August i, i888.] TH r i TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
Caffeine fhom Tea-dust. — Wo have on former 
occasions referred to the proposal which came 
before tho chemical section of the London Chamber 
of Commerce regarding the manufacture of caffeine 
from those qualities of lea which are unsuitable for 
dietetic purposes, yet contain alkaloid in such 
quantity that it would be profitable to work up the 
tea in the manufacture of alkaloid. Large quantities 
of this tea are so worked up in Germany, and it 
would be possible to retain the greater proportion 
of the material in this country, and to establish 
practically a new industry here, provided the Cus- 
toms would allow the kinds of tea in question to 
be landed duty free. Overtures having been made 
in the proper quarter and the Board of Customs 
have expressed their willingness to meet the demands 
of the chemical section, provided a suitable method 
for denaturalising the tea was submitted to them. 
The addition of acafeotida or lime has been recom- 
mended for this purpose, and although the Board of 
Customs have not yet given their decision as to 
which method will be adopted, matters have advanced 
so far that Messrs. Howards & Sons, of Stratford, 
and Mr. Thomas Whiffen, of Battersea, are about 
to commence the manufacture of caffeine from tea. 
— EWr'opewn Mail. 
The Banana Disease in Queensland. — Fiji evidently 
cannot boast a monopoly of tho banana disease, as 
is testified by tho following paragraph from the 
Queensland er of April Kith: — "Of late years little 
has been beard of the banana disi ase in Queensland. 
It was known to exist indeed to be always present, 
ID any largo plantation. It was recognised as the 
Special enemy of the Musa macufata — tho large bananas 
so comni m in the shops until a few years ago but 
now so seldom seen — and consequently this binana 
was never planted. But. the varieties known as the 
" augar, " the "lady's finger," the " cavendish, " the 
dacca, " &n., were supposed to have sufficient natural 
vigour to withstand the disease. Up to the present 
year this has been tho case, but of late the disease 
has again ns -limed prominence, more particularly 
among the sugar variety, and we hear of great ra- 
vages among the plantations in the area extt nding 
from the Logan River to tho Mary .River. Whether 
the trouble hns appeared in the tropical North we 
bave not yot heard. The cavendish variety, so far, 
seems quite able to hold its own against the disease, 
billionth an examination of the roots may show it 
to be affected, but circumstances seem to poiut to 
■ bo complete extinction of the sugar bauaua from 
Southern Queensland fields, as has already 
happened with the old Musa macutata."—Fiji 
Timr... 
Tin; Ceylon Tea ENTEnruisi: and Mr J. L. 
Shank.— If, ig expected, Mr. Shand is to render 
to the tea planters and the Colony the same 
special service at the Paris Exhibition next year, that 
he. has already rendered at the Colind, at the Liver- 
pool and it may be said at the Glasgow and Brussels 
Exhibitions, lie wilt indeed establish a claim worthy 
of special recognition. But we submit that a con- 
temporary has not at all chosen an appropriate 
or convenient moment in suggesting or calling for a 
"Shand" testimonial, lie supposes support may 
ooino from the " tea fund," when that fund can 
scarcely meet the year's claims already booked, and 
we hardly think nny'attnmpt at special subscriptions 
just now, would bo so successful as it deserves to be. 
The casowith both tho "fund" and the planters gener- 
ally, wo may expect to be rather different twelve 
months honce, and what will then make the move 
very timely and appropriate is tho fact that Mr. 
Shand will liuvo dosed all his heavy work for 
tit" Paris Kxhibition- and very likely for all such 
Exhibitions— for a good long spell. Then, wo 
submit, will bo the titling and most convenient 
tinio for tho uu plantora of Coylon to show their 
sense of Mr. J. L. Shand's special services to them in 
a suitable testimonial. 
Planting in Netherlands India — The Amster- 
dam correspondent of the London and China 
Express wrote on June (5th : — 
At a meeting of tho Siak Tobacco Company held 
here on the 1st inst. a proposal was adopted not to 
limit the cultivation to Siak only, but to extend 
operations to the east coast of Sumatra. The capital, 
amounting to 0250,000 in shares, will be increased to 
II. 500,1 if>0. The till, rnationalo Credit and II 
Vereenigiug Rotterdam will pay a dividend of 4 per 
cent, to shareholders for the year 1887. With regard 
to the establishment and the loan of the East Suma- 
tra Tobacco Company, some further particulars have 
been published. The object of the new company is 
the continuation of tho tobacco cultivation on grounds 
for which the concession was received from the 
Sultan of Siak by the Handels Vereeniging Auibt;r- 
dam in 1886. The concession was transferred. to the 
new company ajainst payment to the Hm lels Ver- 
eeniging Amsterdam of an amount of 11.150,000, in 
300 shares of fl.500each, to add an amount of fl 15,000 
as restitution of charges incurred during the time of 
working by the last named company. The c nices- 
sion comprises nominally 10,000 acres, and i< situated 
north-west of the Siak river, at a considerable distance 
from the sea, and near Pekan Baroe, from whence tho 
crop can he shipped by the regular line of steamers 
o Singapore. The crop, which may be expected in 
the market here next year, is estimated at 1,400 piculs, 
equal to about 175,000 Amsterdam pounds. The capital 
of the new company will be fl. 1,000, 000 divided in two 
series of fl. 500,000 each, each share amounting to fl.500. 
As stated above, the first series will consist of 
fl. 150,000 shares paid for the concession, and of the 
remaining fl.350,000 an amount of fl. 140,0:. 0 has been 
placed already, the baltnce being offered here by 
tenders on th • Hh inst., amounting to fl2lo,000 at 
par. It is said that most of the shares have beeu takeu up. 
A Rare Flower. — The Vienna correspondent of 
the Standard, telegraphing June 3, fays : — " To- 
morrow there will be witnessed in the Palm-house 
at the imperial palace of Schi'inbruun a sp°c>aclo 
which has hitherto been seen only once before in 
Europe— to wit, the Palm tree, Brownta ariza, in 
full bloom. This tree, which is named after the 
celebrated English botanist, arrived at Schonbrunn 
forty years ago from London. It was then an in- 
significant sprig, but now it vies in magnitude with 
tho Maria Theresa Palm, which is 170 years old 
and iu the samo Palm hou>e. It blossoms only 
once in fitly years, and the bloom lasts only forty- 
eight hours. The last time the blossom of the 
lirownea ari»ii was seen was, I believe, in June, 
1851, in the Duke of Norfolk's conservatory at 
Chiswick." If tho political and other information 
which special correspondents forward to daily papers 
is as accurate ns the above how delightful their 
notes must appear to those who really know. No 
doubt our gardening f!] friend in Vienna was in soro 
need of something worth nothing, and he h is fallen 
into the hands of some merciless wag of a gardener. 
Browhea ariza is not a Palm, but a member of 
the Ik'au and Pea family. It flowers at Kew aunually, 
the last time about two months ago. It was dis- 
covered in New Grenada by Hartweg in 1842. but 
was not kuown in cultivation till about thirty years 
afterwards. It was first flowered in Belgium by M . 
Linden, and in the United Kingdom by the late Dr. 
Mooro, of Glasnevio. From the latter plant a plato 
was made and published in the Botanical Magazilie 
in 1880. It is not nearly so grand as B. graudiceps, 
which flowered for the first time at Kew in 1855, 
aud probably every year since theu. All theBrowneas 
flower regularly every year, and their blooms last 
about a week. Iu tho Gardeners' Clironiilr (at p. 
70, 1851) it is stated that lirownea coccinea ilnwen.d 
at Kew, and the correspondent probably confounded 
tho Royal Gardens, Kew, with the gardcus of 
the Duke of Norfolk at Chiswick, and tho speoioi 
ariza with cocciues,— Gardeners' Chronicle. 
