702 
TH* 7 TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
[April i, 1890. 
ALOE FIBRE FROM SOUTHERN INDIA. 
Halgar, Coppa, Kadur District, 
Mysore Province, March 1st. 
Dear Sir, — In your Overland edition of the 11th 
December last I read a very interesting article 
regarding libres and fibre-cleaning machines. By 
this day's post I am sending you a small samplo 
of fibre I have prepared from the aloe leaf com- 
mon to this part of the country. I should feel 
very much obliged to you if you would let me 
know at what prices such fibre would be sold and 
also how it should be packed, also if there are 
any cheap machines for extricating the fibre from 
the leaf. 
Hoping you will excuse me for the liberty I am 
taking in writing you on this matter and any trouble 
I may be giving you, I am, dear sir, yours faith- 
fully, " L. D. COLLEDGE. 
I The fibre looks good and marketable, but we 
rfgret to say there is no trade in the article as yet 
at Colombo, nor any means of having its value 
appraised. We see the latest quotations for aloe 
fibre in Mauritius is : — 
1st Quality R375 to R400 per ton. 
2nd Do R3;0 to R360 do. 
We would recommend our correspondent to apply 
to Mr. Thurston of the Madras Museum, or to 
the Superintendent of the Gardens at Saidapet, for 
information. — Ed. T. A.] 
LOCAL LIMITED PLANTING COMPANIES, 
Uva, March Gth. 
Dear Sir, — I have perused with much interest 
and considerable profit the reports and balance 
sheets of the several local Limited Companies you 
have lately been publishing in the Observer These 
reports have been specially interesting to me as I 
have been asked by a friend to look out for a safe 
investment in a good paying Company, so that any 
information that can be gathered is carefully noted. 
These reports convey a very candid if not a very 
good aocount of the Companies' affairs at present; 
but the directors are to be highly commended for 
laying such a very honest and explicit statement 
of matters before the share holders and the general 
public (take for instance the Uva, Spring Valley 
and Lanka Companies in Ova). 
There are two large and influential Companies in 
Uva, "The Haputale Coffee Company, Limited" and 
" The Madulsima Coffee and Cinchona Company, 
Limited," which every now and then on9 hears 
great things of locally, but which you keep us terribly 
in the dark about. I cainot remember ever having 
seen a copy of their profit and loss account in any 
of the local papers, and this makes me rather curious 
to know why these two Companies don't publish an 
annual statement of their affairs like what all 
other local Limited Companies do. It has been men- 
tioned to me that these Companiea are doing 
bo well that the directors and shareholders wish 
to keep the thing within themselves. (Surely this 
is not so.) How far this may be true I don't know, 
but still I am sure this need not prevent them 
from furnishing the outside world with a state- 
ment of their revenue and expenditure since 
the Companies were started, It can do no harm, 
and will attract the attention of capitalists to 
Uva as the field for good sound investments in 
coffee, tea and cinchona. It is not a lot of big 
talk that is wanted, but facts and figures, so let 
ub have a copy of the balance sheet of these two 
Companies, if you can obtain them, so that we can 
compare them with other local Limited Companies 
in our midst which no doubt will be for the good 
of these Companies' interests and our new Province 
in particular.— Yours truly, SNOOKS. 
ADVERTISING TEA IN CANADA : 
THE WAY THEY DO IT. 
Colombo, March 8th. 
Dear Sir, — One of our constituents at homo 
sends us the enclosed cutting from a Canadian 
paper, thinking it might interest you to see how 
the sale of tea is being advertised in that part of 
America. — We are, dear sir, yours faithfully, 
GEO. fcTEUART & Co. 
[The advertisements referred to are headed "Genuine 
Diamonds and solid gold watches found in toa," and 
" One thousand dollars Reward." In theee announce- 
ments the Traders Tea Company set forth that they 
"have completed their organization aud have opened a 
store in Toronto at 15 King street west. Their tea is 
only sold in caDs, price ^1 each. In order to introduce 
their choice blends of t as, this Company will put a 
souvenir in every can, such as solid gold and si'ver 
watche- of tbe best American and Swiss makers. Also 
genuine emeralds, liamonds, pearls, turquoise, amethyst 
and sapphire j/wdery set in solid gold, and various 
other articles of less value too numerous to mention. 
Bear in mind that this costly method of adver- 
tising will be discontinued after GO days' time." 
A list of fortunate purchasers is then given. Tbe 
second advertisement says that "One thou-and dollars 
will be paid in cash to any charitable institution of 
Toronto that may be named by aud reputable citizen 
who will prove that the watches sold in our cans of 
tea are not solid gold through and through, or that 
the diamonds are not genuine and set iu so.ld gold, 
or the tea s rictly puro and free from adulteration. 
The cry is still they come, and hundreds of patrons 
are made happy daily by receiving genuine diamonds 
and solid gold watches as souvenirs in their cans of 
choice tea at No. 15, King-street west. Remember 
that af!er 60 days these choice teas will be sold at 
the same price, same quality aud quantity, but with- 
out these valuable holiday presents as souvenirs. 
The watches are genuiue solid gold hunting case. 
American jewelled movements, stem-wind and set, and 
the diamonds are genuine and set m solid gold." — Ed. 
T. A.] 
ROUGH ON TEA. 
Dear Sir, — What will your planting friends think 
of the suggestion of your London correspondent 
in his last letter, that they may shortly be supplied 
with tea boxes made of horse dung ? ! This is 
surely rough on tea ? Why it is worse than cedar ! 
Your correspondent must hail from the land of 
the Houyhnhnms and Yahoos ? — Yours truly, 
E. B. CREASY. 
LONDON QUOTATIONS FOR FAIR PEKOE 
SOUCHONGS : ALLEGED DISCREPANCIES. 
Colombo, March 13th. 
Dear Sir, — I should be glad to know what your 
weekly telegraphed quotation for Fair Pekoe Souchong 
is intended to represent. 
You say " For such teas as Mariawatte, Diyagama 
and Kandapola," but on turning up the London 
broker's circular for the corresponding dates, there 
appears to be a discrepancy in price as will be seen by 
the following list of quotations : — 
Telegram Published London Broker's 
in Ceylon Observer. Circular. 
Jan. 15th . . 10£d Jan. 17th . . Mariawatte 9Jd 
,, 22nd.. lOd „ „ ..Kandaloya 9fl 
„ 24th ..Mariawatte 9jd 
„ 31st ..9|d ,, 29th .. „ 9Jd 
,, ..Kandaloya 9|d 
Feb. 5th ..9fd Feb. 7th . .Mariawatte 9^d 
,, 12th ..9fd ,, 11th .. „■ 9^d 
„ ,, ..Kandaloya 9jd 
„ 191b... 9M „ 21sfc .. „ 8d 
