356 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [October i, i88i. 
Parcels are sometimes sent to Colombo, not only 
in a very damp state, Imt very much mixed, and it 
is part of the curer's business to divide each quality 
carefully, so that it may ralize its full value, and 
not suffer in price for the want of proper attention 
this side. 
"The rubbish from an estate" can hardly be ex- 
pected to pay cost of barking, weeding, and general 
management, as your correspondent would have it do; 
and. if it realizes 25 cents per lb. all round he ought 
not to compla n. 
Messrs. Baker & Hall give their personal atten- 
tion to all produce sent to their mills, and it is only 
reasonable to suppose their charges are less thau those 
of the other leading Colombo firms who applied for 
the Receivership of the Corbet estates, otherwise they 
would not have secured the appointment.— Yours 
truly, SHIPPER. 
Experimental Stations. — Travancore planters are 
setting their Ceylon brethren a most commendable 
example in thiir determination to establish a couple 
of experimental stations according to the proposal of 
Mr. Macdonald Cameron. The Kandy Association 
ought to take to itself shame that its little neighbour 
"across the ferry" sin nld be first in this most desir- 
able course of procedure. 
Progress in Perak..-— Mr. Low, Resident at Perak, 
is good enough to inform us : — " I have just gathered 
16 pods of ripe seeds of the Hcvea BraziUensis, two 
of which I have sent to Mr. «J. A. Swettenham in 
Colombo. The plants were put out in Nov. 1878 
and were then 3 inches high." He adds in 
reference to the "Tropical Agriculturist ":—" It is a 
very handy record of the valuable information for 
which the Observer is so prominent." 
Rubber in Bengal.— In the annual report of the 
Royal Botanical Gardens, Calcutta, for 18S0-1881, 
we have the following information regarding the 
introduction of rubber: — " Of the economic plants, the 
Ceara rubber continues to grow vigorously and to give 
promise of success. The Para rubber and the Mada- 
gascar rubber have entirely failed. The other exotic 
rubbers are very large trees or climbers, and though, 
as Dr. King states, the collection of rubber from them 
in their native forest when they have grown to 
maturity may be profitable, the cost of planting and 
protection for several years, until they come to maturity, 
•will probably prevent their cultivation in this country 
from becoming a success. Of the otlier economic plants, 
the mahogany and gvanqo or rain-tree appear to be the 
only exotic tr es which grow well in Bengal, and for 
which there is a demand." 
African Rubber for India — Some months ago it 
was stated in a Loudon journal that the best results 
were anticipated from a small parcel of seeds of a new 
East African indiarubber plant which Dr. Kirk, of 
Zanzibar, had collected during a journey from Dar-es- 
Salaam and sent to India. " So successful has been the 
cultivation of South American rubber-bearing plants 
in India, that any efforts to increase the variety of 
trees producing this valuable material deserves recog- 
nition. Dr Kirk says iliat the particular plant of 
which he procured the seeds occurs in great abundance 
along the road towards Nyassa. An important ob- 
servation made by him is that the supply seems to be 
but little affected, except in the immediate neighbour- 
hood of villages, by the ri-ckbss mode of tapping em- 
ployed by the natives when collecting the material. 
Dr. Kirk adds that in many parts a native may still 
collect three pounds of rubber in a day. With careful 
cultivation and proper modes of collecting the produce, 
this plant ought to prove, an invaluable addition to 
Indian commercial products." Has any one heard how 
the new seeds are succeeding in India? 
Anchor-Brand Tea, Maskeliva, Banyan Estate, 4th 
September. — Enclosed received trom . You w ill see 
what his home relatives think of nay "Anchor- Br.mdTea": 
— '• We have just enjoyed a cup of your excellent tea. 
It is first rate and I con-ratulate you on it; so dif- 
ferent from what we usually meet with." Maskeliya 
will be to the fore again, only nive us time. Crop 
beginning to ripen in patches. [Well done ! The Pil- 
grim Pioneer turning out first-class tea at his time 
of life, is surely an encouraging proof of what Mas- 
keliya and a great many more districts are yet to 
do with tea as well as cinchona. — Ed.] 
Compressed Asphalte. — Although the value of 
bituminous asphalte for paving has longbeeu recognized, 
it has always been felt that one of its defects is a want 
of density, while another is its slippermess uuder the 
influence of slight moisture. To remedy the first of 
these defects heavy road rollers have been used, while 
for the second sharp sand or some o her similar material 
has been introduced into the body of the bitumen. 
The most recently devbed method of treating it in order 
to remove these drawbacks, and apparently the most 
successful, consists in combining limestone with the 
bitumen and moulding the compound under- pressure. 
The limestone is crushed, heated, and mixed with the 
bitumen at a temperature of 252 dgs. Fahrenheit, the 
stone having a great affinity for the bitumen when 
heated. The combination is then pressed into rect- 
angular blocks of' convenient size in moulds under a 
pressure of about 50 tons. The blocks are then sub- 
mitted to a cold-water bath until' they are cold and 
ready for use. They then form a paving material of 
great density, and in which the angular points of the 
limestone are always being developed under traffic. A 
permanently rough surface is thus produced, which, 
combined with the cracks formed by the joints of the 
blocks, presents an excellent foothold for horses. A 
portion of the roadway in Queea Victoria street, adjoin- 
ing the Mansion-house station of the Metropolitan Dis- 
trict Railway, has just been laid with this material, 
which has been in use for -ome time past in the United 
States with excellent results. — Ibid. 
Cinchona on the Kilgiris. — Some months ago, 
we stated that Mr. Robert Cross had made a col- 
lection of some thirty specimens of cinchona bark 
from the various Government plantations on the 
Nihiiris, and had forwarded the fame to the Madras 
Government, in vieyv to their being sent home to be 
analysed. The samples were forwarded through the 
Secretary of State to Mr. J. E. Howard, and the 
results are reported in a communication, which we 
publish in another column. To the cinchona planter 
the results are of the highest significance, and de- 
serve close and attentive study. The variations in 
the yield of the most important constituent of the 
Bark, quinine are such as to be unaccountable on 
any hard and fast rule applicable either to climate, 
soil, or condition of cropping. Subtle comparisons 
might be made and deductions drawn, but these 
must be more or less hypothetical and will hardly 
be profitable. A few general conclusions cannot fail 
to be interesting : these are I hat bark renewed under 
moss is the richest in quinine, that bark nearest the 
roots is richer than bark higher up the stem, and 
that there must be a limit to cropping to avoid ex- 
haustion. We have on several occasions pointed out 
the error that the Madras Government was commit- 
ting in cropping the enormous supplies of bark annu- 
ally sent home. Mr. Cross alluded to this suicidal 
action, and he is now ably supported in his con- 
demnation by the leading manufacturer and analyst 
at home. Mr. Howard suggests the appointment of 
a successor to Mr. Bioughcon as Government Quino- 
logist, and we might add, the appointment of a 
trained Superintendent as a successor to the late 
Mr. Mclvor, if it is the intention of the Government 
to retain the plantations. — So <th of India Observer. 
