August i, 1888.] THE. TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
NORTH BORNEO PLANTING NOTES. 
Coolies from Banjermassin. — We are informed by 
Hadjis and others from Banjermassin that their 
countrymen are willing to work in British North 
Borneo on the tobacco estates as they now do in 
Deli, viz., as junglo outters and house builders. 
Doubtless our planters would find them very useful 
on the estat' s. 
Mr. P. Christian proposes to sell his Liberian 
coffee estate at Kudat to a Company for the sum of 
fl.">,000. This sum docs not appear to be excessive 
when we say that the estate consists of 300 acres 
about 30 of which are planted and will yield a small 
maiden crop this year. The appearance of the 
cot'feo is such as to warrant very sanguine hopes. 
A preliminary engagement has been entered into 
to purchase the estate and shares to the extent of 
W,500 arc already taken up. The present position 
is to limit the shares to $10,000 of which Mr. 
Christian takes half and he retains the manage- 
ment. The estate is about 3 miles from Kudat. — N. B. 
Herald. 
Planters in the Tecsta may well anathematise 
the Sikkim expedition and all its works. The 
military authorities are offering the seductive sum 
of R15 per mouth for coolies, with the result that 
the latter are (putting ihc gardens without furlough, 
and leaving their masters to shift for themselves. 
Syces and grass-cutters also do not think it infra 
ditj. to serve as coolies on such unheard-of salaries, 
and are likewise deserting. — M. Mail. 
Ceylon vs. Sumatra Tobacco. — In the Deli 
news translated for the Strait* Times we read : — 
Coylon threatens to enter the tobacco market 
as rival to Deli. Some of the tobacco recently 
grown in the Spicy Isle, have developed an aroma 
and flavour surpassing those characterising the Deli 
article. A planter from the latter country, has 
been so struck by this discovery, that he has gone 
to Ceylon with a view to embark in tobacco cul- 
tivation there. 
L'i — According to the Russian Technic, the 
administration of the Tambov-Saratov Railroad has 
made experiments as to the relative cost of wood, 
coal and Baku petroleum with the following re- 
sult:— One cord of wood is equal in value to 3,120 
English pounds avoirdupois (95 poods) of coal, and 
2,736 pounds (70 poods) of petroleum ; while tho 
cost of those quantities is §15.73 (1 silver rouble : 
7") cents) for the wood ; $15 08 for the coal ; and 
913.46 for tho polroloum. Rosults still more favor- 
able for petroleum havo been made on the Oren- 
burg, the Warsaw-Terespol, and on the Dunaburg- 
Vitebsk railroads. Besides these lines the Trans- 
Caspian, the Trans-Caucasian the Grjasi-Zarizyn, the 
Mornhansk-Syeran, and the Rjiisan-Korlow railways 
use petroleum for fuel. — Indian Engineer. 
Kmiiki oi ( v . i-o it Ski. i.;. -The exports of castor 
seeds from India, commencing with a shipment of 
529 cwt in 1*77 havo gone on increasing by leaps 
and bounds until, in l>-87, 010,893 cwt worth 
£28 1,088, were shipped from that country, while 
tho exports of castor oil also show an increase, 
though not to the same extent having been 1,111,210 
gallons (worth £192,642) in 1878, and 2,070,012 
gallons, of a value of 1:271,837 in 1887. Of this 
quantity, m arly one-half goes to tho United King- 
dom, i fourth to Australia and the rest is 
distributed among various other countries. Tho 
extent which the cultivation of oil seeds in India 
has now assumed may be inferred from tho fact 
that about 8,000,000 acres aro under cultivation in 
that country with oil-yielding plants. • The imports 
of castor oil into tho United Kingdom iu 1886 wero 
• Apart from oocouut palms, probably. — Ku 
175,818 cwt worth £241,675, of which nearly two- 
thirds came from India. From Italy which yields 
the finest oil we only received 3,823 -wt. worth 
£7,478. — Indian Af/ricnlturist, April 28th. 
Proposed Eucalyptus Cultivation in Madras. — 
Mr. Weld, C.S., urges the advisability of intro- 
ducing eucalyptus from Northern Australia, as being 
more likely to flourish in the plains than those 
obtained from Victoria and other southern parts of 
the Australian Continent. The Board of Revenue 
are of opinion that further efforts should b*. made 
in carefully selected places where a reasonable 
amount of care and supervision can be secured, 
with a view to still further testing the possibility 
of introducing some of these very valuable trees. 
Experiments made at Saidapet have shown that 
many of the commoner eucalyptus will grow in 
the plains with care ; but possibly some hardier 
and moro suitable varieties may be obtainable from 
the northern parts of Australia, ,vhich will flourish 
if left to themselves,— Madras News, July 14th. 
Pearls. — George Harley and EEarald S. 
Harley recently communicated to the Royal Society 
a paper on " The Chemical Composition of Pearls." 
They examined three kinds of oyster pearls — British, 
Australian, and Ceylonese. The qualitative ex- 
amination showed that they had an identical com- 
position, and that they consisted solely of water, 
organic matter, and calcium carbonate. A remark- 
able feature is the total absence of magnesia and 
all the other constituents of sea-water except those 
mentioned. Quantitative analysis of two pearls 
from each variety gave the following composition : — 
carbonate of lime 91-72 per cent.; organic matter 
(animal) 5' 94 per cent. ; water 2-23 per cent. It 
was found that the whole of the mineral matter 
could be removed by steeping the pearls in nitric 
acid, without in any way altering the shape and 
to only a very slight extent the naked -eye appear- 
ance, so long as they were allowed to remain in tho 
acid. When taken out they soon dry and shrivel 
up. The analysis of a so-called coconut pearl gave 
an almost identical result, and the authors express 
a doubt as to the genuineness of the specimen. 
Mammalian pearls — such as are met with in human 
beings and oxen — were found to have a totally 
different chemical composition. They wero corn- 
posed of inorganic material called cholesterin. — 
Madras O. C. Ma'jazinc. 
Coconut Cultivation. — A little pamphlet in Sinha- 
lese on this subject, by Mr. W. A. Do Silva, Agri- 
cultural Instructor at Andiyambalama, Minuwan- 
goda, has been sent to us by the author who says 
in the preface : — 
This little hook is intended for tho guidance of 
native cultivators. The book contains valuable practi- 
cal hints on the cultivation of this palm, and is 
written in easy language while tho author has en- 
deavoured to make tho information given therein to 
be in as few words as possible aud at tho same 
time thoroghly explanatory. With many deficiencies 
which may be found in it, still the author hopes 
that his feeble efforts would tend to benefit his fellow- 
countrymen. 
The contents are as follows :— 
1. Introductory; 2. Soils: Clay soils, Do 
Red, Do Yellow, Do Light, Saudy soils, Li mo 
soils, Peaty soils, Loamy soils ; 3. Analysis of 
Soils; 4. Growth of a Plant; 5. Nnrsory ; 0. Pre- 
paration of Lind for Planting; 7. Drainage; 8. 
Holing; 9. Treatment before Flowering: Insect pests, 
Weeding, Tilling; 10. Snbseqnont Treatment; 11. 
Manuring : Cattle Dung, Bones, Lime, AsheB, Loaf 
refuso, Sea weed, Poonnc, Salt ; 12. Conclusion. 
Mr. De Silva deserves tho thanks of his fellow- 
oountrymen for showing them, in regard to coconut 
cultivation, "how to do it," and we hope his efforts 
will bo downed with success, 
