May i, 1890.] THE TROPICAL 
CEYLON UPCOUNTRY PLANTING REPORT. 
REVIEW OF " ALL ABOUT ALOE AND RAMIE FIBRES, 
DYES, DRUGS, &C." — INFLUENZA AND THE 
COOLIES — LICENSED AUCTIONEERS. 
I£ money is to be made in the by-ways of 
Tropical Agriculture, it won't be the fault of the 
Observer press, if this is not done by Ceylon men. 
It matters not what part of the tropics puts on 
a spurt, and starts in the raoe of production ; nor 
yet what may be the article grown and dealt in 
if so be there is money in it, we soon hear of it, 
and have a Handbook to guide us, should we desire 
to try it here. 
I have before me now one of those pamphlets 
which belongs to the " All About " series— a 
collection of useful books which already numbers 
several volumes, and wherein the enterprising 
cultivator will find many a workable hint 
and valuable wrinkle. This brochure treats 
of " Aloe and ramie fibres : dye and tannirjg 
stuffs, drugs &o." articles which remain as yet bidden 
out of tight in the byways of Ceylon agriculture ; 
but which, nevertheless, might be brought well to 
the front if tackled in the usual energetic way 
whioh obtains here. Some of the articles treated 
of are 6viden'ly more suited for the native than 
the European, but the manufacture of fibre, whether 
it be aloe or rbea, wants capital, and it I fancy 
is hardly in their line. 
Much valuable information is given on aloe fibre 
and its preparation in the translation which details 
the resuit of the successful experiments in Mau- 
ritius ; and as the plant there grows well on waste 
lands, which have been scourged by sugar 
cultivation, there is no reason for doubting that 
here too a similar suocess might be anticipated 
even on our poorest washed subsoils. The fear 
usually expressed here, when aloe cultivation is 
referred to, is, that the weight of the leaves is 
so great, that their transport— if they had to be 
conveyed any distance — would eat up any possible 
profit. The old sugar estates in Mauritius, where 
the aloe is now grown, are doutless well roaded, 
for in Evenor de Chazal's essay this difficulty is 
never referred to. It is the cleaning of the fibre 
whioh had been the obstacle, and when that was 
got over, success was assured. Uamie or rhes, unlike 
the aloe, wants, I understand, a particularly rich 
soil, so as to allow of a succession of heavy crops. 
But as yet few of us know much about fibre or 
how best to produce it. The French essayist is 
very enthusiastic in reference to the aloe : his 
trumpet gives no unoertain sound, and he encourages 
his brother planters in Mauritius to boldly make 
the venture in the following words ; — " I will 
say in oonoluBion to my oolleagues, to my friends, 
to the proprietors of the ooast lands : Plant. 
Four years are necessary for cultivation. In four 
years you will have the rudiments of a prosperity 
well earned. Establish your plantations around 
your factories so as to take advantage of your 
network of roads, and do not, in order to try and 
get returns sooner go and set up your machinery 
in the midst of a field of naturally grown aloes. 
The industry is fixed and stable. It is a great 
mistake to believe that it will bo an advantage 
to render it nomadic Plant then, and be proud 
of the progress realized by our compatriots on 
this Mauritius soil, so liberal to him who knows 
how to work wisely," Aloo fibre is worth 
from .£30 to £32 a ton, and E. de Chazal 
gives one and a half ton an acre as the return 
from his own estate. It looks like as if there was 
'• ile" to be struck, in growing fibre. 
The essay of the late Henry Moado on dye 
Stuffs &q., although somewhat hoary,— written about 
AGRICULTURIST. 759 
40 years ago, — is nevertheless very interesting as an 
intelligent and clear statement of the island's 
capabilities in those "days of old." The light thrown 
by the editor in his notes, where he contrasts the 
production of toddy with what is given in the 
essay, is very welcome, and cannot but be appre- 
ciated by his readers. 
There is one thing about this new volume of the 
"All About" series, that few Ceylon readers will 
take it up, without getting instruction. It has the 
oharm of freshness, too, as is to be expected, for 
no established induetry is treated of, we hear only of 
products which can only be found in the byways of 
Ceylon agriculture, and which require to be sought 
out to be known. 
Influenza among our coolies was a thing we 
feared. If it were to run through our labour force, 
especially now when the weloome rains are encoura- 
ging the tea to flush, it would put a lot of us out. 
A day or two ago I heard of one estate where 
half of the Tamils were laid up, and this not in 
a feverish district, and it was feared it was the 
dreaded influenza. 
A Lioensed Auctioneer and Broker has sent me 
his business card. It differs from most business 
cards, in that it possesses a decided " odour of 
sanotity." The motto at the top is " Quit you 
like men 1 Cor. xvi (13.)" and it is announced as 
" imp ortant to all " that this gentleman is prepared 
with " easy terms for Christian workers and 
Mission causes." So far this is good : a further 
"growth in grace" may lead, let us hope, to the favour 
which at present can only be claimed by the select 
few being made free to all. When the gentleman 
reaches to this sublime height, and sends on 
a fresh business card to announce it, I would humbly 
suggest as his motto, " the rain falling on the just 
and the unjust." Peppebcorn. 
THE NILGIRI CINCHONA PLANTATIONS. 
Large extracts from the Beport for 1888-89 will 
appear hereafter in the Tropical Agriculturist. Much 
interesting information is given respecting. Hybrids, 
the best of which is O. magnifolia of which a 
good deal of seed went to Ceylon during the year 
under review. Faith in cinohonas has not, therefore, 
been entirely lost. From the order of the MadraB 
Government we quote as follows : — 
Owirjg to the partial failure ol both monsoons, the 
season of l?88-89 was unfavorable, and the total 
number of cinchona plants on the four Government 
estates, on the 31sb March 1889, was only 1,709,656, 
which is 30,488 leis than the number on the corres- 
ponding date of 1S88. The quantity of bark taken 
during the year was 110,162 lb. but if the store-houses 
at Naduvatam had not been full, a much larger 
quantity could have been collected. The total 
expenditure during the year was R69.494, so that 
each pound of bark harvested cost 10-09 annas. The 
expenditure is lower that it has been in any year 
since 1876-77, and when it is considered that the 
amount includes the cost of the Quinologist's Depart- 
ment, the result reflects credit upon Mr. Lawson's 
management. As no bark was offered for sale, save 
a small quantity supplied to the Medical Stores, and 
as the manufacture of febrifuge was purposely res- 
tricted pending the arrival of the chemicals and 
apparatus required for the extraction of the alka- 
loids by the new oil proocss, the receipts of the 
depa tment amounted to only E3.602. But a quantity 
of febrifuge, valued at R2.918, was distributed free, 
and there was a sum of B2.417 outstanding at the 
end of the year for febrifuge supplied to the Mysore 
Durbar. 
2. It is observed that the value of the bark used 
by the Quinologist was R12.396, while the value of 
the febrifuge produced from it was only K6.3S5, at 
1U2 per lb, for solid, and Rl-1-0 for liquid. Thesg 
