January i, 1889.] THT TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
47i 
rice-growing oountries of the world very materially 
increase their production and exportation during the 
next few years ; there must be a further fall in the 
value of rice. Should this occur Burrn&h rice will not 
bear the heavy land tnx and the export duty now 
put upon it. As compt-tirion in the trade becomes 
keener, the Burmese paddy grower will have to work 
more economically than he does now, ho will find 
that to make his paddy field support himself aud his 
family he must buckle to work in earnest and not 
employ coolies so much as he does now; and Govern- 
ment will also find that it also must reduce its ex- 
aotions on rice. 
When one comes to think over the matter it is a 
most marvellous thing that the production of a simple 
and formerly somewhat despised grain should have 
done so much for any country as rice has done for 
Burmah. Thirty-five years ago had auy one foretold 
that the wretched swamps which the East India 
Company had been compelled to annex would prove 
the source of wealth they actuully have done both 
to the people aud to the government he would have 
been regarded as a lunatio. It is not too much to 
say that free aud unfettered rice cultivation has 
made Burmab. What the country has derived from 
other sources is altogether insignificant iu comparison. 
But the very facility with which this w. alth has been 
acquired tends to give both Government, officials and 
the actual cultivators erroneous impressions of what 
they can get out of rice. The danger is not very 
imminent, perhaps, but other nations are becoming 
alive to the fact that rice fields may be turned in'o 
a source of great wealth and they are learning to 
turn th"m to account. Burmah was practically first 
in the field, and has had something approaching to 
a monopoly of the trade for many years, but sooner 
or later she must face a more active competition than 
any she has yet encountered; aud it is to be hope I 
that all concerned will be wise in time and make 
the necessary reductions in the cost of rice before 
any check has been put on tho export of Burmah 
rice, by the increasing quantities of cheaper rice 
from elsewhere thrown on to the great markets of 
the world. — Rangoon Gazette. 
4 
THE MINERVA FRUIT EVAPORATING 
AND PRESERVING COMPANY. 
Recently, a representative of this journal paid a 
visit to the Evaporating Factory in Levuka of the 
Minerva Company, with the object of ascertaining tho 
special merits of the particular tvpe of evaporator 
in u^e there an 1 of judging, as far as possible, of 
its general capability to suit immediate aud probable 
future requiremtnts in Fiji. It is plain that an in- 
dustry of verv great importance to this colony is 
being i itia'ed by mt-ans of ihe principle of evapor- 
ation or desiccation, and that the use of this principle 
will make all the dirf renoe between highly profitable 
productions and the reverse. Banana growers have 
long felt the want of some means of dealing with 
tbb large surplus of their frui', which, for various 
reasons, is not avilahle tor shipment while green, and 
whiuh consequently is wasted iu large quantities. In 
evaporation they certainly have tho remedy at hand. 
Our representative was shown samples of this fruit 
prepared In I'm Am- ri-.-> 10vapor.it r, iv'iie'i is tho 
Rl SO bine in use at the Minerva Oo.'s • stahlishmunt. 
In taste and appearance nothing is loft to desire, and 
the pric (fid p' r lb.) it which the i>r pared article 
is sold wholesale, 1 iv i i very handsome profit in 
operation on what w juld otherwise go to waste, or 
in"' v. St best, to feed ra'tl«. Tin- ev ipnr <t ' ei.iin 
in . ureat • nproveineot on the sun dried artlcl . > 1 
a 'lesswrt fruit is highlv appreciated by the Austra- 
lim pui)lio, if any judgin»nt may ho formed Irorn 
the niim'oi.r of nnhrs e oii'.i : fr nn the lieiytih >uri 
Colon;, s ; but, beyond this, in culinary and coofo- itionei y 
NWM it is found soaroely possible to tell it from tho 
more expen»iv« raJaln, 
Tho Minerva Company at prevent pick their bau- 
anns iu 7 1 12 1b. tins, hermetically ►r»Uvl, nt n 
cost of about §d per lb., thus securing perfect pre- 
servation at a low cost for packing. Our represen- 
tative was shown samples of desiccated coconut and 
confectioneer's copra made by the Company; which 
for whiteness, sweetness and perfect preservation aud 
appearance would be impossible to be beaten. The 
great advantage of the principle applied is that the 
heat is utilized direct instead of through any inter- 
mediate or accessory agency. The fuel burnt gener- 
ates the largest possible amount of hot. dry air, which 
comes into immediate and automatic contact with 
the substance to be dried, and the machine is so ar- 
ranged that an enormous drying surface is available for 
evaporating by this air. The outturn of finish pro- 
duct is in proportion, while the labor and fuel re. 
quired is small. The heat is perfectly under control, 
and any degree up to 400° Fah. can be quickly ob- 
tained. With regard to the extension of the uses of 
this machine and principle, upon other products than 
those shewn our representative, space forbids our 
doing more than merely glancing at the wide and 
profitablo variety of its uses in a tropical country. 
If coffee planting should be revived, it would give 
a new and greatly increased value to that product, 
as it has been found to turn out an article in flavour 
and quality infinitely superior to the crude method 
of pulping sometimes resorted to here. Similar ad- 
vantages r-sult iu tea and cocoa drying, and the 
it Am- rioan " as applied to tea preparation in the 
Wainunu district is reported a distinct success, and 
will cert duly procure for its user appreciative demand 
for his growth and make. 
Another imme liately prospective use of the machine 
is in desiccating pineapples. About one cwt. of these, 
prepared by the "American," were sent to the 
colonies last season as a sample ; with the result 
that they elicited the very highest commendation on 
their merits, by compirisou with other makes now 
getting kiuwn in Australia. A further result is the 
offer of orders thence at Is. per pound ; a price at 
which a fortune could he made, aud which should 
stimulate the growth of this easily cultivated fruit on 
a large area iu Fiji. 
We shall be glad to refer again to the subjeot of 
evaporating as its uses in various ways become de- 
veloped or the subject of actual experiment in this 
co ony . — Fiji Times. 
("We suggested the preservation of plantains in 
Ceylon by means of the Amerioan Evap >rator, aud 
we do not see why it should not pay. — Ed.] 
♦ 
CEYLON TEA AT THE MELBOURNE 
EXHIBITION. 
13th December 188*. 
The Editor " Ceylon Observe, " 
Sir, — I beg to annex oxtraot from the Age Supple- 
ment, dated 13th November 18S8, as it gives some in- 
teresting information regarding the " Ceylon Tea 
Room " at the Melbourne Centennial Exhibitiou.- 
Yours faithfully, A. PHILIP, Secretary. 
(Extract from the " Age" Supplement.) 
Mki.ii u rne Centennial ExuiuiriON. 
Melbourne, Tuesday, Nov. 13tb, 138S. 
Free Offerings. — A visitor from onu of the 
neighbouring colonics observed that the hospitality 
displayed at the Centennial Exhibition was very re- 
markable. It was not as a distinguished guest at 
the weekly luncheon of ibo President of the Exe- 
oative Commissioner* Ihit ho had come to this con- 
clusion. A turn of Inspection round the luiiMiog bad 
resulted iu invitations 10 takn two or thr«H> enpa of 
afternoon tea, a op of Van llouten's cocoa, n nasia 
of soup, besides offering* of sundry tins of mustard, 
oondnnsed soup, samples of tea, and cocoa, ko. Thofto 
are all, of course, advertising mediums. All the com- 
mo lilios offered aro of oxoolleut quality. A cup of 
Van 1 1 outfit a coco* testifies t > the ditferenee e\i-- ■ 
between entirolypnro articles, and the uiauy inferior 
qualities that are to be meut with. MtNM. AtcUcrUy 
