March i, 1890.J 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
609 
CIGAE INDUSTRY IN COLOMBO. 
The launching of new industries in Oeylon, such as 
cotton spinning, gem mining, and cigar making, are all 
indications of an enterprif-ing spirit atuoDgst the friends 
of that Island worthy of all commendation. They 
will offer employment to a considerable number of the 
poorer classes of the native community, and whilst 
helping them to better their condition in life will be 
the means of circulating a good deal of money within 
the island, and thus indirectly contribute to the volume 
of trade, and the profits of traders. 
The latest of these new industries is the cigar trade, 
and so far as the readiness with which suitable labour 
at a reasonable cost can be procured there is little 
dcubt that with the good quality of Oeylon-grown 
tobacco an excellent article may be produced, and 
provided the packing of the inside of each cigar be 
fairly conducted, and all rubbish rigorously excluded, 
they may in time command a good market at very 
remunerative rates. So difficult is it to obtain good 
cigars in England at any moderate price, that a good 
article at a moderate charge would be welcomed by 
tho'6 smokers, whose numbers are now largely on the 
increase. 
We are in some little doubt, however, whether the 
Oeylon Oigar Company may not have to reckon with a 
disadvantage not taken into account, the extreme 
humidity of the climate during at any rate, the south- 
west monsoon in Colombo, where the business of 
cigar-making is to be conducted. The extreme damp- 
ness of the Colombo atmosphere, so much lauded by the 
promoters of the Cotton Spinning Company, will, we 
fear, be detrimental t~> the keeping properties of cigars. 
An answf r to this objection may be offered in the state- 
ment that for a long time to come it is expeoted that 
the entire output of the < olombo cigar factory will be 
disposed of on the spot, as soon as made, to local con- 
sumers and to passengers by steamers calling at the 
port en route for Australia, where the import duty 
being heavy, most smokers will carry away a box or 
two, of which they will break bulk, and so avoid the 
import duty. We venture to doubt if cigars passing 
into consumption immediately after makiug would 
meet with approval, a certain ag'e being necessary 
to mature them. We may be mistaken in this, but 
it is certain that the finest cigars on the London market 
come from Havana, Sumatra and Jamaica, in all 
of which places the atmosphere is devoid of humidity, 
— " Ceylon Advertiser." 
, 4, — 
DIAMOND DRILLS : WHY SHOULD ONE NOT 
BE GOT BY THE CEYLON GOVERNMENT ? 
Acoording to the Melbourne Age the demand for 
the Government diamond drills in Victoria ia so 
great that it is contemplated to increase the 
number. There are 14 drills under the control 
of the Mining Department, but one of these is 
to be permanently handed over to the Water Supply 
Department, in order to facilitate the extensive 
line of test bores put down in the arid districts 
for artesian supplies of water. The recent impetus 
given to coal prospecting has induced the Govern- 
ment to set apart four of its largest drills for 
prospecting the carboniferous areas, especially in 
Gippsland. In the alluvial mining centres the 
diamond drills are found to be most serviceable 
in tracing the trend of leads, and are consequently 
in great demand. It is found that if a series of 
bores are to be put down to trace the outlet of 
the Ballarat leads, the ^number of drills will 
have to be inoreased. Plans have been prepared 
for an improved Giant drill capable of boring to 
a depth of 3,000 ft. This drill will probably be 
employed at Ballarat in traoiDg the outlet of the 
rich leads which have been tho past glory of the 
district. The Mining Department also has under 
consideration an offer from Mr. G. Lansell, of Sand- 
hurst, to allow the Government to bore from the 
bottom of the 180 Mine, whioh is 2,610 ft. deep, 
77 
The series of bores put in from suoh a depth 
would be an experiment fraught with the deepest 
interest to the mining oommunity. — Fiji Times, 
Jan. 11th. 
CINCHONA AND TEA. 
(From I. A. Backer and Benoraft's Weekly Trice 
Current.) 
London, Jan. 16th, 1890. 
Ceylon shipments, January-December, 1889 were only 
9,468,000 lb. against 12,684,000 lb. in 1888, shewing a fall- 
ing oft of 3,216,000 lb. 
Java shipments, January-November, 1889 on the contrary 
were about 4,800,000 lb. against January-November ship- 
ments in 1888 of 3,994,000 lb. showing an excess of about 
800.0001b. 
Prom India shipments were nearly 25 per cent heavier 
say 750,000 larger than the year before. 
According to Messrs. Widenmann, Broicher and Co. 
about 9,500 packages of Calisaya arrived in London, 
against 7,810 packages the year before. We take the 
liberty of copying the following interesting table from 
Messrs. Widenmann, Broicher & Co.'s annual circular. 
Arrivals of Bark in London were :— 
Other South East Indian 
Calisaya American and Java 
packages 
1889 ... 9.552 455 54,545 
1888 ,.. 7,810 1,028 61,849 
1887 ... 7,190 2,068 60,603 
1886 ... 3,979 6,547 61,541 
1885 ... 2,599 2,688 55,367 
1884 ... 2,826 15,070 39,8)8 
1883 ... 2,771 51,006* 31,330 
The above shews a decided increase in Calisaya, which 
runs rich Bark. Other South American are hardly worth 
discussing. In the Bast India and Java figures the 
Ceylon shortage becomes apparent. Of these figures the 
Java offerings have been about the same as last year, 
but the Indian much larger, the Ceylon much less, but 
the average strength of Indian is rather above that of 
Ceylon. 
To complete the picture it must be remembered that in 
Holland of Java Bark 23,250 bales have been offered, against 
15,196 last year. 
From a package point of view we therefore take it 
that the offerings last year were slightly heavier than 
those of the previous year, the average strength of the 
Bark being decidedly richer. Wbten it is remembered 
that the general impression in the trade is that the 
production of Quinine is in excess of consumption, we 
have an explanation at once of the low values current. 
When it is remembered that iu one year C°ylon arrivals 
have fallen off 3,216,000 lb. we see a feature which if 
still further exaggerated might have 2 a very important 
influence on values. It only remains to hope that in- 
creasing consumption will eventually land us on a higher 
basis altogether. 
Qoinine in India. — It has been direoted that 
quinine for the Madras military requirements during 
1890 91 may be obtained from the Nadavatam 
Factory through Mr. L. A. Lawson, the Director, 
Government Cinchona Plantations and Botanical 
Gardens, Ootaoamund, on the condition that the 
cost (inclusive of carriage) bo less than that whioh 
would be incurred by supplies from the Botanical 
Gardens, at Calcutta.— Madras Mail, Feb. 8th. 
An Enemy or Tea. — We have received stems of 
tea trees from a high district sent to us to discover 
a pest infesting them which can scarcely be rubbed 
off so long as the tree is living, but when dead, 
the enemy is easily separated. A reference to our 
< ntomological authority speedily brings the answer : 
— " Scale bug — a nasty pest." This is not to bo 
confounded with the " Scale or Brown Bugs 
(Lccanium Cojjea of Nietner) being "quite a 
different species, muoh smaller and of the colour 
of the stem of the tea tree." Our referee adds : — 
" I do not think it has been long observed, but I 
fear it is on the increase." It might ba well to 
try the effeot of the same remedies as have been 
applied in the oase of the coffee bug— green and 
blaok. We have only heard of isolated tea trees being 
affeoted. 
* A misprint evidently £ot 15,000,— Ed, 
