October i, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 
OUR PALM T HE US. 
Both tho Coconut and Palmyra trees are exten- 
sively grcwa in the Peninsula, hut the contemptible 
remark cast in tho teeth of every Jaffna man, who 
goes abroad that he is a Panting kotte Ohupee points 
to the fact that the world is full of tho idea that 
Jaffna ia the land of the Palmyra. The produce of 
the Palmyra palm, is in fact, oven now the food, yea, 
the mam stay of the poor and a general failing of 
the crop is always attended with great hardship. 
The indiscriminate and wasteful foiling of palmyra 
for export has always been viewed with great alarm, 
and if wo might judge tho present state of public 
feeling on the subject from the remarks made by a 
local c< n .emporary, wo should say that that alarm 
has h^ no means decreased. There is however ono 
important fact which might serve to quiet our fears, 
namoly, that tho export of Palmyra timber to the lu- 
pous, has within the last few years been or but 
stopped by tho exorbitant, nay prohibitive customs 
duty imposed on foreign palmyra timber by tho 
authorities of tho Madras Presidency. Many of those 
who were engaged in the Palmyra trade have had 
tu give it up owing to the high rate of duty to which 
wo have referred. The timber generally sent to India 
was of an inferior quality, and largely used there for 
scaffolding and other similar purposes. Sinco tho in- 
crease of custom, duty the local merchants had to 
raise the price of tho article m order to allow them 
a small margin of profit, but they found that the 
public demand for it fell off as there was other tim- 
ber in tho market of indigenous growth and of less 
value. We know of at least half a dozen palmyra 
timber tradors who have been almost ruined in con- 
sequence of tho excessively high rato of duty, and 
that the trade with India is greatly on the decline. 
\Vo may therefore rest assured that the wasteful fell- 
ing of Palmyra timber will cease in future. 
As to the complaint that lands denuded of palmyra 
rees havo beeu allowed to lie waste or converted 
iuto eocouut gardens, we would remark that in the 
former case the inaction of the owners is culpable, 
and that it is well and good to disabuse them of the 
erroneous impression that; the palmyra plantation 
would not pay in the long run, or that the labour 
besiowed upou it is not sufficiently remunerative, lint 
in the lattur case, that is to aay where the palmyra 
is replaced or superseded by the coconut, we do not 
see why tho practice should be disapproved of. We 
are of opiuiou that coconut is more paying tlian the 
palmyra, provided -that the soil on which it is reared 
is cood. There are indeed certain soils better suited 
for the palmyra than for the coconut, and on such 
soils it would be uuwise to throw away money in 
planting ojeouuts, and there are those who in their 
rage for coconut planting have lost their money by 
laying it out on plantations ill-adapted for the coco- 
nut palm. The chief point to be kept iu view in the 
cultivation of the two palms is the adaptability of 
tli> 'oil to each. And so long as thif is not overlooked 
both may well keep their respective grounds with 
advantage to the people. The palmyra is the palm 
"i tho poor as the coconut is the palm of the rich, 
and while rich peeple are overrunning available waste 
and jungle lainU iu the Peninsula with eocouut plant- 
uli his the poor do not seem to be keoping pace in 
their cultivation of their favorite palm. Put it is 
worthy of remark that the palmyra is a plant of 
spontaneous growth which will hold iU own iu spite 
M the woodm an's axe and such incidental neglect in 
its cultivation as is uoticeable. — " Ceylou Patriot." 
♦ 
THE GOLD BEEFS OP MYSORE. 
We have received from tho Mysore Government 
a copy of Mr. Foote's report on tho gold-bearing 
region of Mysore. The following notice in the 
P6mn r fairly indicates the loading characteristics of 
tlie report : — 
Mi . it. D. Footo, Superintendent of tho Geologic il 
Survey, has completed his survey of the auriferous 
tracts mi My ioiu, and the report he has submitted 
to the Dowan will be road witli groat interest. 
The mines of Mysore have not hitherto turned out 
the El Dorado which was expected six or eight 
years ago, and capitalists are beginning to havo 
an uneasy feeling that their money might have 
been better invested where, though the promise >vas 
less alluring, the fulfilment was more safe. To 
such as these Mr. Foote's report will be to a 
certain extent re-assuring. lie says nothing of 
monster nuggets or "lumps of gold," of which 
doubtless many imaginative shareholders have 
dreamt, and he notes several instances where sur- 
veyors who went before him have given exaggei ■ 
ated or utterly unfounded accounts of the material 
wealth of certain districts; but on the other hand, 
he found many workings were the reefs were fine 
and of very great promise. Generally his report 
may be said to bring out two things; first, thai 
prospecting must in most cases be carried to a 
considerable depth before the value of the mines 
can he accurately gauged ; and secondly, that the 
whole of the auriferous areas are deserving of 
close survey, as even the best of them are imper- 
fectly known, and of what was known to the old 
miners in former generations much has been for- 
gotten. In Mr. Foote's tour, which was for some 
reason or other very hurried, he chanced on no 
less than five sets of old working unknown to pre- 
vious surveyors, and he suspects that many others 
exist in the wild and jungly tracts which abound 
in the hilly and mountanious parts of the country. 
Although the work of gold-prospecting left Mr. 
Foote little leisure to devote to any non-motalic 
minerals, he took some interesting notes on such 
as incidentally came in his way. One very beauti- 
ful variety of granite-gneiss eminently fitted for 
cutting and polishing on a large scale, he found 
about two miles east of Banavar. The rock he 
declares to be the handsomest he has seen in 
Mysore, and monoliths of large size could easilv 
be quarriad. Again, the hills above Seringapatam 
are traversed by a great dyke porphyry of r 
warm brown colour. The stone iu Mr. FooteV 
opinion is unequalled in Southern India, and, 
if highly polished, would rival the highly-prized por- 
phyries of olden days. The dyke is fully a mile 
in length and of great thickness. Mods of marble 
of good quality were also found near llolgere. Mr. 
Foote, however, met with nothing to support the 
opinion to which previous surveyors — Mr. Lavelle in 
particular — had given currency, that emery, asbestos 
and kaolin existed of a quality and in quantities 
such as would warrant the investment of capital for 
their exploitation. 

INDIA AND CHINA TEAS. 
Sin, — I have read with much interest the in- 
structive articles on Indian tea which have lately 
appeared in the columns of your Journal, and al- 
though the writer has quoted from reports open 
to him (which I consider exaggerated) of tho capa- 
bilities of certain machines for withering and 
rolling leaf, his remarks in a general way— 
especially those relating to the history of the 
staple and its introduction into European markets 
—are reliable. The question he propounds to- 
wards the conclusion of his last article (Xo. V. 
in today's issue), viz., whether Indian and Ceylon 
growths do not possess too much of tho active 
principles of tea and an excess of tannin in- 
jurious to the membranes of the stomach— both 
prejudicial to the nervous system"— is not a 
stranger to Indian and Ceylon tea planters. Iu 
origin has been tracod to those dealers who rind 
it pays thorn best to introduce blends o( oh ap 
and inferior China teas, flavoured with Indian* 
and Coylons and until quite lately it has been :\ 
