368 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, [December r, 1887. 
all has been used. It has no other enemies, is a 
strong *and handsome shrub, bears heavily, and i' 
has been said, by Indian planters, who saw some 
thousands of plants of it on the Sebooga Estate 
about eight miles away at the back of the town; 
that it is finer with us at eighteen months old, 
than in Iudia at three years old. 
The last quotation for Liberian Coffee according 
to Lewis and Peat's circular is from 80/ to 85/ 
per cwt. Stocks, according to the same authority, 
show a heavy reduction from what they were at 
the same time last year. 
Another plant that bids fair to have a large share 
in this country's future prosperity, is the Willoughbeia 
rubber which grows naturally all over the country, 
but more particularly about Sandakan Bay ; growing 
under natural forest shade it requires no outlay at 
all upon felling, clearing, holing, and all the other 
operations which make ordinary planting so expen- 
sive ; simply put in at the foot of forest trees, it 
takes care of itself, requiring uo weeding to speak 
of, and when maturity is reached, yields an abund- 
ant supply of the valuable " gutta susu " or 
India-rubber. As to what the yield is, opinions 
differ, some place the quantity as high as 50 catties 
to each creeper, others limit it to 20 catties, but, 
in either case the returns are out of all proportion 
to the money invested in starting a plantation of it. 
The difficulty attending its cultivation hitherto has 
been the want of seeds from which to start nurs- 
eries. 
It may be safely predicted that the first person 
who can get a few creepers of it into bearing, 
from which to supply seeds, will make a handsome 
profit, irrespective of the sale of the india-rubber 
itself. 
Other plants wnicb seem to promise well to the 
planter in this country, include pepper, which re- 
mains at the very remunerative price of 8|d. per 
lb. and which is not likely to decrease in price, 
to any marked degree, owing to the still contiuued 
struggle in Acheen. When travelling out of the 
East this spring, I happened to come across a 
Oapitan Ohiaa from that locality, who informed me 
that the pepper crops have fallen off, from 75,000 
piculs to about 15,000 per year. 
Gambier is also high in price at the present time, 
and is likely to still further advance, as it is coming 
into use for various new purposes. This plant has 
never been tried in British North Borneo, but a wild 
form of it grows freely all over the country in 
this neighbourhood. 
Tapioca, not systematically cultivated here, produces 
tubers of unusual size in the native gardens. In 
other countries it yields large profits to the growers. 
Manila hemp, sago, kapok, nutmegs, and many 
other plants, also promise to repay the cultivator 
here.— I am, Sir, Yours truly, W. B. Pryek. 
Sandakan, 15th September, 1887. 
» 
The Cinchona Bark Market. — Nothing can 
more strongly illustrate the terrible depression of 
this market than the fact that in a price current, 
ledgeriana, the very king of the cinchonas, has 
its bark quoted at from 3d per lb. for chips and 
shavings to Is 5d, the very highest for " stem 
spokeshavings." Poor Mr. Moens 1 it would surely 
have broken his heart had he lived to see his 
monarch thus dethroned. We do not suppose 
that in the history of any one important article 
of commerce the collapse has been so sudden 
and ao complete as in the case of cinchona bark. 
Tea-house Floors. — The following extract may 
give a hint to planters who are building tea- 
houses : — " The German architects recognizing 
linoleum as a good, durable stuff, continue to find 
new application for it every day. The practice is 
now much in vogue in rooms of new buildings 
intended for stores, offices, workshops, restaurants 
etc, first simply to lay a cheap plaster floor 
(cement or gypsum), and thereupon to put a layer 
of linoleum, thus entirely dispensing with a wooden 
floor. Thus, it is stated, a floor is made, which 
in its massive underground is impermeable to both 
vermin and moisture. Such a cover of linoleum 
takes the place and has the advantage of a carpet 
and can be made at cheaper rates than wooden 
floors." — Philadelphia Record. 
The Rust Mite is common on oranges up- 
country. A correspondent of the Florida Dispatch 
gives the following cure : — " An infallible remedy 
if properly used is, sulphur and soap, as recom- 
mended by Prof. Hubbard in his treatise on In- 
sect of the Orange. I would advise all growers 
to procure it, read and profit by it. Take ten 
pounds whale oil soap to a kerosene barrel of 
water, and five pounds flower of sulphur, and be 
careful to stir thoroughly each time a bucketful 
is taken from the barrel, apply with force pump. 
All mites will be destroyed, but the eggs will not. 
The soap causes the sulphur to adhere to the 
fruit and foliage for weeks and even months ; as 
the eggs hatch the young mites come in contact 
with the sulphur and are destroyed." 
Amsterdam Quinine Works. — On Sept. 6th a 
meeting of shareholders in the reconstituted quinine 
manufactory was held at Amsterdam, for the purpose 
of fixing the statutes of the company. The capital 
is fixed at 250,000f. (about £21,000), in five hun- 
dred shares of 500f. (about £12.) Four hundred 
shares have been taken up already, and the re- 
mainder must be placed before the end of 1892, at 
a rate not under par. The building and plant of 
the old quinine works have been taken over by the 
new company for the sum of 135,000f. (about 
£11,250.) Mr. W. Sieger has been appointed 
managing director of the works, and will be assisted 
by Dr. E. Sapper as technical manager. A board 
of five directors has also been elected, which in- 
cludes Dr. J. E. de Vry, the quinologist. Of any 
profits made by the concern, after deducting 10 per 
cent for wear and tear of the plant and 5 per cent, 
for the factory buildings, the shareholders are to 
receive a dividend up to 5 per cent, per annum 
on the amount of their shares. Any residue, in so 
far as it is not affected by the terms of the agree- 
ment with Messrs. C. F. Bochringer & Sons, of 
Mannheim, be divided between the board of 
directors and the shareholders, in the proportion 
of 20 per cent to the former and 80 per cent to 
the latter. — Chemist and Druggist. 
Petroleum and Coal are thus noticed in the 
London letter of the Indian Engineer ; — 
A letter has been published in Engineering, from Mr. 
O. B. Dudley, who was appointed last year by the 
Pennsylvania Railroad Company to investigate the sys- 
tem of burning petroleum as fuel in use on the Gras- 
Tsaritzin llailway in Southwest Russia, to Mr. Ur- 
quhart, the Locomotive Superintendent of that line 
and inventor of the system. Mr. Dudley's letter is 
an emphatic testimonial to the success of the apparatus, 
and states that, after fitting up a locomotive with it 
and testing it thoroughly on their railroad, his principals 
are glad to speak to its entire success and " regard it as 
a great misfortune that the relative price of coal and 
oil in this country, and our rather limited supply, will 
not warrant us in adopting your system for all our 
fuel consumption." As this letter is recent, bearing 
date July 7th, 1887, it has an important value in the 
controversy whether petroleum is or is not practically 
serviceable as a fuel for steaming purposes. The 
question of relative economy is another matter and will 
have a different, answer at every different locality. 
It may be mentioned that, as the result of a long ex- 
perience, Mr. Urquhart finds that 53 tons of petroleum- 
refuso arc equal to 100 tons of coal such as was for- 
merly used on hie (.Russian) railway. 
