November i, 1889.! THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 321 
THE TRADE OF SIAM. 
Siam, like other Eastern countries at the 
present moment, exhibits signs of commercial 
prosperity, in which British merchants take the 
largest share. According to Mr. Gould's last report 
from Bangkok, while German tonnage decreased 
19,939 tons, that under the British flag increased 
by 26,585 tons. At present the carrying trade 
is as to 63 per cent, British, 21 per cent, 
German and 8 per cent. Siamese. The exports of 
Bangkok were larger than any previous year, amount- 
ing to $16,342,026, mainly on account of the very 
large export of rice, which reached 449,589 tons. 
There was also an increase in teak, due to the 
favourable s ate of the river, which admitted of 
larger quantities being floated down ; the trade in 
bullocks also showed an enormous development, 
amounting to 27,1 18 against 15,263 in 1887. Vege- 
table dye materials, gamboge indigo, &c , in Siam, 
as elsawhere in the tropics, show no increase on 
account of th i increasing employment of chemical 
dyes. The railway surveys for possible lines to 
Ohiemjmai and other northern and eastern provinces 
of Siam, initiated by Sir Andrew Clarke, are being 
rapidly carried out by a large staff of surveyors. 
Sapphire and ruby diggings also proceed with fair 
success. Most of the rubies are small, and have 
the same fault as the sapphires, being as a rule 
too dark. The commoner stones go to Switzerland, 
the better class to India. Both sorts are now found 
over a wide tract of country, the diggers are all 
natives of Ptgu, as they alone are able to withstand 
the bad malarial fevers of the diggings. Chinese 
coolie immigration is on the increase ; secret 
societies are spreading among them, and Mr. Gould, 
writing some weeks before the recent outbreak, 
expresses the opinion that some day very serious 
consequences may arise from the action of dis- 
orderly Chinese coolies in Bangkok. — London Times, 
Sept. 3rd. 
OKANGE CULTIVATION IN SICILY. 
The United States Consul at Messina, in a 
reoent report, states that the province of Palermo 
is the great orange district of Sicily. Through- 
out the province of Messina the orange was 
exterminated in 1865-70 by the " gum," and 
the lemon budded on the wild orange has taken 
its place. The Sioilian grower prefers running 
the risk of damage by frost, which, however, is 
small, to gathering his oranges when they are still 
immature. Sicily orangeB, which are, of course, 
not fully ripe when gathered, keep well for 40 days. 
Frequently the fruit when gathered is allowed to 
sweat in the groves from two to three days, piled 
on the ground and covered over with tarpaulins ; 
it is then wrapped in tissue paper, put in boxes, 
and sent to Messina. Fruit is also sent directly 
from the groves. All fruit upon reaching the ex- 
porters' warehouses is carefully inspected and 
selected, wrapped in fresh tissue paper, and repacked. 
Exporters ship their oranges as soon as packed. 
During the shipping season large firms in Messina 
employ as many as 300 women and girls, paying 
them lOd to Is a day of nine hours' work. The 
women seleot and wrap up the fruit. Men are 
employed to pack the fruit and handle the boxes. 
• The stevedores handle the boxes with great care, 
and the steamers give all possible ventilation to 
f the fruit during the voyage. Fruit possessing the 
: greatest keeping qualities is sent in sailing vessels 
: to the United States. Exporters frequently buy 
: the fruit on the trees. Thu cost of preparing and 
shipping a box of oranges or lemons to New York 
is about 4s 6d. Years ago oranges were preserved 
in aand for from four to five months for family 
use. This practice no longer prevails, as it would 
not pay on a large soale : suoh enormous warc- 
41 
houses would be required and so great would be 
the expense of handling the fruit. Preserving 
oranges in bran has been tried, but it proved too 
heating. The soil has great influence upon the 
maturing and keeping qualities of oranges. The 
fruit ripens earlier on light sandy soil than on 
clay soil. Fruit grown on the former cannot be 
left long on the trees without deteriorating in 
quality, whereas on stiff clay it can remain with 
impunity until the end of April. The former kind 
is small and of a pale ytllow, and keeps only for 
a short time, while that grown on a clay soil is 
large, keeps well, and is of a reddish colour. Tne 
fine large oranges that bring a high price in Palermo 
in summer are allowed to remain on the trees 
until the end of May, when they are stored in 
subterranean grottoes. They are produced on clay 
soil abounding in alkalis and well-decomposed 
organic matter. In the sides of the mountains 
near Palermo are many grottoes that are cool and 
well ventilated, in which oranges keep well during 
the summer ; they are spread two layers deep upon 
large mats placed at convenient distanoes one above 
the other. Every day or tw > the fruit is turned 
over and all the defective oranges are removed. This 
fruit finds a home market.— London Times, Sept. 3rd. 
COFFEE IN AMERICA. 
The imparts, as reported by the United States Bureau 
of Statistics, lor the year enuiug June 30th, 1889, 
were 578,397,454 pounds, valued at $74,724,882, against 
423,645,794 pounds, valued at $60,507,630, for the 
preceding year. These figureB show an increase of 
154,751,660 pounds; a difference in supply sufficient to 
explain market variations durin.j the past two years. 
The exports of coffee for the same period were 
17,265,354 pounds, against 15,083,019 pounds in 1888, a 
gam of 2,162,335 pounds. 
The imports for the trade ye ir recently closed are 
the largest on record. The consumption, assumed 
to be the imports minus the exports, was 9'2 pounds 
per capita, against 6 89 pounds iu 1888 ; 8'36 pounds 
in 1887; 9'2 pounds in 18S6; 9-45 pounds in 1885. 
The short crop and high prices in 1887 sent the per 
capita consumption far behind previous years, but 
this has been regaiued. If the crops of this year 
prove to be below the world's average annual require- 
ments, we may reasonably expect a decline in con- 
sumption as a partial offset against a short supply. 
We here present a table showing the exports from 
Brazil for the past five years : 
Rio. Santos. Total. 
Year ended June 30. Bags. Bags. Bags. 
1889 ... 3,874,000 2,557,000 6,431,000 
1888 ... 1,879,174 1,310,209 3,189,383 
1887 ... 3,423,353 2,493,228 5,946,183 
1886 ... 3,642,202 1,660,169 5,302,871 
1885 ... 4,093,889 2,175,627 6,269,516 
Total five years...l6,942,618 10,196,233 27,138,851 
Annualaverage... 3,388,523 2,039,247 5,427,770 
Coffee plantations in Brazil and Central America 
are paying their owners handsome returns. It is 
natural under such circumstances that the area devoted 
to coffee should be exteuded, and this we know to be 
the case iu Central American countries and in India. 
It can only be a question of a few years when ootfee 
production will again run ahead of consumption. — 
American Grocer. 
THE NORTH BORNEO TOBACCO CROP. 
Telegraphic information has been received from 
London to the effect that the Darvel Bay Co.'s first 
crop of tobacco has been sold at Amsterdam at the 
exceptionally high rate of 2 s 5d. Although, t wad 
well-known that the quality of the produce waB re-all/ 
farst clas-, ic was n t expected that more than Is 8 t 
would be realised. This ought to prove very encour- 
aging to thone interested in the success of the tobacco 
industry in British North Borneo. Mr. Walker, of 
the Su-idakan Laud Office, estimates the North Boruto 
