
President gave rise to a lengthy exchange of views, 
in which Messrs. Hofstede, Netscher, Hall, Brevet 
and Maier took part, and it was resolved to con- 
sider more fully the form of the proposed Syndicate 
at the meeting of the 14th July (since postponed 
to 14th August). 
