June i, 1881.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
37 
could have been directed to what is supposed to be 
the richest gemming land in the district, near the 
Everton ridge, and also on Batakande from which, last 
year, it is said, £9,000 of precious stones were 
sold, all taken from an area not exceeding 1\ 
acres ! The old Everton pits which were sunk to 
a depth of 120 feet had to be abandoned by C. M. 
Hassana Marikar, because he had no means of pump- 
ing out an accumulation of water. It is very evid- 
ent that there is room with modern appliances and 
adequate capital for a Limited Company to develop 
a very profitable Gem-digging industry in the 
Sabaragamuwa district. 
CEAEA RUBBER :— NO SEED TO BE GOT 
FROM SOUTH AMERICA. 
A Colombo merchant writes:— "The following in 
ceply to euquiries for Ceara rubber seed may be of 
interest:— 'The last mail from South America brought 
news to the effect that drought had killed the plants 
lor 150 miles, and that they have now to push many 
miles up the river to secure seed. None is expected 
in London for some time." ' 
CINCHONA BARK SALES. 
The sales of Indian bark reported by last mail, 
being the large quantities shipped by the S.S. "El- 
dorado" and " Kaiser-i-Kind," are regarded as most 
satisfactory, and a happy omen of what the future 
has in store for Ceylon and Indian planters. For the 
»irst time, the brokers report that the quantity of 
bark offered from the East was large enough to test 
the market, and the result was that nearly all the 
2,400 packages were sold readily for prices reaching 
up to 10s 3d per lb. for "renewed crown"; while, 
out of 3,250 packages of South American offered 
simultaneously, only 000 found purchasers. The sale 
of the parcel by the " Kaiser-i Hind " more especially 
vails for remark : it was as follows : — 
Bales. 
Prices. 
NCC natural crown 
20 
5s Od 
Branch crown 
13 
Is lid 
Mossed crown 
7s Od 
Renewed crown 
22 
10s 3d 
Natural succirubra 
41 
4s Od 
Branch succirubra 
13 
2s 6d 
Mossed succirubra 
8 
5s Od 
Renewed succirubra 
46 
7s Od to 7s 2d. 
Upon this Messrs. Rucker & Bencraft remark ; — 
We particularly attract the attention of our friends 
to the sale of this latter parcel. Here we have not 
single packages, but important piles of natural crown 
;it 5s, renewed crown at 10s 3d, natural succirubra 
at 4s and renewed succirubra at 7s to 7s 2d. 
Prices, in face *of the heavy supplies, were lower. 
It has undoubtedly been to the advantage so fur of 
Kast Indian importers to sell practically to the highest 
bidder without reserve. But when such a heavy 
.■.mount is put forward as at this sale, it becomes 
questionable whether the market is always capable of 
ibsorbing the whole quautity at full market rates, 
and it will be for the future to prove whether it is 
i ■ssihle to continue the policy of immediate sale to 
highest bidder, when our East Indian friends are con- 
tributing no longer a few hundred packages per month, 
but instead as many thousands. We do not know J 
Ittvthing about the analyses of this large shipment 
(A bark, hut it is generally questioned whether better 
prices would not have been obtained if it had been I 
distributed over several sales, or at least had more J 
firmness been shewn iu holding it. 
We trust, however, that as regards the Government 
Gardens' bark, this is the very last consignment which 
will be sold to private manufacturers. We have the 
assurance from Madras that henceforth the bark is 
to be entirely used for manufacture on account of the 
Government as in the case of the Sikhim bark, with 
this difference : that Ootacamund bark is to be sent 
home to be manufactured in place of being used up 
on the spot. Our London Correspondent, in correct- 
ing the Economist' s deliverance on the question raised 
by Mr. Thomas Dickson, is wrong himself in sup- 
posing that the Ceylon Government is as great a sinner 
as the Indian in this matter. The Hakgala Gardens 
are of too insignificant proportions to be considered 
in any sense a rival to the planters, and all the bark 
harvested there, so far, has been exceedingly trifling. 
The answers to the questions in the following letter 
which appears in Colonies arid India in reply to Mr. 
Dickson will be readily found in our Handbook ; — 
The Indian Governmknt Exports of Cinchona 
Bark. 
to the editor of " the colours and india. " 
Sir, — With regard to Mr. Dickson's letter I should 
wish to ask a few questions : 
B'irst. The Indian Government having created then- 
plantations and supplied their wants, what objection 
can be made to their selling the surplus instead of 
allowing it to be wasted '! [It is not the surplus, 
but ull the Nilgiris bark that is sold. — Ed. C O.] 
Second. Until the cost of introducing chinchona 
cultivation into India is recouped by the (jovernment, 
have they not a right to reimburse themselves by the 
sales complained of ? [The outlay has already been 
recouped.— Ed. C. O,] 
Third. In case of any emergency, such as an out- 
break of fever in any district or the wants of an 
army in the held, should not the Government continue 
to extend their plantations, and meanwhile sell their 
surplus harvest as they are now doing ? — I am &c, 
London, Maich 24. Indicus. 
Mr. Dickson is determined not to let the matter sleep, 
and it is well to make assurance doubly sure in the 
case of India, while most certainly the tendency of 
the Jamaica authorities (under the very energetic 
auspices of our friend, Mr. D. Morris) to develope a 
regular Government C.nchoua Trading Company should 
be nipped in the bud. Experimental Gardens by all 
means ; but, when it comes to planting hundreds of 
acres and to publishing special Gazettes with the de- 
tailed results of the sales of the Jamaica Government 
bark in Mincing Lane, it is time the home author- 
ities were questioned on the subject. Mr. Dickson 
writes to us as follows : — 
The Scottish Trust and Loan Company of Ceylon, 
Limited, 
123 Bishopsgate Street, Within, London, 
March 25th, 1881. 
Dear Mr. Ferguson, — 1 have sent you a copy of 
the Colonies and Iadia in which my letter re- 
garding cinchona appears, and also the Jamaica . 
vernmenl Gazette, to show you how eager the Colo- 
nial Governments, led on by specialists, are to become 
planters anil traders and I o copy the Indian ( I overnmciu. 
If in cinchona, why not in sugar, tea, or any other pro- 
duce ? Every one interested in Ceylon and India who 
will give the matter a little considerati in, will see 
the injustice, and one of the highest authorities, Mr. 
Clements R. Markhum, writing to a friend says : — 
"I saw the letter about Government cinchona sales, 
