42 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [June i, 1881. 
of the tea bush, merely to secure local supplies of 
fresh seeds, ready to germinate, will in all likelihood 
prove highly lucrative." This may be true, and the 
plant may be widely cultivated in gardens and hedges, 
but we need have no fear of the Australians for 
generations to come growing the tea they drink. Con- 
ditions of soil and climate exist here as well as in 
America, but cheap and plentiful labour is a sine 
qud non. Cacao the Baron does not include in his 
book any more than cardamoms. On the whole, we, 
in Ceylon, are more likely to be successful in culti- 
vating the eucalypts and acacias of Australia, about 
which this book gives much valuable information, than 
our Australian friends are to compete with us in the 
growth of purely tropical products. 
CEYLON COCOA IN MINCING LANE. 
Messrs. Rueker & Bencraft report as follows in their 
Price Current on the parcels of Ceylon cocoa referred 
to by us yesterday, and which it seems they sold : — 
Cocoa. — The statistical position is weak ; stocks are 
increasing, and arrivals are heavy. At sale 7,200 bags 
went flatly, and prices were easier. 
Our little parcel of Ceylon marks, Amba and Palli, 
fetched the fancy prices of 100s to 100s 6d. This cocoa 
is much liked, it has the true rose colour, and the 
husks are light and fragile. Stocks are : 
1881. 1880. 1879. 1878. 1877. 
59,471 26,941 17,737 25,614 26,539 packages. 
Rather different are the remarks of Messrs. Wilson 
Smithett & Co., who are said to be leading authori- 
ties on cocoa :— 
Cocoa. — The auctions this week were again heavy, 
and importers shewing a disposition to sell a further 
decline of Is to 2s was established. A parcel of 72 
bags Ceylon realized an extreme price, and one that 
may prove very misleading to growers, as the quanti- 
ty required for the special use (these went for 
coloring chocolate) is very small, and large importa- 
tions could only rank with other growths, and sell at 
relative prices, say 703 to 75s per cwt. 
But we notice that the same firm acknowledge to 
an increasing consumption of cocoa in France amount- 
ing for the first two months of 1881 to 1,910,028 kilos, 
against 1,562.523 in 1880 and 1,392,011 in the same 
period of 1879. 
THE (CEYLON) TEA AND CINCHONA PLANTA- 
TION COMPANY (LIMITED). 
We take the following from the Hime and Colonial 
Mail : — 
We have received a prospectus of the above pro- 
ject, the capital of which is £100,000 in £1 shares. 
The purpose for which the Company is formed is 
stated to be the " purchasing of estates and developing 
therein the cultivation of tea and cinchona." " It is 
also proposed to cultivate other valuable articles such as 
cardamoms, india rubber, cocoa, nutmeg, and vanilla, 
the soil and climate of the Southern Province of 
Ceylon being especially suitable for the growth of 
such products." "To inaugurate the business of the 
Company, the directors have arranged to purchase and 
take over certain properties, of about 2,335 acres in 
extent, in the Southern Province of Ceylon, locally 
known as Anningkanda and Panilkanda, at an average 
coet of about £6 5s. per acre." The estates are, the 
prospectus states, already partly planted with tea, cin- 
chona, and cardamoms, the extension of which will be 
proceeded with vigorously. 
The following contracts have been entered into : 
1st. One dated the 25th of March, 1881, between 
Alexander Brooke, as vendor of the Anningkanda estate, 
with all the buildings, plants, trees, tools, machinery, 
and crops growing thereon, and David Baird Lindsay. 
as purchaser of the same on behalf of the company, 
and— 2nd. One dated the 24th of March, 1881, be- 
ween Edward Morton Rossiter, Richard Wade Jen- 
kins, and William Charles McEntee, as vendors of the 
Panilkanda estate, with all the buildii gs, plants, trees, 
tools, and machinery, and crops growing thereon, and 
David Baird Lindsay as purchaser of the same on 
behalf of the Company. 
The purchase money to be paid under these two con- 
tracts amounts to the sum of £15,000, of which £9,000 
is to be paid in cash and £6,000 in fully paid up 
shares of the Company. 
The directors express their belief that handsome 
profits will be realised by this venture for the reasons 
that they do not depend upon any one article of pro- 
duce alone, and that labour is cheap and abundant 
in the district in which the Company propose to com- 
mence operations. 
CYPRIAN BEES. 
At the 10th annual convention of the North Ameri- 
can Bee-keepers' Society the Rev. O. Clute read, 
for the author (Mr. F. Benton) a paper on "The 
Next Progressive Step," from which we take the 
following as of special interest to the gentlemen in 
Ceylon who purchased colonies of Cyprian bees from 
Mr. Benton as well as to others : — 
I propose to try to accomplish a portion of the com- 
mittee's work by presenting for your consideration a 
statement of the views entertained, after some years 
of experience with Cyprian bees, by prominent bee- 
culturists of Europe, so far as the latter have ex- 
pressed themselves in the apiarian journals of the 
continent. The authorities I shall quote are such 
as are known to have had experience in cultivating 
this race of bees, and whose reputation is too well 
assured for any to doubt their having used care and 
having made great efforts to arrive at the truth. In 
1868 the first colony of Cyprian bees were received just 
at the beginning of winter and did not survive until 
the next season. Another colony wa9 obtained in 
1872, and two more in 1874, since when other im- 
portations have been made. Apiaries of hundreds of 
colonies of Cyprians are now in existence in Austria ; 
in Germany there are also large Cyprian apiaries, 
and the race is attracting much attention in adjoin- 
ing lands as well as on this side of the water. The 
opinions expressed by foreign journals are, in the 
main, very strongly in their favour, and I am fully 
persuaded that our next progressive step is to intro- 
duce their cultivation extensively into this country. 
A brief description of the Cyprians may not be 
amiss to many. The bodies of t'ue bees are strong, 
slim, and wasp-like, the abdomen being quite pointed. 
They are to be classed, decidedly, among the yellow 
races ; their whole bodies have generally a more 
golden or orange color than those of the Italians. 
The Cyprian queens are perceptibly smaller than 
other queen-bees, their bodies being slender, in fact 
delicate appearing, very tapering, but long. The 
drones of the Cyprian race are strong, and have 
long, apparently stretched-out bodies. 
In regard to the qualities of the Cyprians, Herr 
Cori says : — " This race exceeds all those thus far 
described. The bees commence brood-rearing earlier, 
have an active disposition, fly when the weather is 
cool, are extraordinarily prolific, and are diligeut in 
honey-gathering. As regards their disposition to sting 
it may be said that it is not greater nor less than 
that of the Italians or of other races." The testi- 
mony of this man is well worth considering, for. 
holding a high position uuder the Bohemian govern- 
ment, he has for many years devoted a great deal 
of his time to the elevation of his favorite pursuit — 
bee-culture, in his native land, and has become re- 
