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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [October i, 1888. 
A curious thing was that no matter how isolated 
the tree was the grubs found it out, and there are 
none (or certainly, if any, but very few) trees of this 
variety on neighbouring estates. H. D- DEANE. 
[The question still remains, have the insects 
Sver attacked trees growing at and over 4,800 feet? 
Trees growing on Abbotsford at this height and 
now seven or eight years old have never been 
affected; neither have the younger trees ai higher 
elevations there and in Nuwara Eliya. We refer 
entirely to th<- red-foliaged variety oi coon. — Er.] 
MUSTARD AS MANURE FOR TEA. 
(.To the Editor Indian Agriculturist.) 
August 5, 1838. 
Sir, — The Secretary, Dehra Doon Tea Oo., asks for 
information regarding Mustard and Tea, which I have 
much pleasure in giving, answering his questions in 
the order put. 
1. The black variety I think the best and cheapest. 
2. Eight seers per acre, 
3. If sown in March, the crop would be fit to 
hoe in by the 21st May, and would therefore not 
interfere with leaf-plucking. 
4. Annual sowings would have to be made. 
A dressing of gypsum (native sulphate of lime) 
powdered, and at the rate of 5 to 10 cwts ? per acre, 
with powdered saltpetre 2 cwts. per acre to be ap- 
plied when the mustard crop was 2 inches high, or 
just after hoeing the latter in, would give a good 
return of leaf. Let Mr. Gibson try this on, say, five 
acres, and report results, as it is a question that 
has long puzzled planters how to increase the yield 
of leaf. J. R. C. 
|As neither gypsum nor saltpetre is readily ob- 
tainable in Ceylon, ground castor cake and ground 
bones might be used, in limited quantity of course. — Ed. 
♦ 
Stone Tebeacing and Manuring foe Tea. 
Singell, near Kurseong in the Darjeeling district, is 
a steep and stony place, and must be amongst the 
oldest of places in the district. The following 
paragraph in the latest report may afford a hint to 
proprietors of similar places in Ceylon : — 
Cultivation — The ent ; "e garden has had the deep 
cold weather hoe og, and since thenhas been kept in 
good cultivation both with the hoe and s'.ckle. The 
pieces of cultivation we stone terraced aud filled in 
with manure during the cold weather are looking and 
doing exceedingly well. Tbis plan of terracing the 
steep parts of the garden is so beneficial that we hope 
to do a great deal more this coming cold weather. 
Over 6,000 maunds of" manure have been carried into 
the garden, and a like quantity will be available this com- 
ing cold weather. The rainfall to the 30th Jane is much 
beLiad last year. — Z'idian Planters' Gazstte Sept. 4th. 
Gold Digging on the Elk Plains. — A corre- 
spondent of the local " Times" says :— 
" Mr. Hirsch has now moved his camp nearer Hapu- 
tale, and is sinking another shaft. He is very sanguine 
about finding gold, although up to date nothing but 
disappointment has met his efforts. Yesterday Mr. 
Cochran rerorted that a sample, supposed to contain 
any quantity of the precious metal, contained only 
iron. Curiously, no gems have been found, although 
much of the soil removed is similar to that of the 
Katnapura gem pits. Mr. Hirsch is living in a small 
hut, together with twenty Sinhalese villagers, and 
works through wet and cold in a manner thatfew plan- 
ters would care about. Such is the thirst for gold ! 
We wish him all luck." 
The same correspondent, referring tc the first pic, 
says : — 
" The pit was not abandoned — as the Observer, whose 
reporler visited Mr. Hirsch, stated — because it fell in, 
hut because itwa« not considered good enough to go 
with, and it only fell in after the last board w:is taken 
out and the supports removed." 
We never said it was abandoned because it fell in, 
and our contemporary's correspondent will do 
well to read communications more carefully before 
seeking to corrcot them. 
Pexce's Patent Candle Company Limited. — The 
directors of this company state that, subject to 
audit and without making may deduction for the 
expenditure on new machinery and plant, the 
accounts show a profit for the half-year ended 
June30tb, of about £28,500. They recommend an 
interim divided of 10s. per share, which will absorb 
£18,750. — Chemical Trade Journal, Aug. 11th. 
Mica. — We had occasion to notice the other day 
the success attending the efforts of Hautefeuille 
and Perrey to reproduce artificially two well- 
known minerals of the gem family, emerald and 
phenakite. It is now reported that M. Doelter has 
been equally successful in the artificial reproduc- 
tion of the chief minerals of the mica group. He 
has been describing his process to the Paris 
Academy of Sciences. — Chemical Trade Journal. 
Kurseong and Darjeeling Tea Company. — The 
latest return from the Gardens is to the 21st August. 
The quality of the tea from the Darjeeling and Terai 
Gardens has been disappointing ; the former Mr. Do- 
miuy attributes to the very dry weather ; at the latter 
the manufacture is having Mr. Dominy's attention. 
Prices for fine Orange and Broken Pekoes have been 
lower than last year, but for other qualities with point 
and character there is a gond enquiry. — Indian Planters 1 
Gazette, Sept. 4th. 
Tea in Haputale. — We are assured by an 
experienced planter and inspector of estates with 
large interests on the Kandy side, that he knows 
nothing finer in the island than the tea at 
6,300 feet, — the same elevation as Nuwara Eliya, — 
on Dambatenne estate, Haputale. As much as 
400 lb. of tea per acre can begot at four years' 
old, which is a specially good return. All 
the upper divisions of Uva, it is evident, will 
do exceedingly well in tea : the medium eleva- 
tions fairly well; although some doubt may be 
felt about the lowlying and drier places. 
Avicultuee is an industry which should be 
introduced for the benefit of the people of Ceylon. 
Can the Director of Public Instruction not take 
it up ? — The French Minister of Agriculture has 
just escab'ished a practical School of " Aviculture," 
or school for the breeding and rearing of poultry ; 
their fattening and artificial hatching ; the manage- 
ment of eggs, their preservation and preparation 
for market, and the most advantageous breeds of 
poultry. The period of residence at the school is 
limited to three months ; the fee is 350 fr.. board 
&c, included. The school is situated at Hodan, 
in the Seine and Oise department, a region famous 
for its races of barn door poultry. Male and 
female pupils are alternately received every three 
months. 
Sug\r Planters in Queensland and elsewhere, 
it would appear, need have no fear that the new 
chemical products called saccharine will ever prove 
a formidable competitor to cane sugar. In a paper 
read recently before the Paris Academy of Medicine, 
some particulars were given of the results of experi- 
ments made with saccharine upon patients in vari- 
ous nospitsls. Dr. Stadelmann, of "Heidelberg, took 
observations in 11 cases where 80 grains of sac- 
charine were given daily for two or three weeks. 
Nine of the patients experienced no bad effects ; 
but in the case of the other two, nausea, loss of 
appetite, and pains in the stomach resulted. In 
three out of four cases of diabetic oatients the 
digestion was injuriously affected after eight 
or ten days. A committee was recently appointed 
by the Paris Board of Health in order to inquire 
into the dietetic properties of saccharine, and the 
committee have expressed no opinion that saccharine 
should be debarred from use in articles of general 
consumption, as being prejudicial to public health. — 
European Mail. 
