274 
THE rtioncAi 
AGklCULTURtST. [Oct. *, 
The Pruning of Tea on Hknfold Estate. 
— Mr. Beck send us a oorroction of our remarks 
RB followB: — 
"You did not anderstand what 1 told you ab'ut 
the Bjslein of praniog OD Henfold. We praueone-t^jird 
of the acreage every six months, thut U to eay two- 
thirds yearly." 
A New Use of Eucalyptus Leaves. — llave 
blue-gum leaves been at all tried in Ceylon for 
the use thus mentioned io the Pioneer ?— A. Email 
demand for euoalyptue leaves for cloaning locomotive 
boilers oontinuea to exist in the North West 
Provinoes. Last year the Saharunpur Botanical 
Gardens supplied forty-siz maundH, whila iln 
Luoknow gardens were indented upon to the extent 
of sixty-three raaunds for various railways. Whethtr 
or not, therefore, tho treatment eventually provra 
to be a successful solutioa of tbi» much-disouseed 
difficulty, it would seem to be still considered 
sufficiently promising to be worth experiment. 
" Sanreviera Zeylanica." — We can scarcely 
believe that the Direotor of the Botanic Gardens 
was consulted as to the republication in the 
Government Gazette of Mr, W. 0. Ondaatjes crude 
remarks on this plant so far back as 1853. The 
botanical name of the plant is not even corrf elly 
epalt in that paper, but for that matter we find 
there is a slip in the name in Ihn " Kew ijuHetin "! 
We should sny when any subject of this kind 
came to the front, or under the notice of the 
local Executive, that the Oolonial Secretary should 
at once refer the papers to Dr. Trimeo, f.e.s., 
who would take care tliat the latest information 
within his extensive knowledge, was made avail- 
able and in a really serviceable form. 
" Quinine Improving " — Is the heading of 
tA article in the New York Drug Reporter of 
August 7th which winds up as follows : — 
For several weeks pa>t the position of quinine abroad 
has acqnired coDBirierable strength, valnes being 
higher and the tone decidedly firmer in all the itn- 
port»nt marketn. This improvenoent has had due 
effect here and holders have this week been doiug 
business on a ellgbtly better basis and the feeling 
ia more sanguine than has been the case for a long 
time. The improved position of quinine has been 
approaobiog gradually, as onr market reporls will 
show, and with the increased demand for goods which 
is now developing, greater activity aisd steadier prices 
will doubtless prevail. 
Coffee Culture near Bangalore.— The 
Madras Times has a long description of what it 
calls " A Unique Coffee Plantation," situated 
near Bangalore, belonging to a Native Judge of 
the Madras High Court. EuS; as the low 
cultivation only extends over and 51 acres Mr. 
Meenatobee Ayer has only 7 or 8 more acres 
available, his experiment should be more properly 
termed a horticultural one and when we mention 
that regular irrigation from wells over the area 
and manuring almost from the beginning are 
features of the Judge's experiment, it may be 
Been that the whole has little bearing on coffee 
culture under ordinary conditions and on the area 
that would alone make it worth the while of 
Europeans or capitalists generally to take it up. 
With cheap labour, water, manure end money to 
spend, Judge Iyer can no doubt do wonders on 
his 15 acres, In Ceylon, men have experimented 
pometimes at an outlay of a rupee a tree and 
got 50 cents (8 annas) back I Still, we are bound 
to say that the Judge is not so extravagant, for 
be limits his expenditure apparently — it he counts 
everything ? — to B180 an acre ; but this course he 
does not include the cost of the Irrigation Wells 
QODfegaed to be £8,000 to 119,000. As to returns, 
20 maunds (l.tiHQ lb.— 51 cwt.) are reported from 
2,500 trees A years old, and tbie year they are 
to give IJ ton. The trees are put 6 feet apart 
in holes dug 2\ feet cubic. The detailed account 
is in its way interesting, which we give in full 
on page 223. 
Agricultuke in Natal — is of interest to us 
here, because of its mingling of the products 
and industries peculiar to temperate and sub- 
tropical regions. Here, for instance, are tcH, 
sugar and oollec exhibits at the Maritz- 
burg Agricultural Society's Show discuEaed 
along with live-stock, poultry-rearing, fruit- 
growing, &<s. The president of the above Eocietj 
has issued a very interesting report which states 
in referfnce to llie recent show that tea, sugar, 
and coffee were not exhibited as tbey Eboald be. 
It then goes on ; — 
" I bave (Iroady rpoken (o several leadioK coa«t 
planter!, wbo liave promised to aseist ob. Several 
gcDtlemen from the .idjoioioK m«t«s bave alto 
promised to compete rext year. The number of 
entries received was 1095, forming a record iu Sooth 
Africa. We had not only the mtriea, but tbit tz- 
bibitfi, which arc the test of a (bow ; a thuu>aud 
entries mny be cood, bat a thousand good exhibit) 
are bettrr. All claese", except sheep, were well re- 
presented, and (he quality i^ year by year improving. 
Several exhibits in aheep from the Free (State did 
n >t arrive, beioR prevented by the oompnlsory dipping 
rr quired by cur Scab Law. We bave now reduced the 
debt o;i the yard to £750, for %\hich we are 
ptyinK 7 per cent. Farming generally tbrougboal 
the olcny, I do not think has had a good year, 
hat sugar-planters are having a glorious time and 
are mak n? about as mucn money as thry coold iriah. 
Coffee is again looking up, and li e lea industry is an 
estub'ished bucxss ; but ths np-couDtry farmers bave 
had much to coutead with through disea'es in stock, 
and very low prices for their produce bave prevailed 
thronizhont the yfar. F^rmiDg, however, is being 
carried r>ut (renerally on improved line', and farmers 
are realising that it is betti r to uo in for le>s. and 
so do that well. Improved breeds of stock, better 
cared for, and linprovei methods of cultivation are 
antiually bFc:3niii<g mora popular. Crasbt^d mesUa 
cob and wit ter oats form Fp'endid food io winter, 
and uo famer should lose au animal from property, 
bu*: produce plenty of butter and milk, aod bave fat 
stock for sale (arly in tbc spring. I bcaid of a 
farmer celling spring lambs fuur months old at 17k. 
each; thiBf<h'nld pay. Wattle-planting is still being 
proceeded with on a large scale, and even at present 
prices fhould pay well in favourable localities. Poultry- 
rearing in an industry that hss yet to be carried out 
succesi-f ully in Natal. I thick it is about tbe only 
produce upon which there is yet no duty in the 
Transvaal. The steamship companies would take 
large quantities of eggs and ponltry if there was a 
reliable Fupply. Fruit culture should also pay in tbe 
mid'aud districts. It is an absurdity that a single 
tin of jam should be imported into a country where 
sugar is made and tons of fruit are allowed to rot. 
After visiting farms in the Cape Colony, I was more 
than ever convinced of the value of lime for stock. 
I believe the great value of tbe Karoo veld, which 
looks BO barren, is tho greit quantity of lime in the 
Foil. I trust that easier means will be available for 
farmers to test tbe soil. I believe most farmers 
era practioallj' groping in tbe dark, Bot know- 
ing what manures are necessary for their laods, 
or what crops they are most suited for. Stock- 
stealing is a great nuisacce, but district responsi- 
bility has been enforced wiib good effect. This 
punishment and a smart detective force will do 
much to lessen this evil. Fencing has now become 
so generally erected that farmers wonder how they 
ever managed to do without it. Farmers should do 
their best to encourage industries. What the farmers 
want is population to feed, and so long as we im- 
port everything where ia that population to co^g 
from '{ ; " 
