January l, 1889.] THF. TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
445 
done was aggravated, as the trees had t~> endure 
an attack of flelopellia uiilonii immediately after the 
ravages caused by the insect. Surprise is caused by 
the phenomenon, that iu the neighbouring seedling 
plantations of Tjinjiroean there was scarcely a trace 
of a plague of caterpillars. At Tirtacaria coinmence- 
ment was made with the clearing of forest land in- 
tended for the laying out of graft plantations. Our 
account of the plentiful supply of grafts in the nur- 
series the above establishment can be extended by about 
thirty bouws during the last quarter of this year aup 
tlx- first half of 1889. 
The total number of plants in the Government 
gardens at the end of tho quarter was 3 720,000 
made up as follows: — In the nurseries, 2,1 .07,000 , 
viz., 1,870,000 ledgeiiaua (including 15,000 grafts),: 
and 287,000 suocirubra. In the open, 1,503,000 : 
viz., 821,000 lcdgeriana (including 200,000 cuttings 
and grafts, and exclusive of the more or less 3,000 
original ledgers), 8,500 calisaya and hasskarliana 
011,000 euceirubra and caloptera, 121,500 officinalis 
and 1,000 lancifolia. 
♦ 
THE DUTCH CINCHONA AUCTIONS. 
( Telegram from our Correspondent-) 
Amsterdam, Nov. 8th. 
At today's periodical auctions of Java cinchona bark 
about 107 tons of manufacturers' bark were offered, 
analysing as follows :— 9 tons from 1 to 2 percent ; 17 
tons"2 to 3 ; 28 tons 3 to 4 ; 18 tons 4 to 5 ; 14 tons 5 
to 6 ; 5 tons Gto 7 ; 10 tons 7 to 8 ; 4 tons 8 to 9 ; 1 
ton 10 to 11. The average quinine standard being 43 
per cent. Of the packagts offered, 1,592 were disposed 
of at prices equal to those realised at the London auc- 
tions tbis week, the unit averaging 11 cents, or 2d per 
lb. The prices paid range from 10 to 76 cents (~l|d to 
laljd per lb.) for druggists' quills ; broken quills and 
chips, from 17 to 23 cents (=--;id to 4Jd per lb.) for 
ditto root; from 14 to 110 cents (=2Jdtols 8d per lb.) 
for manufacturing hark, quills, broken quills, and chips; 
and from 43 to 82 cents ( 7 jd to Is '2:}d per lb. for 
manufacturing root. The principal buyers, in order of 
importance, were Messrs. Zimmer&.Co.,of Frankfort-on- 
Maiue, the Brunswick (Quinine Works, the Amsterdam 
Quinine Works, and Messrs. O. L. Schepp & Zoon, of 
Rotterdam. — Chtmist and Druggist. 
♦ 
FINE NILGIRI TEAS. 
Wo have received from the Manager of Glendalo 
estate, Coonoor (the property of Mr. Thomas Stanes), 
samples of the fine delicate teas sold in September 
la^t in London at 7s lid and (is. The former is 
called "Young Hyson" and Mr. Stanes says is 
not difficult to manufacture. In place of the Black 
Tea which sold at Gs, the Manager Mr. Brown seems 
to have sent us a sample of 35 boxes of Golden 
Orange pekoe which sold at 2s Id. Both samples 
are however very interesting and can be seen at tho 
Observer office. 
A merchant, who has seen the samples, writes : 
— " We have had a good look, and have 
liquored, with tho result that they may he de- 
scribed as follows: — 
"Golden Orange Pekoe — Black, bright, even wiry 
leaf, fall of golden tips, infusion b right and even, 
liquor very thin. Fine delicate flavour. 
" Yonng Hyson.— Strnw-coloured liquor, very thin, 
very pungent. 
"The latter is quite a curio, and (here is noth- 
ing like it produced in Cejlun, in a commercial 
way at all events." 
♦ 
TOBACCO PLANTING IN SUMATRA. 
AN R-GKYU>N I I ami B i hi m .' 1 ink, am> OrtMIMQ 
COUNSKI. ON T1IK ( LRINO OV TOBACCO. 
Du.i, .'ah November.— O/m, ri f i and /'. .1. regularly 
to hand, ami real with -real intere t. It wu a 
great shock to me to hoar of James Cantlay's 
death. He was a good and sincere friend, and I 
look back now, alas, many years ago, to pleasant 
and happy days spent in his house, both in Meda- 
mahanuwara and Dimbula ; thera was no one I knew 
in Ceylon for whose oninion I had greater res- 
pect.— R. I. P. 
Some time ago I noticed in one of your articles 
anent the profits made by Deli planters, that it 
was n) wonder that I and others were reticent on 
the subject of Tobacco, meaning, I suppose, that 
we liked to keep the secrets connected therewith 
to ourselves. Well, for my part, you accuse me 
unjustly : I would gladly impart to one and all of 
the Ceylon men, who choose to go in for tobacco, 
everything I know about the mysteries (?) of cur- 
ing tobacco ; but the fact is, it is impossible for me, 
or anyone else, to tell on paper or by word of 
mouth how the leaf is fermented. It can only bo 
learned by experience, not the experience of a year 
or so, but an experience requiring the closest study 
and attention of at least four or five gears, and 
even then I am doubtful, if one has not much to learn. 
Every year every estate show3 different qualities of 
tobacco, which require different treatment, and he 
would be a bold man, even among the planters 
here, who would say to his neighbour, you slnuld 
do this or that ; you may have your ideas on the 
subject, but it is wisest to keep them to yourself, 
or you may run amucker, a thorough knowledge 
of the tobacco undergoing fermentation being in- 
dispensable. 
I see in your Overland issue of the 9th ult. an 
extract from a letter from a Mr. Gray, in which 
he says he has got over tho problem of curing, 
and that he has cured 10 cwt. or so. Well, if by 
curing he means fermentation, he must allow me 
to tell him, that, if he has fermented 10 cwt of 
tobacco, he has wrought a miracle, and deserves 
to get the "good man with capital," when doubtless 
he will soon make his 10 per cent. It is one of 
the difficulties we have, in opening a new estate, 
which is generally on a small scale, say from GO 
to 100 fields (a field is generally about an acre 
and one-third, which is the amount given to one 
cooly to cultivate), to get sufficient tobacco to 
ferment properly; we cannot do so with a small 
quantity, even 300 piculs, equal to about 300 cwt., 
gives great trouble : it is one thing to dry the 
tobacco, another to ferment. I should like to learn 
how Mr. Gray raised his temperature with 10 cwt. 
of tobacco ; I expect if he turned over this quantity 
a couple of times, he would find that he would 
get no higher temperature than the surrounding 
atmosphere. Our tobacco generally takes from 0 
to 7 months, from the time it enters the fermenting 
shed until it is out fermented, but it greatly 
depends on the quality of the leaf, oily tobacco 
taking much longer than dry. Out fermented tobacco 
oan be told on'g by the touch and look, not by the 
thermometer. 
Mr. Gray says the three main points in curing 
tobacco are : — 1st, to fix the colour required \ 2nd, 
retain flavour and strength ; 3rd, to secure a leathery- 
texture. As to the first, neither Mr. Gray nor 
any other man can fix the colour required (I 
only wish we could) : we can fix no colour ; tho 
ooloars are inherent, and are brought out by fo- 
mentation; wa cannot alter the original colours, 
though by^ strong fermentation u darker shade may 
be got. The colours are fixed by nature before 
tho tree is cut, bin something can be done to 
get lighter or darker ongiual colours by cutting 
at different degrees of ripeness ; but a would take 
too long to explain this, so will pass on to the 
2nd main point. If Mr. Gray will ferment p...i'orly, 
he need not bother himself about the strength and 
