Nov. I, T893.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
32s 
industry, and say that in it there is no place for 
the bamboo. 
13. Calamus rotang, L., grows in savage territory, 
and the savage spear has often pierced from behind 
the unwary rattan collector. Like the bamboo, its 
uses are endless. 
14. Pueraria thunbergiatia, Benth., a trailing vine 
not treated for the fibres. 
15. Agave Itxli, or Henequen. — In Formosa a very 
prominent plant. It is not treated, but there is 
every probability of a suitable machine being im- 
ported for extracting and cleaning the fibre. 
16. Sterculia 2>latanifolia, L., might, with advan- 
tage, be put to uses. 
— Oil producing Plants. — Since the introduc- 
tion of kerosene oil into China the demand for native 
lightning-oils has been on the decline, but for 
cooking purposes some of these oils are produced in 
large quantities. Of the seventeen oil-producing 
plants cultivated lu China, eight grow in Formosa. 
1. JJolichos soja, L. (?). — More oil is extracted from 
the bean than from any one of the other oil-yielding 
plants of China . The beans yield about 10 per cent, 
weight of oil, and the cakes, when removed 
from the press, weigh some 641b., and are worth 
about 2s. 9d. each. They constitute a very valuable 
manure. 
2. Brassica CTdnemis. L. — Eape is usually a winter 
crop in China. 
3. Sesarnuiii Indicum et Onentale, D. C. — Is a sum- 
mer crop. Sesame is essentially a food oil. Refuse 
aeed-cake is much used in Formosa for adulterating 
opium. 
4. Arachis hjpoycea, L, — Is extensively cultivated 
in China, not only for food which the nuts supply, 
but also for the oil which they contain. 
5. Stillingia sehifera, S, and N. — From the seeds 
of the vegetable tallow tree, both tallow and oil 
are produced. They are used for lighting purposes 
only. 
6. Camellia thea, Link.— The seeds of the tea-plant 
not required for raising new bashes are collected 
and treated .for oil, which is employed for both 
food and lighting. 
7. Cinnamoinum camphora, N. and E.— Although the 
camphor laurel is found in many of the provinces of 
China, where it is highly valued on account of its 
wood, yet Formosa is the only province in which 
camphor and oil are manufactured. 
8. Ekinus sp. — The castor-oil plant grows wild 
throughout Formosa. 
I have not.included DiospyrosTialci, L. f., which grows 
in Formosa as well as on the mainland, among oil- 
producing plants, for the juice of its firuits should 
be classed as varnish and not as oU. 
(C.) — Other Ccjimercial Plants, — In addition to 
textile and oil-producing plants, there are others, 
cultivated as well as wild, which are of consider- 
able commercial value. 
1. Kicotiana tabamm L. — Tobacco is grown in 
Formosa both by Chinese and savages. 
2. Fatsia papijrifera, B. and H. f., in Formosa 
attains to the dignity of a tree, and is frequently 
seen over six feet in height. 
3. Polgrjonum Chinense et Orieiitak, L.— These two 
varieties of the indigo plant are cultivated in For- 
mosa for the valuable dye which their leaves yield. 
4. Circuma longa, L. — The rhizomes of turmeric 
are made into a yellow dye, and are used in medicine. 
6. Dye yam. - I was unable to procure specimens 
of this wild plant. The yams are macerated in 
-water, and th,^ liquor is used for dyeing fishing lines 
and nets, a dull red coljur. 
Special iNDusiKUis. 
The chief industries carried on in Formosa are 
the cultivation and manufacture of tea in the north 
and of sugar in the south. To these may be added 
coal-iuining, sulphur making, camphor distilling, 
and gold washing. 
Tea. 
The oultivation of tea is not in Formosa a very 
old industry. The tea-plant was imported from the 
Fuhkien Province and proved a great success. Since 
its introduction the cultivation has spread rapidly, 
advancing pari passu, with the clearing of the hill- 
sides in Northern Formosa. In this virgin soil no 
manure , is required, and all the cultivator has 
to do is to keep the ground clear of weeds and 
undergrowth. In three years the shrubs have ob- 
tained their maximum height of two to three feet, 
and the time has arrived for picking the leaves. 
This operation, which is carried out by women and 
girls for the most part, takes place in the end of 
April or beginning of May, in July, and in September, 
three crops during the season. The leaves, when 
picked, are placed in bamboo baskets, and after- 
wards spread out in the open air — usually on the 
threshing floor— for a short time. 
Tlie tea manufactured in Formosa is generally, 
but erroneously, classed by the public as a green tea. 
It is in reality a black tea, prepared without th« 
usual fermentation, but possessing a decided flavour 
of the green variety. The leaf is fired when green, 
and this, taken with the flavour, may account for 
the popular belief. But between the exposure in 
the open air and the firing, the leaf has to undergo 
a somewhat peculiar treatment, a process which I 
discovered accidentally, and which was unknown to 
the foreign tea merchants to whom I mentioned 
the matter. One day I suddenly found myself close 
to a farmhouse, and saw a man sitting on a high 
stool on the threshing floor tm-ning rapidly with 
his feet what appeared to be a long cylindrical 
drum. On nearer inspection, I found that the 
machine was about 8 feet long and 2 feet to 2^ 
feet in diameter, six-sided, each side made of brown, 
coarse cloth let into a wooden framework, that the 
axle ran right through the cylinder and rested on 
two wooden supports, one at each end. Between 
the support and the cylinder at one end were four 
treadles fixed in the axle. Working these with his 
feet the man caused the cylinder to revolve rapidly, 
each revolution being accompanied by a swishing 
noise inside the cylinder. On my expressing my 
desire for some enlightenment the man willingly un- 
fastened one of the sides, which was the door of 
the cylinder, and laid it back on its hinges. 
Exposed to view were six bamboos, corresponding 
in number to the sides of the machine, fixed at 
equal intervals into the ends of the cylinder midway 
between the axle, to which they ran parallel, and 
the periphery of the " ch'a-nung," or tea preparer, 
as the machine is called. At the bottom of the 
cylinder there was a heap of green tea leaves, which 
had been placed there after the necessary exposui'e 
on the threshing floor. As the machine revolves, 
these leaves are dashed against the bamboos, where- 
by their edges are rendered quite soft ; they are 
then removed and put .into the iron firing pans. 
It will be asked, " Why are the edges of the leaves 
softened ?" The answer is easy. Were the leaves, 
after being picked and exposed for a short time, 
placed in the firing-pans; they would split up — the 
tea leaf is thick and brittle — and lose all semblance 
to the whole leaf which is so much desired. Such, 
at least, was the explanation given to me, and it 
appears to be very reasonable and natural. 
Some of the leaf which has brought into Twa- 
Lutia, tea market of the island, is ready for packing 
and shipment, but most of it is brought in after 
the first firing, and is finished — that is to say, again 
fired in bamboj basket, — in Iwatutia itself, where, 
foreigners and Chinese alike possess fii-ing rooms. 
When firing is completed, the tea is spread out 
in flat bamboo baskets, and all pieces of twigs and 
leaf-stalks removed by hand. This part of the work 
is performed by women and girls. The tea is again 
poured into the firing-baskets, and after being fired 
until every particle of moisture has evaporated, it 
is removed and packed hot in lead-lined boxes 
for export. 
SUOAB. 
Two varieties of sugar-cane are grown in North 
Formosa — Sacdiantm sineme, Roxb., and Saccharum 
violaceum ; but in South Formosa, which is the great 
sugai-prodncing regioa of the island, the former ia 
