September i, 1888.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
197 
purposes. This plant has never beou tried in British 
North Borneo, but a wild form of it grows freely all 
over the country in this neighbourhood. Tapioca, not 
systematically culiivated here, produces tubers of un- 
usual sizo 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. 
Amongst tho many other plants, cotton will pro- 
bably bo numbered. The wealth of North Borneo 
in good timber is great, and China, which is going 
in for railways on a great scale, will afford a con- 
stant and profitable market. Meantime we are in- 
terested in learning whether in the Eastern Archi- 
pelago Libcrian coffee is really able to resist Hemi- 
U ia vaitatrix, which has proved so destructive in 
Ceylon to both species of cultivated coffee 
THE JAVA GOVERNMENT CINCHONA PLAN- 
TATIONS. 
The following is a translation of the report, dated 
Tirtasari, 10th July 1888, of Mr. van Eomunde, 
director of tho Government cinchona enterprise in 
Java, for the second quarter of 1888: — 
The weather continued very raiuy during the month 
of April aud tho greater part of May. In consequence 
of this, it was possible to carry on planting out un- 
interruptedly, but, though the wot weather was good 
for the young plants, the abundant rain was not 
favorable to the growth of the older and especially 
the harvestable trees, so that during this year also 
the same amouut of bark will not by a long way 
b e ub'iuiii'.l that was collected in a similar period 
of 1887. The unfavourable state of the weather last- 
ing f almost two full months of the previous quarter 
inte erod greatly especially with the regular gather- 
ing and drying of the bark, lu the first half-year 
o f 1838 a total of some 230,000 half kilograms of 
bark was gathered, against about 300,01)0 pounds in 
tho corresponding period of the past year. Of the 
bark gathered, up to the end of June 155,2(16 half 
kilograms had been despatched to Batavia, of which 
1,112 pounds were reserved for the local military 
medical service. At the end of May the long-desired 
dry weather net in. It is true that it did not last 
without a break, and during June also there fell 
more or less -heavy showers, but as soon as the dry 
weather set in the plauts began to grow vigorously 
everywhere, and the regular outthinning crops were 
also increased, tho product of which promises to be 
very plentiful duriug the next few mouths. The 
plague of caterpillars, mentioned in tho first quarter's 
repi rt of 1888, continued also during the second 
quarter of this year, and only decreased on the set- 
tiug in of the dry weather. Not a trace is now to be 
found of the insect, but tho plantations on the Mala- 
bar mountains in many places still bear tho evi- 
dent marks thereof. This is especially the case with 
some gardens of graft plants at Tirtasari, which 
were lately eaten perfectly bare by oaterpillers, but 
which happdy have begun everywhere to recover. The 
amount of //./o/», /tit nulDiiii also, which insect appeared 
everywhere simultaneously with or after the cater- 
pillars, diminished greatly during last month. On 23rd 
February, 22nd March aud 3rd May 1*.S8 sulos of cin- 
chona biirk of the crop of 1887 wero held iu Amster- 
dam. The prices obtained at these galea for manufac- 
turers' bark averaged 92*20, 96*82 and 47*23 cents per 
half kilogram. For certain lots of pharmaceutical bark 
remarkably high prices wero again paid, sin h. for in- 
stance, as 185 oeut*. per half kilogram for a lot of 
Muecirubra in long quills, and Vl cents per pound 
for a lot of Qaliaaya tehuhkrafl iu long quills, at the 
sale of •22nd March 1888. Bat fairly good prices were 
also paid for certain lots of inferior bark, BDOO a- 
V. calmaija, V. jottfikhmO, C. cih.pl,- ra, &0., and the 
mine ol the plantations of those varieties of oinohonn 
has increased considerably. For though lately uo 
more hark of the thinner branches ami twigs baa been 
gathered from tho plantations, as the harvesting 0 
these only yielded loss, the harvesting of the bark of 
roots and of the thicker branches of C. coMsaya and 
others, which cannot bo gathered iu tho desired qui]] 
form, also resulted iu scarcely any profit. It is a 
necessary factor therefore towards a rational system 
of cultivation, that the plantations of iulerior varieties 
of cinchona, especially of those which yield no bark 
either of the desired appearance or o 1 the required form, 
should continue to be rooted out at a greater rate 
than has hitherto been the case, iu order to make 
room for the planting of (.'. ledyeriana and 6\ succi- 
rubra, which can bo carried out now that the nurseries 
everywhere will yield for the next west monsoon a 
largo supply of seedlings for planting up steadily the 
plantations to be rooted out. At the end of June 
three of Davidson's T Siroccos were brought to Ban- 
doeng for tho drying of the cinchona bark, which will be 
speedily erected aud set to work as soon as needed. 
At the end of the quarter there was in the 
gardens a grand total of 3,671,500 plants, made 
up as follows : —In tho nurseries : 1,397,000 ledge- 
riana (including 37,000 grafts), 020,000 succirubra. 
In the open : 811,000 ledgeriana (including 200,000 
cuttings and grafts, but exclusive of the more or 
less 3,000 original ledgerianas), 11,000 calisaya and 
hasskarliana, 010, ' 00 succirubra and caloptera, 
155,500 officinalis, 1,000 lancifolia. 
FRAUDULENT SALES OF CEYLON TEAS. 
The view taken by Mr. Leake of the probable 
effect of the threats of prosecution by him on 
behalf of the Planters' Association and of its 
affiliated Society, the Ceylon Association in London, 
cannot fail to be satisfactory to all those in 
the island who are in any way concerned either 
with the growth or with the disposal of Ceylon 
teas. It is that gentlemen's opinion, as the result 
of conversation and correspondence had with the 
several parties to whom letters of admonition and 
warning have been sent by the solicitors employed, 
that most will be ready to accept the caution con- 
veyed to them, and that they will take every care, that 
for the future all teas sold by them as Ceylon teas 
will really be deserving of that name. The difficulty 
Mr. Leake apprehonds with respect to teas which 
are openly sold as blended teas we can fully 
appreciate. The term " blend," indeed, may cover 
any sort of mixture in which Ceylon tea, in how- 
ever minute proportions, may have a place. We 
can estimate that very much of harm to the 
reputation of Ceylon tea may result from any wide 
diffusion of sales of this class, but wo cannot well 
see how the evil is to be met and dealt with. 
Tho Merchandise Marks Act only provides for 
such cases as are evidently of fraudulent intent. 
To sell as " Pure Ceylon Tea " anything not having 
that character comes decidedly, and without loop- 
hole for escape, therefore under the operation 
of that Act; but it makes no provision for com- 
pelling vendors in any case of the sale by them 
of blended teas to state upon tho packets con- 
taining them the various proportions of different 
growths of which such blends are composed. We 
should much like to know whether experts in 
toa-tasting, who are undoubtedly competent, as 
they claim to be, to decide whether tea is of a 
pure growth or not, could go so far when esti- 
mating their powers as to be able to slate even 
approximately the proportions of different descrip- 
tions in any giveu bleu J? It is to be feared such 
a pilch of nice discrimination must be impracti- 
cable even to the most expoi ienced ana competent 
of them. It remains, therefore, that, even it the 
blend was fully described, it would be impossible 
to tost the accurucy of such a description with 
tho oxaotiludo which would bo required to con- 
tinue evidence upon which a Court of Law could 
