1 84 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [August i, 1881. 
exaggeration to say that thousands of acres were 
opened and planted with coffee no more suited to 
produce the fragrant berry tiiau the Sidlaw Hills are 
to grow grapes. The selling price, moreover, rose from 
£30 to £1:20 par acre, and more fortunes were made 
by selling mock estates in two years than had been 
made by bona fide planting during the previous ten. 
Disappointment and ruin has followed as a matter of 
course. Still Ceylon stands where it stood, and must 
remain the key to and " garden of India," with its 
splendid climate and glorious scenery. The soil, per- 
haps, might be richer, but in good hands this is 
always susceptible of improvement, and, depressed as 
it is at present, "Taprobane" will doubtless again 
revive, when the lessons taught by a few years' reck- 
lessness will not be lost. One result will evidently be 
the introduction of several new products — cinchona — 
already fully established — and tea, pronounced at the 
Melbourne Exhibition as in some important respects the 
"beet in the world," while cocoa topped the market the 
other day in Mincing Lane. But yet there is room, 
and perhaps we may be permitted to suggest another 
addition to the new products suitable for Ceylon — 
viz., Jute. Dundee alone imports yearly from Calcutta 
and Chntagong, Jute equal in value to that of Ceylon's 
chief staple, coffee ; arrangements are now being made 
for extending the cultivation of the plant in Egypt, 
which has already forwarded good samples. Why 
Ceylon should be passed by and not participate in 
the benefit of producing our staple fibre we are at a 
loss to conceive. There must be. many thousands of 
acres in the south-west of the island eminently suited 
for its cultivation now lying unproductive. Indeed, 
one of our largest manufacturers who has frequently 
visited the island believes that in many respects Ceylon 
would have the advantage of Egypt, if not the present 
source of supply, particularly in the abundance of 
cleir water, so essential in the proper preparation of 
the fibre. Unlike cinchona or cocoa, which requires 
years of patient' waiting for a result, four months 
would decide this matter. Will no enterprising 
planter scratch a few seeds into the corner of 
a field, or energetic native crop a portion of his 
paddy field with what may bring him from £12 
to £20 per acre, instead of the meagre crops of 
grain with which he has so long been content ? 
We are aware that cotton was not a success, and that 
sugar cane was all but a failure in Ceylon, owing to the 
humid nature of the climate, but here is a plant that 
rejoices in moisture as well as heat. Why should we 
allow an enterprise so beneficial to all concerned to be 
drawn away into a foreign country ? Messrs Ferguson 
deserve great credit for the completeness and compre- 
hensiveness of their work, and we fully hope that next 
issue will draw us into closer acquaintance by showing 
a considerable erport of our staple fibre. We are glad 
to note that the ancient source of revenue, the pearl ■ 
fishery, still yields a bountiful harvest, the amount 
realised for this year being £60,000. Gold is also talked 
of, but we trust our friends may escape the gold fever 
now raging in Southern India, for, although there has 
doubtless been a considerable quantity of gold buried 
in Ceylon during the past five years, we doubt if it can 
be recovered by any ordinary process of mining. 
Tun Indian Jute plant has. it seems, been success- 
ully cultivated in Virginia, and, according to the 
Commissioner of Agriculture, "it is a declaration of 
American independence from India in the matter of 
jute." The yield of fibre is about 3,500 lbs. to the acre, 
and the United States industrial press is hoping that 
England will find American jute so much better than 
the Indian article that they will be inclined to give 
it, the preference, as they do American cotton. It 
really should not be in such a hurry. No samples 
of Virginian jute have, we believe, yet arrived in this 
country.— British Trade Journal. 
COFFEE PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION. 
We call attention to the monthly report of Messrs. 
Robert von Glehn & Sons. The estimates of Pro- 
duction and Consumption drawn up by the principal 
Havre coffee brokers are of special interest, and it 
will be seen thut the probability still is of a large 
reduction in the stocks of our staple by the end of 
the present year. 
ROBERT VON GLEHN & SONS' MONTHLY COFFEE CIRCULAR. 
London, June 3rd, 1881. 
In our last circular we gave a table shewing that 
working out the total receipts for 10 months on the 
basis of the daily averaye receipts telegraphed weekly 
by Renter, the total for the 10 months amounted to 
3,929,750 bags, but the above is no doubt the more 
correct way, and shews that the daily average re- 
ceipts are generally given too high. 
A circular has been published by the principal Havre 
coffee brokers giving the following interesting com- 
parison of the probable crops of coffee in the chief 
producing countries of the world for the seasons. 
1880-81. 
1881-82. 
Tons. 
Tons. 
Rio 
255,000 
210,000 
Santos ... 
72,000 
90,000 
Bahia ... 
5,000 
5,000 
Ceylon ... 
20,000 
35,000 
Java 
43,000 
70,000 
Padang aud Macassar 
12,000 
15,000 
Manila ... 
5,000 
5,000 
Moka 
5,000 
5,000 
Malabar 
16,000 
15,000 
Haiti 
33,000 
35,000 
Porto Rico 
14,000 
15,000 
Jamaica 
5,000 
5,000 
Laguayra and Maracaibo ... 
30,000 
30,000 
C. America and Costa Rica 
30,000 
30,000 
Mexico ... 
Africa ... 
4,000 
5,000 
■ J 10,000 
Total... 
554,000 
575,000 
We consider these estimate-* as nearly as possible 
correct except, perhaps, the estimate of the Moka crop, 
which is certainly put too high at 5, 000 tons, while 
the estimate of the Malabar crop of 1881-82 is too 
low at 15,000 tons. But the chiet feature in the Havre 
circular is the following calculation showing that the 
stocks of coffee in Europe and America will have 
decreased 72,000 tons by the 3 1st December. 
Estimate of the import of coffee in America and 
Europe between 1st May and 31st December, 1881 : — 
Rio 144,000 tons 
Santos ... ... ... 54.000 „ 
Ceylon 15,000 „ 
Bahia ... ... ... 3,000 „ 
Java ... ... ... 36,000 ,, 
Padang Macassar ... ... 8,000 ,, 
Manila 4,000 „ 
Moka ... ... ... 4,000 ,. 
Malabar ... ... ... 7,000 „ 
Haiti... ... ... ... 9,000 „ 
Porto Rico ... ... ... 6,000 ,, 
Jamaica ... ... ... 3,000 ,, 
Laguayia and Maracaibo ... 6,000 ,, 
Central America, Costa Rica ... 12,000 ,, 
Mexico and Africa ... ... 6,000 ,, 
Total... 317,000 „ 
Stocks in Europe and America, 1st May 185,000 ,, 
502,000 ,, 
Consumption 8 months at 48,600 tons 
per month ... ... ... 3S8,S00 ,, 
Probable stock 31st December, 1881 113,200 
