Oct. 3, 1893.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
271 
[What a paradise Northern and North-Oentral 
Oeylon would present to a settlamant of suoh 
ryots, overcrowded as they are in many part^ of 
India, if the Indian authorities would bear pait 
o£ the expense, at any rate, o£ the restoration o£ 
a tank or tanks for their use.— Ed. 7.4.] _ 
Here is how Dr. Voeloker aums up hia esti- 
mate of the ryot: — "at his best the Indian 
cultivator is the equal, and perhaps the 
superior of the average British farmer, while 
at hia worst his state is due to abaeBce of 
water and manure, and he struggles on in 
in the face of the difSouUies thus created with 
extraordinary patience. " This is indeed high praise 
and from a high authority. Practioa of rotations 
of crops, mixod cultivitiou and otiaar matters in 
which Dr. Vo4oker credits tha Indian ryot with 
a superior knowledge, are uakuown methods to 
the Sinhalese goyiya, whose oultivated crops, if we 
except piddy, are as poor ia nuaibgr as they 
are in the extent of their growth. Th'ire are of 
course exceptions to the rule, in the oaees of a 
few enterprising and energetic n;',tiveg of enlight- 
ened views, and the p'lty of it is that these should 
be only exceptions. It behoves the Governmeat 
of this Colony to ponder over the opinion of Dr. 
Vojloker, the emiaent Chemist to the Eoyal Agri- 
cultural Society of England, as to its duties in 
relation to Eastern Agriculture. There i3_ much 
that can be doae in the way of rousing up 
the Sinhalese cultivator and encouraging him to 
put his heart and s^ul into hia work, by 
introducing to hitn new and paying crops and 
instructing him in methods oS which he lacks a 
knowledge ; and this we say is the duty of Go- 
vernm-^nt to do in a systematic and zvhole hearted 
manner it it is to have any good efiaot. The 
halt measures and economic policy adopted by 
the Government io its weak atssmpt to improve 
Native Agriculture in Ceylon have dona more to 
bring ridicule upon Agrioulturai Sduciiion than 
any elae. 
A FIINE BANIAN TREE. 
At Behroii, savea miles uorth-east of M.idhupar 
raiiwiy stitioa, thore is a very fins bf.nian trae, 
which appeara to be very little known, ulfihougU it 
is oae of the laiga^t iu India,. 
The toUowiug measuretaonija taken aboQij two years 
ago, will uo doubt be of iutarost to siOiae of oaf 
readers. 
Circumference 1,200 fuet 
Bist to west 403 ,, 
North to south 878 ,, 
Lougjst brauch 159 „ 
Total area ooverod 2g acres. In this are 236 other 
trees, the whole formiijg a ahidy i^rovo of respeut- 
able size, — Indian Engineer, . 
THE CINCHONA SUPPLIES. 
A telegraphic report from Java stufces thut the 
ebipmeuttt ot' ciuchoaa bark from that island dariagf 
the mou'h of Jaue reached the 'luusaally lar^e figure 
of 900,000 AmBtdrilam lb. This briags up tha total 
for tlio Java seas >a 1892-3 (July lat to Juna 30) to 
7,900,000 Amsterdam lb., which is the heavieet crop 
on record. Add to th'u that the shipmeuts for the 
first h ilf of the prese:)', year amonuted to 4,000,000 
Amsterdam lb., an uuprdoedauted fiijure for that period 
Mid thiit the iiverage qualiSy of ihy bi>rk is steadily, 
if hlowly improviuft, ani it will be 3-.:bn that the 
sudden docliuo of 25 p- r oout at last week's public 
ealod in Amsterdam was by uo meanci unjuatified. 
The uuic value for Java bark ia at present equal to 
oiilj fi I per lb , IjOUiIou ti:rm3, aud it is possible that 
this c op may havo the eScct of dryiiig up to nome 
extent the enormoua flo* of thj bsirk bu^'plien from 
Java. The Geylou shipiuenln are {jtuSuiUy dwindling 
but the deficit from thai island does not balance the 
excess of the Java exports. Our London stock on 
July 1st is rfiturned at 37,944 bales only, against 
45,310 iu 1892, and 53,338 in 1891.— A^ew York Drug 
Reporter. 

PORTLAND CEMENT MANUFACTURE 
IN CHINA. 
Considerable quantities of Portland cement are 
manufactured at a placa called Tougahan, about 80 
miles from Tientsin. Consul Brennan says that the 
raw materials used at the Tongshan works are 
mountain limestone, fire clay, marl, and a rough 
kind of China clay, all of which are found in the 
immediate neighbourhood of the works. The fuel 
used is hard furnace coke, made on the premises from 
the local bituminous coal. The process of manu- 
facture is somewhat more elaborate than that 
adopted in the Thames works, much greater care 
and attention being necessary to ensure the production 
of good Portland clinker, The limestone and claya 
have first to be reduced to an almost impalpable 
powder. Their respective analyses being ascertained, 
it is then passed through the brash mill, from 
whence it is pumped into the " backs," to be 
eventually moulded into bricks for burning into 
cement in the kilns. The greatest possible care has 
to be exercised at the washing part of the process, 
by reason of the limestone and clays being so vari- 
able in quality as it is delivered into the works, an 
analysis of the slip being necessary every half-hour 
or so. Owing, however, to the different densities of 
the raw materials used, they settle down in the 
"backs" in their distinctive strata, and before the 
brick moulding can be done, it is necessary to 
thoroughly turn over the "slurry" with the shovel, 
and tread it well under foot in order to obtain a 
uuif 'rm mixture. The bricks are then transferred 
to the drying ovens, and in due time taken to the 
kilns for conversion into Portland cement clinker. 
Nothing but true clinker is ground at the Tongshan 
works. The resulting Portland cement is of great 
density, viz., 158 pounds per bushel. The present 
output is 300 tons per week, and that ia the limit of 
the capacity of the work<. It is all used at the 
various works of the Imperial Government, viz., 
harbours, forts. Yellow River Embankment, railways, 
arsenals, &a., very little finding its way into tlie hands 
of private consumers. There is every probability that 
the demand will soon be largely in excess of the 
existing works. The cement is guaranteed to yield a 
tensile strain of 400 pounds per square inch, after 
having been immersed iu water for seven days ; and 
as a matter of fact, it invariably tests much higher. 
Every day s work is tested in the following manner: — 
The man in charge of the grinding draws a sample 
from each pair of millstones every half-hour. At the 
end of the day the whole is mixed uniformly and 
taken to the testing-room. It is there tested for 
fineness, and twelve test briquettes are made from 
the same, 23 per cent, of water being used in gauging 
the cemeiit. After standing in the moulds for 24 
hours — iiote having been made of the time occupied 
in "setting" — the briquettes are each marked and 
placed under water for seTen days, ea h being 
examined from time to time for any signs of blowing 
or shrinkage, the usual glass test being adopted as well; 
at the expiration of this time they are taken direct 
from the water and tested for tensibility and com- 
pressibility in patent cement-testing machines. If the 
cement passes the tests it is handed; over to the 
storekeeper for delivery. At the time of delivery it ia 
again sampled and tested, and a record of each test is 
kept. For some considerable time difficulty was ex- 
perienced in obtaining cement of uniform quality. 
It was no easy matter to get -the ignorant Chinese 
coolie to understand the absolute necessity of accuracy 
and carefulness in every slage of the process. No 
reliance, whatuver, could bo placed upon the native 
foreman, nor any assistance excepted from them, their 
id?-,s b.iin.^ ..'.ixand crude as those of the coolio. 
iiui. oj axao uf por^ovoranoe and keeping to one sot 
of men, somothifig like systoui has bcuu catftbhsbod 
