620 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [March t, 1889. 
Figs in the open air in East Anglia, and in other 
favourable localities in the open air, are almost as 
common or — as our climate has run of late years — 
are even more constant than Peaches. — D. T. Fish. 
—Gardeners' Chronicle. 
A DELI PLANTEE IN BBITISH 
NOETH BOBNEO. 
The planter whose experiences in the territories of 
the British North Borneo Company, as set forth in 
the Deli Courant, have been noticed in our columns, 
thus sums up his verdict on the evidence before him. 
so far as it bears upon cultivation there. 
The Soil. 
The soil generally oonsists of white clay with an 
intermixture of humus in a thin layer above. Ou 
the shores of Maruda Bay and on the Banks of the 
Sugut river, the soil is somewhat sandy and has need 
of irrigation. The planters on the spot deem that 
the rainfall will meet requirements in ordinary years. 
The Deli planters who have seen the country for 
themselves generally think highly of the soil. The 
ground is less heavily timbered than in Deli. Build- 
ing materials abound on all sides. "Where timber fit 
for posts happens to be scarce, the "Nibong" may 
be had in any quantity. Nipa for thatch is every- 
where avilable. 
Climatic Advantages. 
Notwithstanding the fact that, on many estates, 
the mortality has been enormously high, the climate 
is as healthy as in Deli, if not more so. The to- 
bacco grown, which, so far, has been brought to 
market only in small quantities, seems to suit ad- 
mirably the wants of customers in Europe. This 
is said to be especially the case with the Suan Lamba 
tobacco. The only uncertain element to be reckoned 
with in planting adventure arises from the little 
knowledge of how the monsoons set, and how it 
stands with the rainfall. 
Labour. 
Another element of difficulty lies in the ooolie 
question. Chinese labour may easily be counted 
upon. In securing it from China or Singapore, the 
difficulties are hardly any greater than those met 
with in Deli. There is, however, greater risk of 
Singapore coolies absconding, especially at Labuan. 
The greatest hindrances lie in the way of finding 
suitable native coolies. It is well known what bad 
characters Singapore Javanese and Malays usually 
turn out to be. Owing to direct coolie immigra- 
tion from Java being impracticable under existing 
conditions, the refuse of China and the Straits will 
long find a ready market for their labour in Borneo. 
The Kadyans, a tribe from Brunei territory, and some 
Brunei Malays settled in Labuan, are preferable to 
them in every way. The latter seldom enter into 
contracts for more than 6 or 8 months in duration. 
They get 8 to 9 dollars per month, and work some- 
times only eight hours a day. Years will have to 
pass away before the native population of North 
Borneo will feel any inclination to labour on the 
estates. What has been done in this respect by the 
Acting Resident on the West Coast calls for the 
warmest thanks of the planters. The sudden exten- 
sion of planting enterprise has resulted in a heavy 
demand for coolies, who prove hard to get, even 
with the utmost efforts to socure success. There 
are not even men in the land able to make thatch 
from the nipa palm, which abounds in the country. 
As may readily be imagined, the position of the 
pioneer planters has been greatly affected for the 
worso by these difficulties, and by the great distances 
to be traversed at sea, &c. 
Coppek. 
Wo will now glance at the prospects of coffee 
cultivation. The hills suitable for cultivating are 
not high enough, and have too hot a climate to 
agree with Java coffee. Even, however, if coffee 
did grow luxuriantly there are no men to gather 
in the crop. In the eastern distriots, the country 
has hardly any inhabitants. The people on the 
north coast are either too shy or too hostile 
towards Europeans to be at all helpful in the next 
few years. The other planters cannot naturally spare 
their own coolies, not for a day even. The chances 
are that most of the colfee crop will remain un- 
plucked. It is only on Maruda Bay that the co- 
operation of the people may in some degree be reckoned 
upon. 
Other Articles. 
Sugar and pepper have been experimented with, 
but no sensible planter will as yet begin with them 
as mainstav. These articles cannot at present be 
grown there on a scale to pay expenses. Uambier 
hemp, and other produce articles have not come into 
prominence, and have been subjects of experiment 
only. Success in planting there depends upon pru- 
dence and foresight carried out with sound judg- 
ment and on intelligent principles. ±-8traits Times. 
ROCKS AND SOILS. 
Rocks and Uoils : their Oriijin, Composition, and Cl'c- 
racteristics. By Horace Edward, StocKbridge, Ph.D., 
Professor of Chemistry and Geology in the Imperial 
College of Agriculture, Sapporo, Japan; Chemist to 
the Hokkaido Cho. (New York: John Wiley and 
Sons. London : Triibner. 1888.) 
Chemist to the Hokkaido Cho ! It is not the least 
striking feature of our time that there should be an 
Imperial College of Agriculture at Sapporo whose Pro- 
fessors publish researches in New York and London. 
This is not exactly a novel experience, for events 
crowd upon us thick and fast in these days ; but 
those of us who can look back forty years must be 
struck when confronted with the Chemist of the 
Hokkaido Cho. Dr. Stockbridge is not, be it under- 
stood, the alchemist to an Eastern potentate, nor yet 
one of the astrologers, Chaldseans, or soothsayers of 
a modern Belshazzar, but an agricultural chemist and 
geologist discoursing upon rocks and soils, nitrates and 
microbes, and suggesting processes by which atmos- 
pheric nitrogeu is fixed in the soil by the action of 
living organisms. The great Mikado, " virtuous man," 
has, we know, transplanted full-grown and fully- 
equipped knowledge from the West to his remote 
dominions ; and so successfully, that it has rooted, 
and now is become an article for exportation — as wit- 
ness the volume before us. To some of our readers it 
may appear unnecessary to dilate upon a fact which 
springs naturally out of the most recent developments 
ot civilization. We need not now despair of openings 
for aspiring young' chemists under the protection and 
pay of the King of Dahomey or of Ashantee, or of an 
Imperial Institute at Khartoum or some other part of 
the Dark Continent ; and truly the missionaries of 
science are in a fair way to rival those of religion in 
their ubiquity. 
The volume before us is of attractive appearance. 
It is, however, hard upon the reader who takes it up 
in order to learn something about rocks and soils to 
be oarried through the entire history of the planet on 
which his lot is cast. Deeply interesting as are the 
cosmic questions hearing upon the original nebulous 
mist, "in glowing gaseous condition," they scarcely 
affect even scientific agriculture. Besides, it is open 
to doubt whether an agricultural chemist and geologist 
is within his province in explaining the differences 
between white stars, rpd stars, and habitable planets 
which have gone through phases thus indicated. Such 
information belongs to the domain of the astronomer 
and the physicist, and the agricultural study of rocks 
and soils should be taken up at a later date of the 
earth's history. It is not our object to criticize Dr. 
Srockbridge's book severely, but it appears to us that 
if he had cut out 100 pages at the beginning, 
and added 100 pages at the end in harmony 
with his conoludiug sections, his work would have been 
more useful. 
The two features of this book which seem to us the 
] most important are, first, Dr. Stockbridge's views as 
I to the " fixation of atmospheric nitrogeu independent 
| of ommoniacal condensation and of nitrifioation." 
