June i, 1881.] 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
13 
of £6,042 lis lid, and 1880 1,540 cwt. 0 q. 9 lb. valued 
at £6,468 6s 9d. The quantity of cocoa exported in 
1876 was 469 cwt. 1 q. 27 lb. of the valueof £1,286 lis 
6d, while last year the amounts were 3,304 cwt 2 q. 
91b. and £10,918 6s 7d. We hope the export of this 
article from Ceylon (121 cwt. last year) will increase 
«qually rapidly. Coconuts also show a considerable 
increase, the figure for 1876 being 1,840,315 valued 
at £5,520 18s lOd and for 1880 6,315,475 valued at 
£20,525 5s 8d. The export of coffee last 
year was 90,972 cwt. valued at £254,722 against 
96,715 cwt. in 1879 valued at £249,138, there 
thus being as we have said an increase in 
value though a decrease in amount. The export of 
• cinchona we have already mentioned : it remains to be 
seen whether this article will have such a rapid in- 
crease in Jamaica as has been the case with us. The 
fruit exported comprised bananas, limes, mangoes, 
oranges, pineapples, plantains and shaddocks. Of the 
bananas the number of bunches exported in 1879 was 
132,832 and in 1880 440,642, the values being £13,283 
4s and £38,556 3s 6d respectively. The export of limes 
is very variable, last year showing 1,210 barrels 
valued at £484, being a decrease as compared with 
1878 but an increase of 100 per cent over 1877 and 
1879. Mangoes also show fluctuations, though there 
lias been a steady increase the last three years : the 
export for 1880 was 37,360 valued at £28 0s. 6d. 
The export of oranges also varied somewhat, though 
last- year showed a large increase or any of the 
previous four years, the amount being 14,609,489 
valued at £11,687 16s lOd. (In this connection we 
may mention a case reported in the Trinidad Chronicle 
at the end of last year where the captain of a small 
American vessel engaged in carrying fruit from the 
West Indies to the United States made an offer f >r 
100,000 to 120,000 oranges to be delivered in ten days. 
The Chronicle commenting on this showed that the 
price to be paid for the quantity would only amount 
to a few hundred dollars, but hoped that as in the 
case of Jamaica a large trade would spring up.) Pi- 
mento shows a rapid increase during the 5 years, viz. 
from 391,952 cwt. in 1876 of the value of 
£39,973 12s lOd to 91,209 cwt. in 1880 valued 
at £145,570 12s. 3d. The value of walkingsticks 
exported was £652 8s, being an increase over 
any of the previous four years, thougb the number 
of bundles was considerably less. Tamarinds show a 
marked decrease in value, the 4,550 lb. exported in 
1880 being valued at only £56 17s 6d, whereas 
3,479 lb. in 1876 were valued £173 19s. The value of 
the cigars exported has increased greatly during the 
five years, the 2,633 lb. of 1876 valued at £282 15s 
having grown to 9,826 lb. in 1880 valued at £4,913. Of 
manufactured tobacco there' was a very large decrease in 
quantity and value in 1880 as compared with 1879, 
from 135,051 1b. valued at £8,440 13s 9d to 35,271 lb. 
valued at £1,322 13s 3d. The woods exported comprise 
brazilletto, candlewood, [ebony, fusticwood, lignum- 
vitae, logwood, and mahogany. The export ot bra- 
zilletto has risen from 3 tons valued at £4 10s in 
1876 to 197 tons valued at £394 in 1880. Of candle- 
wood there was no export in 1877, 1878, or 1880, 
but there was a decrease in 1879 as compared with 
1676 from 75 5-20th tons valued at £124 10s to 19£ 
tons valued at £19 10s. Ebony shows an increase 
over 1879, but a considerable decrease as compared 
with the previous three years : in 1876 the amount 
was 498 l-20th tons valued at £1,494 3s, whereas 
last year only 230 tons valued at £644 were ex- 
I ported. The amount of fustic wood exported in 
1880, viz. 1,699 tons valued at £5,097, was only 
half that of sent out in 1879, the value having dimin- 
ished in the same ratio. Lignumvitae which in 1876-9 
showed pretty nearly the same figure, 71-85 tons, 
last year took a yudden bound to 953 tons valued at 
I £632 10s. The figures for logwood in 1880, 46,325 1 
tons and £159,821 5s, are almost identical with those 
for 1877, the amounts being greater in the other 
three years of the series. The value of the maho- 
gany exported in 1880 was £277 5s, against £30 
only in 1879 : in fact there appears to be a regular in- 
crease and decrease each alternate year. The last article 
mentioned in the export table is yams, and these show 
a steady decrease in quantity from 1,014 cwt. 29. 
26 lb. in 1876 to 269 cwt. in 1880, the value having 
decreased from £331 lis lid to £80 14s. As the 
value of this article seems to have increased, how- 
ever, this year may show an improvement in the 
figures. 
The last statement appended to the Collect- 
or's report contains a precis of reports of the col- 
lectors of taxes on the condition of the trade and 
agriculture in the several parishes of the island during 
1879-80. In the parish of St. Thomas, we learn the 
cultivation of chocolate for export has been com- 
menced, and also an acre of Liberian coffee as an 
experiment. In St. Catherine also a commencement 
has been made in chocolate, oranges and Liberian 
coffee for export. Of the parish of St. Ann we 
read : — 
" The result of Agriculture has been this year con- 
siderably checked by severe drought. It is remark- 
able that with seasons so detrimental to other culti- 
vation the coffee crop now beinjj gathered promises 
to be one of the largest known for years past. The 
Pens are in good cultivation and steadily maintain 
their! value and breed of stock. An exportation of 
133 head of cattle to Cuba has taken place during the 
year. The supply of fruit was plentiful until the 
Cyclone of the 18th August which destroyed many 
valuable trees and several Chapels, School Houses 
Wharf Stores and other buildings— this, together with 
the drought, has caused unusual scarcity in ground Pro- 
visions. The fruit trade with America is thriving. 
" The regular trading of Steamers to the several Ports 
of the Parish has been of great advantage, although 
the Merchants complain of dull times and stagnation 
of trade. The lake near " Moneague" shows no signa 
of abating, although it does not continue rising it 
monopolizes a considerable quantity of grazing land." 
In the parish of Clarendon there was an increase 
in the export of coffee owing to heavy crops, but the 
prospects for the coming year were very discouraging. 
CEYLON BEES : 
COLONIES OF " APIS DORSATA," THE MOST WONDERFUL 
BEE IN THE WORLD, TAKEN BY MR. BENTON IN 
THE KURUNEGALA JUNGLE, 
We are glad to say that Mr. Benton has at length 
been successful in capturing the "Apis dorsata" 
(Sinhalese " Bambara"), which he descibes as "the 
most wonderful bee in the world." Mudaliyar Jaye- 
tilleke secured a party of Sinhalese bee-hunters who 
guided Mr. Benton to the Bambaragala, a mountain 
rock some 30 miles from Kurunegala in the jungle, 
and there, after a very interesting and exciting 
experience, which Mr. Benton will probably 
relate for the benefit of our readers, two colonies of 
the "dorsata" were secured. So much importance does 
Mr. Benton attach to bis work here, now that he has 
seen this bee, a splendid honeymaker, that he is 
to postpone bis departure to Cyprus for another fort- 
night, returning to Kurunegala to morrow morning. 
He lias left specimens of the new bee in spirits which 
can be seen at our office. The Sinhalese were much 
astonished to see the way in which Mr. Bentou handled 
bees which, wrongly used or blown upon, are so savage 
that they will pursue the offenders for miles, and 
Mr. Jayetillekc declares that be has got more pract- 
ical information about bees from Mr Benton in a week 
than he bad from all other sources In many years. 
