486 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [January f, 1889 
physique ; that the birth rate is high ; that in 1885 
when relief works were opened few were attracted 
to them ; and that the labouring classes depleted as 
they were by the famine of 1876-78, always and every- 
where in ordinary time find a sufficiency of the food 
to which they are accustomed. 
In Bellary (area 5,602 sq m., population 726,275), 
it is thought the stan 'ard of comfort has risen. 
In Kumool (area 7,785 sq. m„ population 709,305), 
Mr. Benson, who is working at an analysis of the 
district, says that there is no large class of perso is 
pinched for food from year's end to year's end, and 
that there are few beggars or loafers. 
In Chingaput (area 2,842 sq. m., population 981,381), 
the Collector thinks the mass of the people live from 
hand to mouth, and in adverse seasons are seriously 
hampered. But the Government of Madras believes 
that the condition of the people has improved in a 
marked degree within the last ten years. 
In South Arcot (area 4,873 sq. m., population 
1,814,738), employment is obtainable without difficulty 
at wages that give the labourer a sufficiency of food. 
In Tan} ore (area 3,654 sq. m , population 2,130,383), 
there is no sign of widespread poverty. 
In Triehinopoly (area 3,561 sq. m., population 
1,215,033), wages are high, food is cheap and the 
appearance of the people is most prosperous. , 
In Malabar (area 5,765 sq. m., population 2,365,035), 
the people are stout, well grown, well nourished and 
muscular, " Children swarm and are as plump as 
partridges." 
In the Nilgiris (area 957 sq. m., population 91,031), 
" the proportion of the population who suffer from 
want of food is extremely small — as small as it is 
in any part of the British Empire." 
In Tinnevelly (area 5,381 sq. m., population 1,699,747), 
the diet is sufficient to maintain a high degree of physi- 
cal efficiency. The people are well-fed and have a 
margin for superfluities as is evidenced by the habitual 
use of ornaments by men and women of the common 
cooly caste. 
In Canara (area 3,902 sq. m., population 959,514), 
the monsoon has never failed and scarcity is un- 
known. 
In Worth Areet (area 7,256 sq. m., population 1,817,814), 
the Collector in a burst of rhetoric suggests that 
grinding poverty is the widespread condition of the 
masses, and two missionaries state that many poor 
people who though they do not actually starve, go 
through life on insufficient food. 
In Mathira, (area 8,401 sq. m., population 2,168,680), 
the labouring classes are very well off and the con- 
dition of the district is no doubt good, owing to 
the large amount of emigration to Ceylon and the 
Straits Settlements. 
In Coimhatore (area 7,842 sq. m., population 1,659,690), 
no one need starve who can or will work. 
On the whole it may be said that in ordinary seasons 
the lower agricultural classes generally get through- 
out the year a sufficiency of food, that is food 
enough to maintain them in bodily health and strength 
and in full efficiency for labour. 
In Cuorg (area 1,583 sq. m,, population 178,3021, 
which is so favourably situated from a climatic point 
of view, there has not been that scope as in other 
Provinces for an enquiry of the kind indicated by 
the Government of India. In this province there are 
no causes at work which tend directly to bring about 
a condition of widespread poverty or distress of a 
chronic character, and tho condition of the ryot is, 
on the whole one of advancing prosperity, which in 
individual cases can be frustrated only by thriftless 
au.i reckless habits among the people. — Indian AgH- 
culturiit. 
CINCHONA IN JAMAICA. 
The Sup3ri' tendent of the Jamaica Cinchona 
Gardens, in his r. pnrt for 1887, states that some 
cir.ohona trees havo beon dying off that year. On 
investigation, it waa found that the bark at the 
junction of item and root lias been injured, and that 
in «'m»equenc« the mycelium o£ a. fungu* hud pene- 
trated between th9 bark and wood. The bark had 
become loosened on the roots, aDd decayed away. It 
is probable that the injury was caused by the wind 
duriDg the last hurricane. It would be difficult to 
detect such iujury at first, but probably an early 
application of the remedy prescribed for the orange 
trees would have saved the trees. Trees which are 
too far gone to save should be taken up by the roots 
and barked. The bark may be stored after thorough 
drying, for mildew does not affect the quantity or 
quality of the alkaloids when the bark is cured. — Oil, 
Paint un'l Drug Reporter. 
[The dying off in Jamaica is what we Lave been 
so familiar with in Ceylon.— Ed.] 
+. 
Bananas. — A. young Salvadorian, with the dark 
eyes and inky hair of his country, talked to a reporter 
the other day about the Central American banana tree. 
The tree is 2i to 3 feet in circumference at its base. 
Its tapering fibrous stem, without a branch, is from 
10 to 15 feet in height. The fibres, separated by a 
thin pith, are as long as the body of the tree. These 
fibres are used in Salvador, just as they are taken 
from the tree, as shoestrings and as cords for all pur- 
poses. The natives use them largely for bridle reins 
and lariats. The raw material costs only transpor- 
tations to the ropewalks. Each banana tree bears in the 
twelve months of its existence only one bunch of fruit, 
but from two to ten trees spring from the roots of the 
oue that has fallen. In Salvador the bunch of bananas 
is worth fifteen cents, and the dead tree nothing. A 
cordage factory or paper mill or coffee sack maker, 
were not the dead trees numberless, would give for 
each tree ten times the value of the fruit it has" produced. 
Split, dried and packed, the bodies of the banana trees 
might be shipped profitably to the United States, but 
there is no reason why some enterprising American 
should not take them in hand. — Guatemala Star. 
Trade in Dog Skins.— Mr. Edgar, the Commis- 
sioner of Customs at Newchwang, in Manchuria, in 
the last Chinese Customs Yellow-book, referring to 
the trade from that port in robes and mats made of 
the skins of dogs and goats, says it is generally 
supposed that dogs are picked up promiscuously 
wherever they may be found straying, destroyed, and 
their skins sold to dealers. This, however, is not the 
case, for although the business may have had its origin 
in this way, it is now as systematically carried on 
as sheep-farming. There are thousands of small dog 
and goat farms dotted over Mauchuria and the eastern 
borders of Mougolia, where from a score to some 
hundreds of dogs are annually reared on each farm, 
and where they constitute a regular source of wealth. 
A bride, for instance, will receive as dowry a number 
of dogs proportionate to the means of her father. It 
is probable, says Mr. E.lgar, that in no other part 
of the world are there to be found such splendid 
dog skins for size, length of hair, and quality, the 
extreme cold of these latitudes, where the thermometer 
registers 30* Fahr. below zero, developing a magni- 
ficent coat- It is difficult to understand how the dog 
farmer can afford with profit, to rear the aoimals 
when the price of the robe is taken into consideration . 
For oue full-sized robe, say 80 in. by 80 iu., at least 
eight animals are required. Putting the price realised 
at 14s. 6d. for a robe, this would only allow about 
Is. lOd. per skin, including the selection — for the skins 
must match in colour and length of liair — and cost 
of sewing. The animals are generally strangled in 
mid-winter, but not before they are eight months old, 
and then the skins taken in a frozen condition 
principally to Moukden ami Chinchow, where they 
are cured, assorted, an I made into r >bes, mats, &c. 
La4 year the robes are siid to have been decidedly 
inferior in quality. The reason given is that orders 
went forward too late, and the farmers, waiting till 
tiny had news of some demand, kept the auimals 
alive until th ir winter coats began to fall off. The 
value of t >e trade from Newchwang last year was 
Rbout £40,000, against nearly £60,000 the previous year. 
The decline was due to depreciation in value and a 
decreased demand from the United States. — Journal 
of the Society of Arts, 
