THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[April i, 1882. 
speedily taken to prevent the reckless destruction of the 
rubber tiees, this important and now world-wide manufacture 
will be greatly retarded, owing to the scarcity of the raw 
material. The great and growing demand for rubber has 
stimulated the rubber hunters of Central and South Amer- 
ica to supply the same, but the result is, in their eagernes- 
to meet the" extra demands, they destroy the greater pors 
tiona of the trees. In many places where the rubber trees 
were seemingly exhaustless a few years ago, the forests 
have been decimated. The result is that the rubber 
gatherers have to 20 farther and farther into the interior 
and to the mountains for the present supply. Unless the 
Government of Columbia and South American States do 
something for the protection and propagation of this valu- 
able tree, the export of raw rubber from these countries 
will cease in a few years. 
It will, I think, be of interest to cultivators of this 
product, and should stimulate owners of old estates 
to give rubber a fair trial. My own experience is that 
rubber seeds should be planted at stake when they 
ai e germinated and the root about J of an inch long. 
No holes need be cut, and planting through old coffee, 
say 12 12, a cooly will plant an acre per diem, so 
that, at present prices, R5 per acre should be sufficient 
for all expenses. The experiment therefore need not 
be an expensive one. Very little rain is necessary to 
start the plants. I planted a few acres at the end 
of last month, and the result is very satisfactory. 
The following figures have been submitted to me. _ I 
give them for what they are worth and invite crit- 
icism :— 8 ft. 8 ft. = 680 trees per acre ; 4 oz. per 
tree = 1J cwt.; about £10 percwt. = £15 per acre. Is 8 
ft. 8 ft. too close ?— Yours truly, Q. R. M. 
NORWOOD CINCHONA BARK. 
Norwood, Dikoya, 18th Feb. 1882. 
Dear Sir,— In a report of cinchona bark sales, 
which was published in your paper some days ago, 
" Norwood Hybrid" appears as selling at 2s. 9d. per 
pound. 
As considerable disappointment has been expressed 
at the result of this sale, I think it would be as 
well to let the public know that the parcel of bark 
in question consisted of hybrid and succirubra mixed, 
in the proportion of 1 to 3, as far as I have been 
able to ascertain. 
Keeping this fact in view, I do not think the price 
realized can be considered unsatisfactory. — Yours truly, 
FRED. J. HORSFALL. 
MANITOBA AS A FIELD FOR ENTERPRIZE. 
Grand Oriental Hotel, Colombo, Feb. 21st, 1881. 
y IR) — Observing this morning some questions re- 
lating to Manitoba as a field for emigration, and 
having, during the last year, spent some time in Win- 
nipeg and neighbourhood, I may be able to say some- 
thing on the subject. The answers to the first ques- 
tions are substantially correct. The Allan line from 
Liverpool to Quebec is the most direct, and, I think, 
also the cheapest line. Second-class £7, first-class 
£11 to £16. From Quebec by lake steamer to Duluth, 
the fare is under 20 shillings (exclusive of board) ; 
Duluth to Winnipeg about eight shillings. 
When I was at the last-named place in October 
good masons and joiners were getting $74 a day, or in 
English money £1 lis 3d ! ! ! As Lord Lome in the 
admirable speech delivered at the dinner given him 
by the Manitoba Club truly said : "A skilled work- 
man was getting as much as an English Colonel on full 
pay " ! ! Labouring men were getting from two to 
three dollars a day. 
Laud and house property is rising every clay. 
Farms near Winnipeg that last year could have been 
bought for $8 per acre are now worth $10 per aero. 
A great rush is expected during the preseut spring, 
on account of the depression in England ; so that it 
is scarcely necessary to advise settlers to be there as 
soon as possible, as (he best locations are being fast 
selected. To sum up my remarks, I consider that 
there is a great future for the North-west of Canada. 
Even the United States papers admit that, and many 
are accordingly very jealous. When the Pacific 
Railway is opened throughout next year, there will 
be an uninterrupted communication between Liverpool 
and British Columbia through the Rocky Mountains. 
Winnipeg will be nearer Liverpool by 1,000 miles than 
Chicago, and be able to undersell the Americans in 
the wheat trade by more than 10s per quarter. 
Since the first settlement in Australia, there has not 
been such an opening for young and enterprizing men 
as there is now in Manitoba. Everything in the 
shape of necessaries is very cheap ; house rent ex- 
cepted. But for occupying too much of your space, 
I could enlarge on this subject, and give my reasons 
for advising early emigration to tbe grand North-west. 
I shall be happy to give any further information. — 
Yours truly, CHARLES REA. 
P.S. — No one need want who is willing to work.— C.R. 
TEA BOXES. 
Colombo, 21st February 1882. 
Dear Sirs, — We have pleasure in handing you the 
Indian Tea Gazette of 2nd ultimo, and we have taken 
tbe liberty of marking a number of articles which, 
taken together, form a very interesting discussion on 
the merits of Messrs. Harvey Brothers, & Tyler's 
tea boxes. No doubt many Ceylon tea planters will 
be glad to have the opportunity of reading these 
articles, either in the columns of your daily paper, or 
the Tropical Agriculturist. — We are, dear sirs, yours 
faithfully, JOHN WALKER & CO. 
The editor of the Indian Tea Gazette says : — 
In our issue of November 7th, 1881, we inserted a short 
editorial note questioning, on the authority of certain corre- 
spondents, the advisability of using tin tea boxes for the 
packing of tea, at the same time asking our readers to 
favour us with their opinions on the subject, in case we 
were misinformed. Our invitation has met with a res- 
ponse from several quarters, and the correspondence we 
have received leads us to alter the opinion we formerly held 
on the subject. A gentleman largely interested in tea, but 
in no way connected with the manufacturers of the Patent 
Tin Boxes, writes to us from England : — 
"I made enquiries as to the condition in which tea packed in 
Messrs. Harvey Bros, and Tyler's lacquered tin boxes is 
turned out in London. I found that the tea was not at all 
injured by this method of packing, but that its condition is 
quite as good as that of tea packed in chests. Messrs. W. J. 
& H. Thompson assured me that you were entirely mistaken 
in your remarks as to the contamination, but they thought 
that an objection to the packing in the lacquered tin 
boxes |was the labour of putting up in these boxes. Catal- 
ogues were shown me in which I saw that the teas in 
the lacquered tin boxes fetched higher rates than the same 
teas packed in chests, the difference being in one case 3d. 
per lb." 
This is certainly a most favourable testimony, and, com- 
ing, as it does, from a disinterested party, who writes simply 
in defence of what he considers the right, we cannot but 
accept of his statement in its entirety. 
Another correspondent gives the results of public 
sales, which show that teas from the same heap in 
India fetched from ^d. to 3d. per lb. more when 
packed in these tins than when packed in chests. 
Messrs. Harvey Brothers & Tyler write to the Tea 
Gazette : — 
Our attention has been drawn to a short article in your 
issue of 7th November last under the above heading, and we 
feel sure that you cannot have been aware that tea boxes 
manufactured by us are entirely free from any of the bad 
qualities you attribute to tin when used for packing tea. 
