January i, i88<>] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
489 
PETROLEUM AS A FUEL FOR ESTATES. 
A homo correspondent who has on former occa- 
sions obliged us with his viows as to methods 
desirable of adoption to meet the growing scarcity 
of timber fuel in the neighbourhood of estates, has 
further written us relative to our recent sugges- 
tions for the use of petroleum either to supersede 
or supplement that tailing supply. Ho tells us 
that consequent upon reading what we have written 
on this subject he has made inquiry in quarters 
likely to be possessed of experience in the burning 
of mineral oils, and that he has besides read with 
oare some of the most recently published articles 
on the subject, especially those which have dealt 
with the various forms of furnaces designed for 
their combustion and with the results obtained in 
practice by the steamers which ply around the 
shores of tho Black Sea. According to him, 
it is apparent that it is only about those 
shores that tho use of petroleum is preferred 
to eoal as a fuel. Tho reason for the pre- 
ference there, is evidently not far to seek. 
Tho cxtensivo oil wells at Baku and of the Caspian 
Levels furnish a supply which makes the steamer 
service of the Black Sea independent oi the coal 
supply for whioh Southern Eussia has always had 
to rely on the import from foreign countries. In 
the event of hostilities with any other naval power, 
independence of such a supply must be vital 
to the utility of the Tsar's Black Sea fleet. Hence 
every endeavour has been made by the Russian 
Government to foster the substitution of petroleum 
for coal, not only in its Ehips of war, but also 
in the lurge floet of mercantile steamers which 
tind employment upon the coasts of the southern 
maritime boundary of that country. But the 
results of a few years' working with the new fuel 
have now been made known, and that knowledge 
certainly does not seem to recommend the use of 
mineral oil for fuel except under such peculiar 
conditions and for the special objects named above. 
Tho greatest ingenuity, our correspondent informs 
us, has been shown by a perfect host of inventors 
in tho endeavour to devise somo description of 
furnace which shall economically burn petroleum, 
but hitherto without a result likely to cause it 
to widely supersede tho use of coal. Most of theso 
furnaces aro complex in character, and tho uso 
of them, our correspondent thinks, would bo ab- 
solutely prohibited on our estates by their liability 
to get out of ordor, by tho incessant watchful- 
ness they require, and by tho highly skilled 
labour their repairs necessitate. Even with all the 
advantages possessed by a great maritime power 
like Russia, with tho aid of highly Bkilled en- 
gineers always available, it has been found that 
tho cost of petroleum as a fuel is quite one- third 
greater than that of coal. 
Tho proposition is therefore submitted to us as to 
whi ther, assuming lirstoost in tho countries of supply 
to bo about equal in the cases of coal and mineral 
oila, the difference of bulk for shipment and 
transport upoountry is likely so to affect cost of 
delivery as to turn the scalo economically in 
favour of tho latter fuel. Great doubt is exproesed 
(0 M that it can do so. Coal admits of transit 
in bulk, whilo oil must bo carefully packed and 
its storage and transport must be always subjected 
to restraints imposed by authority, for both of 
whioh reasons coal will probably admit of much 
ohnapcr delivery than oil. If, our friend advances, 
the cost of burning nun- r«l oils even in tho 
locality of its production is ouu. third in excess 
of that of coal, it scarcely Menu likely that ihoro 
can bo any saving to bo uiloulod by its uso in 
a oountry bo distant from tint souruu of supply 
as is Ceylon. Uur correspondent thiukti that coal 
62 
will possess the advantage even in cost— as com- 
pared with oil even if we leave out of considera- 
tion tho simpler methods for its combustion 
which are available, and it is needless to point 
out how desirable it is that estates should bo 
worked as far as possible by methods which do 
not demand the constant service of highly skilled 
labour. 
Apart from this matter of bost, our correspondent 
asks whether wo have altogether overlooked the 
possible eil'ect of the fumes of burnt petroleum on 
the delicate flavor of a product so liable to 
absorb tainting smells as is tea. He tells us that even 
the most perfect furnace yet designed for the burning 
of petroleum or other mineral oil has been found 
inadequate to prevent disagreeable fumes ex- 
tending to some distance around. Unless our 
estate furnaces could be situated at some very con- 
siderable distance from the drying-rooms, it is held 
to be certain that tho aroma of our teas would 
become very seriously affected by these fumes, and 
we should certainly say that it would bo found 
almost impossible in practice to have tho furnaces 
for heating and drying air for tea curing located 
at any distance from our estate faotories. All 
these reasons our correspondent believes to forbid 
the hope being reasonably entertained that petro- 
leum can over be available to meet the defi- 
ciency that is apprehended in our supply of wood 
fuel. The lattor is the fuel which must always prove 
best adapted for tea preparation, and he counsels 
us not to abstain from continual exhortation to 
the planters to be earnest in their endeavor to 
meet a possibly short supply of it in the future. 
♦ 
THE AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES OF 
NEWFOUNDLAND. 
A very favourable account of the agricultural re- 
sources of Newfoundland is giveu in the Ontario 
" Globe " by the Hon. John Macdouald, who has 
recently visited the Island. The fishing industry bus 
been at a very low ebb la tely, and this led Mr. Mae- 
donald to nuiko some inquiries as to the desirability of 
tho people turning their attention to agricultural pur- 
suits. That there is a largo area of very fortilo laud 
1u Newfoundland appears to be generally admitted, and 
it appears that the climate, though unpleasant, is less 
severe in wiutor,and loss hot in summer than tho greater 
portion of tho Dominion of Canada. When the last 
otlicial handbook was published 111 18s). there were ouly 
•17,000 acres under cultivation, out of 5,000,000 acres 
said to be suitable No wheat or barley worth men- 
tioning was grown, and only about 5,000 bushels of 
oats were produced. No doubt there aro considerable 
tracts of laud ou which oals could bo profitably culti- 
vated ; but the island is more suitable for grass and 
fodder crops than for cereals. Tho growth of tho 
former crops is wonderfully luxuriant. Mr. Mac- 
donald passed over rich fields on which e.lovor had 
beeu growing in abundance for more than thirty 
years without manure aud with no sign of soil- 
exhaustion. Ou asking why great accumulations of 
manure were left to bo wasted, Mr. M icdouald Wftfl, 
assured by a farmer that the meadows did not need 
manure, and that if applied to potatoes it would 
cause them to be .smothered with clover. As a 
stock-breeding country, he considers that Newfound- 
laud has great advantages, one of whioh is that it 
IS :),0l'0 miles nearer to Europe than tho Calgary 
district of Canada, uow a great stock-produoing 
country. 
1 + 
CEYLON TEA AND ADULTERATION. 
Planter*' Association of Ceylon, 
K mdv. 'Jls-t Dorenit.or IS8S. 
The Editor, Gtijlm pbleretr. 
Sir, — I bog to enclose Oopy of letter received from 
Mi. Win.Miitin I . alio with further uitorestuig infor- 
mation regarding tho caso Ka^iua t>. Ellin imtUmoJ 
