722 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [May i, 1888. 
independent o£ the rains. Here is an additional 
argument in favour of the restoration of the ancient 
irrigation works. It certainly reflects little credit 
on enterprise in Ceylon that the high — the un- 
precedented — prices to which cotton rose during the 
American Civil War led to no renewal of the in- 
dustry here. But capital is often as timid as are 
the natives, and a quarter of a century ago we 
had no Agricultural Branch of the Public Instruction 
Department at work, and no Mr. Green to en- 
courage his " Agricultural Instructors " to combat 
native prejudices and dissipate native apathy. We 
submit that it will be part of ihe duty of Govern- 
ment, in view of this new departure to give all 
legitimate encouragement to the local cultivation 
of cotton, in connection with irrigation works or 
otherwise. Indeed, much cotton could be grown 
by the natives in corners of their fields, in fences 
and so forth. Seeds of superior kinds, if required, 
can be obtained from the Indian Agricultural and 
Horticultural Society from the various Indian Govern- 
ments and from many societies and individuals. 
The leaders of the spinning and weaving enter- 
prise will, of course, use every effort to encourage 
the local production of the raw material for their 
manufacturing operations. A new industry of this 
kind, if remunerative, and the provision of em- 
ployment in the factory on good wages for 
the men, women, and children, who were 
wont to bs employed in the coffee stores, 
would be such real blessings to the country, that 
on such grounds the new enterprise has our best 
wishes for its success. Of course the men, women 
and children employed will have to be taught the 
management of spindles and " mules " and 
"jennies," but the natives are apt of brain and 
delicate of hand in such matters. So are the 
Chinese, but we doubt if they will, for some time 
yet, do their own spinning and weaving. If no 
market, save the local one, were available, we fear 
there would be little chanca of success to the ex- 
periment ; for it is not contemplated here any more 
than in India to manufacture the finer kinds of 
cottons for which Lancashire is so justly famed. 
We shall thus hope to escape the interference of 
the Manchester men with our cotton duties of 6 
per cent, not meant to be protective but yielding 
about R200,000 per annum, which we could ill afford 
to lose. The friend, to whom we have already 
referred, was good enough to hand us the following 
memorandum of the staples contemplated for manu- 
facture in the mills : — 
" We hope to spin chiefly 20s for export, but 
will also be able to turn out the finer counts 
of yarn, such as 40s and 50s or higher. The 
mills will probably weave 
Grey long cloths 
Grey T cloths 
Grey drills 
Towelling 
Scarfs or Dhootise, colored check goods, and the 
plainer descriptions of sarongs." 
Such is the modest catalogue of manufactures 
contemplated. But even so, large buildings, a very 
large and perennial supply of water and steam 
power which may rather surprise some of our 
friends will be required. An engine of 30 horse- 
power was ample for the largest coffee store, but 
for the cotton factory twenty times 30, or GOO horse- 
power will be required. A full and never failing 
supply of water is so essential, that we suspect 
he site chosen for the erection of the works will 
be somewhere on the side of the Kelani river, — 
where a firm foundation of gneiss or sound laterite 
can be obtained close to the stream, but beyond 
the influence of floods. 
Such are the main thoughts which occur to us 
and the leading observations we have to make 
on an enterprise, the very boldness of which we 
admire and which we trust e^en the pressing 
allurements of the tea enterprise will not deprive of 
that support necessary to make it a great success 
DELI NEWS. 
(Translated for the Straits Times.) 
It must be acknowledged that Chinese coolies have 
been the making of Deli, which his hence enjoyed a 
prosperity exceptional among Dutch colonies in this 
part of the work), These golden times are now receding 
into the background. The struggle for existence has 
become harder. Many of the recently started estates 
are in difficulties, and can hardly get on owing to the 
impracticability of securing serviceable coolies at fair 
rates, A dec'ine in the power of the coolie brokers' 
ring at Singapore, and a considerable fall in the price of 
coolies would be a sensible relief to them. The success 
of the negotiations now baing carried on by Mr. Lxviiio 
at Calcutta would supply them with a class of labour 
iu many respects preferable to Chinamen. 

SARAWAK NEWS. 
(Sarawak Gazette, 1st March.) 
Pepper planting is proceeding very favourably 
at Sibu and Kanowit; thirty-two gardens have been 
opened, and are doing well, being well looked after ; 
in a short time Bejang will commence exporting 
pepper. The small monthly grant given by Gov- 
ernment to those opening pepper gardens has not 
only been of great assistance to the planters 
themselves, but, securing the interest and supervi- 
sion of Government, encourages those with money 
to advance capital. It will be a wise policy to 
encourage to the utmost pepper cultivation and 
similar industries, as the jungle produce, upon 
which the trade of this river is almost en- 
tirely dependent, is gradually but surely fall- 
ing off. 
•» 
THE " DAILY TELEGRAPH " ON CHINA 
TEA AND ITd COMPETITORS. 
Some persons of a gloomy tarn of mind maiutain the 
lugubrious doctriae that, although the present age may 
be one of intellectual and scientific progress, it is also 
one of marked deterioration in the excellence, not 
only of manufactures, but of the natural products 
of the earth. English cheese, lament these social 
Jeremia'.is, is no longer so rich or so tasty as it was 
wont to be; first-rate Havaunah cigars are "played 
out " more brandy is made from whiskey than from wine 
and cognac ; while at Bordeaux " Val de Penas " from 
Spain, Barolo and Chianti from Italy, and dried cur- 
rants from Greece are systematically fabricated into a 
so-called claret. There are no more ribston pippins, 
the canned peaches which we import from America 
are poor in flavour ; not enough real butter is made to 
feed the world, who are fain to eat animal fats and 
coagulated oils as substitutes for the real article ; 
mustard, and nearly all condiments are largely adulter- 
ated ; coffee does not always own on the label of its 
paokages how much chicory it contains; ostensible 
Welsh mutton frequently comes from New Zealand ; 
much strawberry jam is made from pumpkins ; houses 
are jerry-built; the breed of horses, especially those 
used for railway purposes, is inferior to that of a 
generation since; there are no great tenors coming to 
the front ; no lyric poets ; Punch and J udy are fading 
out of the land ; shoddy clothes are worn by tens of 
thousands ; and, to complete the dismal catalogue, it is 
openly stated that Obiuese tea has appreciably deterio- 
rated in quality. The Chinese Government lately 
invited a special comruiUee of experts of the Shanghai 
Chamber of Commerce to hold an inquiry into the 
cause of the decline of the exports of tea from Ohina. 
Between 1881 and 1886 the quantity of tea shipped 
from the Celestial Empire decreased by about twenty- 
four million pounds ; while, on the other hand, the 
