742 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [February i, 1882. 
The Agriculturists op Malta are in a state of 
alarm, owing to the drought, which has continued five 
months, not more than half-an-inck depth of rain having 
fallen during that time. 
The Tea Trade. — The custom house returns show 
that large supplies of tea continue to be shipped to 
Loudon and Melbourne from Madras and the Coast 
ports. In November last the shipments of tea from 
Beypore aggregated 16,6821b; from Calicut 1,7051b 
and from Madras in December 6,0051b. Of the 
latter quantity, 5,0001b were sent to Great Britain, 
9751b to Bombay and 30 lb to Melbourne. — Madras 
Standard. 
Cuprea Bark. — In Comptes Rendus, p. 593, Oct. 
17, M. Arnaud describes a new alkaloid which he has 
obtained from a dark red-brown bark with a resinous 
fracture, imported from Santander, and which may be 
presumed to form part of the recently imported China 
Cuprea. He finds the bark to contain 0'8 per cent 
of cinchonine and 0 - 2 per cent of the new alkaloid. 
He obtains it by treating the bark with milk of lime, 
drying the mixture, exhausting with boiling alcohol, 
treating the resulting extract with hydrochloric acid 
in excess and crystallizing. The hydrocblorate of the 
new alkaloid is less soluble and crystallizes out first, 
the hydrochlorate of cinchonine remaining in solution. 
This alkaloid he has named cinchonanime. It appears 
to occupy an intermediate position between quiuanime 
and cinchoniDe, in having two atoms less hydrogen 
than the former and two more than cinchonine. — 
Pharmaceutical Journal. 
Brazil as a Field for Indian Emigrants. — 
The Calcutta Englishman in advocating this scheme 
says : — Brazil as a field for emigrants is quite un- 
known to this country; but there appears no reason 
why a system of emigration there should not be 
capable of organization. It ie true that Brazil is a 
foreign country ; but any objections on this score are 
no greater than those which also apply to the French 
colonies to which the emigration of labourers from 
this country is sanctioned. Brazil is suffering much 
from a scarcity of labour. The resources of slave' 
labour, on which she has hitherto been mainly depend- 
ent, are rapidly failing, inasmuch as, though the 
law has not gone to the extremity of abolishing 
slavery throughout the kingdom, it has decreed for 
some time now that the children born thereafter of 
slave parents are to be free from their birth. The 
result of the measure has been that, while the old 
slave stock are dying out, there is no labour popula- 
tion to take its place. The children declared tree by 
the law are as yet mostly too young for work, or, 
when of sufficient age, are described as not having 
the capacity for voluntary toil. The Brazilian ex- 
perience in this latter point is not without example 
on other occasions of slave emancipation. The demand 
for labour is thus increasing. The attempts made to 
supply it are by way of European immigration, and 
a large proportion of the Italian, Spanish, and Portu- 
guese emigration is diverted to Brazil. The demand, 
however, is chiefly for agricultural labour, particularly 
for the great coffee industry, of which, immense as it 
is, the further development is eaid to be hindered 
only by this want. In the tropical climate of Brazil 
field labour is well-nigh impossible for Europeans, 
even of the above class. Hence the demand is growing 
for labour capable of the work. This demand India 
appears very well suited to supply. No doubt proper 
guarantees, such as are usually required, would be 
granted for the treatment of emigrants, and the 
Brazilian Government mijjht be approached with 
advantage on the whole question. It should be re- 
membered by way of encouragement that the Wesi 
Indies are not vory far from Brazil, and to them a 
stream of emigration has been successfully arranged 
from tbc shores of India. 
Rangala, 17th Jan.— Fine weather for the last ten 
days, after a spell of nearly three months' constant rain. 
Ltaf-disease bad again, and prospects for coming year 
not over brilliant. Fine hard dry weather during 
February, March and April will make things look 
brighter. Let us hope for another dry year like 1876 
— our last dry one. I think Government should ask 
Mr. Ward to investigate the coffee root-disea6e : leaf- 
disease is comparatively a trifle. How about the little 
insect seen on the fungus ? I believe Mr. Ward makes 
no mention of it in his report. Why, I don't know, 
but, somehow, I have great faith in Mr. Storck and 
his remedy for Hemileia vastutrix. I hope the reward 
to be offered will be a liberal one. Government 
should offer not less than R100,000, aud the planters 
might back it up with a 12 cent export duty for say 
five years. This, I think, would induce a good many 
to come forward, and experiment and perhaps discover 
a remedy. The late wet found out the weak places 
in our cinchona fields. Spots are looking reddish an.d 
unhappy, but, on the whole, our fields are doing very 
well. Coffee down to 75s. What next?!! 
A Bumper Crop. — We learn from our Mercara corre- 
spondent that, on an estate in South Coorg, about twenty- 
five miles from Mercara known as the Du Barri estate, 
the crop of coffee this season has exceeded all expect- 
ations. Du Barri estate is about 180 or 190 acres in 
extent, ana for this comparatively moderate plot the 
yield of coffee this season has been one hundred and 
twenty tons, and it is supposed that there are still 
some thirty tons to be gathered, so that the lucky 
owner will have one hundred and fifty tons for the 
season's crop. Our correspondent says that nothing 
else is talked of in Mercara among the planters, as well 
as by the other classes of residents, but the "wonder- 
ful estate" which has given its owner fully seventy 
tons above the estimated quantity of coffee. We are 
glad to learn that, on many estates in Coorg, very good 
crops of coffee are being gathered and that the planters 
areinhigh spirits. But for the prevalence of leaf -disease, 
which is gradually extending, and which all the efforts 
made by the planters to exterminate have, up to this, 
proved unsuccessful, coffee in Coorg would just now 
be a most successful enterprize.— Madras Standard. 
Coffee in London. — In looking over the catalogues 
of the lait day's sales, I see that a parcel of new crop 
coffee of a well-known and favorite mark was put 
up. It was of that peculiar blue-greenish tinge so 
much admired by export buyers, and accordingly it 
brought the top prices of the day the O size 109s, 
and the No. 1 85s 6d., the latter being classed' as 
good middling. Now I refer particularly to this 
sale because I happen to know that, about two months 
ago, an offer was made for this particular crop, by a 
Continental House, of 89s, cost and freght or equi- 
valent to fully 91s, delivered terms, and it was re- 
fused because the proprietor thought he could do better. 
Well, I sincerely hope he may do so with the "re- 
maining consignments of the season, but at any rate 
this first parcel will return him between 8s. to 9s. 
less than he might, have had paid down on delivery 
in the Colombo stores. When will Ceylon estate owners 
become convinced of the fact that if they are free to 
sell on the spot, they can always do better there than 
by shipping to London ? The reason is so obvious, 
and the teaching and experience so plaiu, that I cannot 
understand how any one can be so blind to his own 
interests as not to seo it. Merchants in Trieste and 
Venice can always afford to pay 3s. or 4s. more for 
direct shipment, than in London, and it is admitted 
that the continental trade governs the prices in this 
market. Moreover there are often Australian or Amer- 
ican orders in Colombo at limits above the London 
equivalent. I fear, however, that it is now too late 
for much to be done in crops until next season.— 
Lon. Cor. " C. Times." 
