THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. LNovember i, 1888. 
Tea Planters and Tea Agents.— The Indian 
Planters' Gazette says that a tea-planter has " played 
it down low on the wily and infallible Calcutta 
agents," and distinctly scored off them :— " I had " 
says the tea-planter, according to the paper men- 
tioned, ;i samples sent me by my agent and was 
told to make similar teas as they were considered 
' desirable teas.' On receipt of these samples I re- 
packed them in lead, put my own garden mark on 
them, and sent them down as my own. The report 
I received was to the effect that ' these teas are 
most undesirable ; your system of manufacture must 
be seriously wrong. We would advise higher wither- 
ing and less fermentation.' " — Pioneer, Sept. 21st. 
Tobacco Cubing Experiments.— At the request of 
Mr. IT. Caiue, the tobacco expert, the Agricultural 
Department of the Board of Revenue has asked the 
Collector of Madura to instruct 'the Tahsildar of Din- 
digul to afford Mr. Caine every assistance iu procur- 
ing on lease for a year about eight acres of land 
near Dindigul for the cultivation of tobacco to be ex- 
perimented upon. A small shed is also to be erected 
near the land for curing the leaves. Of the indige- 
nous tobacco submitted to Mr. Caine, the Havana and 
Vizagapatam samples grown at the Madura Farm 
were considered the best for the manufacture of cigars, 
and seeds of these two varieties are to be utilized in 
the experimental cultivations. The tobacco grown in 
the Kurnool district is cured for the native market, 
and Mr. Caine thinks it would not be advisable at 
present to interfere with the native taste, which re- 
quires heavy tobacco, coarse and strong; even should 
the cultivator be convinced that fine wrappers would 
pay him better, yet he would not find a market in 
his vicinity to dispose of the leaves. — Madras Mail, 
Sept. 26th. 
Jerusalem as a Trade Centre.— According to the 
report of the British Consul at Jerusalem on the 
trade cf that town for the past year, it appears 
that exports, notably those to the United Kingdom, 
have increased, owing to a good harvest, while 
there is a small decrease in imports. Statistics 
are not obtainable, but it is estimated that two- 
thirds of the goods imported at Jaffa go to Jerusalem, 
which is the market for the villages of the interior 
and for the Bedouins. The chief industries are the 
manufacture of a coarse soap sent to Egypt, and 
of objects of devotion in mother-of-pearl and olive 
wood, in which considerable art is now displayed ; 
£'20,000 worth of these were exported in 1887 to 
Europe and America, The Jewish immigration has 
been checked by a regulation of the Porte prohibiting 
Jews irom settling in Palestine, and restricting their 
residence in the country to a period of three 
months. The culture of the vine by German settlers • 
is extending and the quality of the wine pro- 
duced is improving. The price of land in the 
vicinity of the city has continued to rise in price, 
the beat fetching, on an average, Cs the square yard, 
which not many years ago could have been obtained 
for a sixth of the price. This rise is due to the 
Jewish immigration before it was interfered with, to 
the multiplication of religious establishments and 
f ihicalional and charitable institutions, English, 
French, German, and Russian, and to the desire to 
Jive beyond the walls of an insalubrious and con- 
fined city. But the acquisition of land by foreign- 
ers is subject to two disadvantages, for all claims 
mid questions concerning it are settled by the 
native courts, the Consul having no right to in- 
terfere, and the owner cannot build on it without 
the consent of the Government. German trade 
with Palestine is rapidly developing, on account of 
the large and prosperous German colonies which 
have established themselves in Palestine, and the 
members of which are invading all branches of 
commerce, industry, and handicraft. The colonists 
exercise a beneficial influence on the natives. — 
Iime$ Weekly Edition. 
Okange Culture in America — The question as to 
the cultivation of the Orange as a remunerative crop 
comes before us in a report on the fruit produce 
of Sicily, where it is state 1 that the cultivation of 
Oranges and Lemons in California, Louisiana and 
Florida has assumed such vast proportions that it is a 
matter of certainty that at no distant period the import 
of the former of these fruits into America, which is 
one of the chief customers for this article, and the 
carrying business, which gives so Urge employment to 
English merchant vessel-", will wholly cease, and, al- 
though the exportation, owing to a failure in the crops 
in Florida through an unprecedented frost, was largely 
increased in 1887, yet it w as carried on at such prices 
as not to be remuni rative. Iu fact encouraged by 
the extraordinary prices which were obtained in the 
American markets for Sicilian produce some yeai s ago, 
the Sicilian cultivators increased their Oiange and 
Lemon plantations to such and extent that the over- 
production has increased to a ruinous degree. Imh ed, 
the prices at which the fruit was sold iu America in 
the past year did not, in some instances, even cover 
the freight. It must be added that their bad packing 
and the choice of inferior fruit which might have been 
used for the manufacture of essences aud extracts at 
home, have not a little contributed to the depreciation 
of Sicilian fruit in foreign markets. The export of 
Lemons, however, may be continued on account of 
the special aptitude of the Sicilian climate for the 
growth of these fruits owing to the absence of frost. — 
Gardeners' Chronicle. 
Protection kor Fruit Trees. — Says Dr. 
Taylor in the Australasian : — 
M. Blagny, president of the Horticultural Society of 
Constance, writes to say that he has applied i solution 
of sulphate of c^pper_ to his fiuit trees with great 
success, as regards protecting the young buds from 
birds which love to devour them. Not a bud nor a 
blossom was damaged by the application, aud not only 
were the birds kept off them, but insects as well. The 
following is M. Magny's receipt in full: — 4 lb. of lime 
slaked in six pints of water, 1 lb. of blue stone (sul- 
phate of copper), dissolve in b7 pints ef hot water, 
add then 1 lb. of soot, and clay enough to give the- 
liquid a semi-fluid consistency. 
There is a stupid omission to state what is to be 
done with the slaked lime 1 We suppose, but cannot 
be sure, that it is mixed with the liquid sulphate 
of eppper. 
Bounties Asked for Cotton-growing in Queens- 
land. — At Brisbane, on September 10. a depu- 
tation of East and West Moreton farmers asked 
the assistance of the Premier towards the growing 
and manufacturing of cotton in the colony. They 
pointed out that cotton had been successfully grown 
previously, and if farmers were encouraged to grow 
it by the establishment of local cotton mills, 
which would absorb the produce, their industry 
would bring into profitable use a large area of 
land now lying idle. They asked the Government 
'jO offer a bonus of £5,000 for the first 5,000 yards 
of cotton goods manufactured in the colony from 
cotton locally grown, and to grant 5,000 acres of 
land at the expiration of three years from the 
establishment of the first cotton factory. In reply 
Sir T. Mcllwraith expressed the opinion that the 
cotton manufacturing industry would be maintained 
in a flourishing state with the assistance of the 
ordinary protective duties. The Premier promised 
to carefully consider the question." We need scarcely 
say that the encoui agement of cotton-growing in 
suitable districts by the natives of Ceylon— now that 
a Ceylon manufactory is to be started — is an object 
deserving of the special encouragement of the local 
Government. The Assistant Agents ought to be 
empowered to offer money rewards — small bounties 
in fact — for an appreciable quantity of cotton 
grown from the best seed now available and 
which might woll bo distributed froe of cost to the 
people. 
