378 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Dec. i, 1893. 
London market; and, beyond this, some notice shcu'd 
be taken of the vrarnicK' given by Dr. WBtt, tl at 
the matiufaoture pIiouM be pursued on scientific 
principlsf, eepecially in view of tlie probability of 
the superior strength of Indian teas .fanirjg through 
changes in the soil, when it will te nfce^S'i-y to 
invoke for Laturo the aid of science.— Indian I'lunter'n 
Gazeflc. 
NEWS FROM GERMAN EAST AFRICA. 
We (lie glad to have a good report from Mr. 
W. H. Cowley of liis health and the progress of 
the works undor his care. lie writes: — 
" Littetly 1 hftvo been away living (onae ton 
milfs from tliis close to a largo tract of jun;;le 
which 1 hope to begin felling soon to foiiii auctliVr 
coffee estate ; and ILia week I go off again \o the 
lowcountry to fina'ly pick out a piece for cacao and 
lowcoutitry products. I hear my assittant will tuin 
up soon. What a blessing it will be. I nhall prob- 
ably meet bim, if anywhere near Janguat the time. ' 
• ♦ 
COFFEE GROWING 
is evidently goinf? to take hold in Queensland, 
and there is no lack of informaticn offered to 
intending planters. The latest is a pamphlet ie- 
BUed by (he Agricultural Department entitled :-- 
" Colfee-growing and its preparation for market by 
E. W. McCulloch." — From his paper we quote : — 
Thit ti e Coffee plant has found a coiigeniil homo 
in Queensland has be°n amf ly dcnionbtrated in almost 
all ihe Northern coast dittricts, and rec.nlly in the 
Baderim Mountain district, where the crops promise 
to be phenoroonal. In ihe North iho dryest siiifon 
seemed to affect the plant but little, ju'lgiug by the 
luxuriance of its dark giiej fo' age when that cf mcbt 
other plants was yellow, and by the uuuBually heavy 
crop of berries produced. The dotuand for seed and 
plants, ns well as informa'ion, pointing to a grovviug 
interest in au industry which ju-oniiaeB to be remu- 
nerative, ntd to, in the near fufuro, astumo large pio- 
portions, is anffioiint inducfment tor the Depirtinmt 
of Agriculture to issue this BulUtin on " Coffee- 
growing and its Preparation for Market," with a hope 
that the iufonnation contained herein, being the out- 
come of practical knowledge on the subject by the 
writer, and written to suit Queens'aud couditioue, 'Ti ill 
he of interest to ii tending Uoffee-urowers. 
The list of contents may be given : — 
Historical, Botanical, 0 iniates and Soilp, Seel, 
Nursery, Transplanting, Cultural Operations, Pruniug, 
Harvesting, Preparation tor Market, Roasting, Yield 
per Acre, Will it Pay ?, Diseases, Statistical. 
And finally we quote the two paras of most practical 
interest : — 
Will ir Pay ? — The only serious consideration in 
connection with ooffee-Krowiog ii the iieceasary labour 
for picking the crop when ready, and this will have to 
be got over BomehOiv. The operation is no different 
from tlie pickiog of hops or any other fruit. Contract 
work having < vercome t>-is difiicultv in other places 
will doubtless do the same here. The following cal- 
culation may elucidate this poii.t a little : — One acre 
of coffee will yield 25 cwt. of ripe " cberriee." An 
average European lubourer ought easily to pick 2001b. 
of ripo cherry per day ; at this rate it will requir i 
fourteen men to pick ons acre; wages, say, at 3s 4d 
per day, equal to £2 Gs SI. Tho 2.5 cwt. of "cl erry" 
will yield 5 cwt. of marketab'e coffee, valued at £2 
lOa per cwt. at the very lowest, which is tqual to £12 
lOsper acre. Surely tuch a return would warriml 
higher wages than £1 a week being paid for cotfce- 
picking, and so attract laloar. Coflee-picfeing is 
esBcutially suitable work for women ai d children, 
and opens out remunerative employment for them. 
Payment may well be made by results, at .'O much per 
bushtl. The question of suitable lalour during the 
pickingBca.ou will tottle i'self. L'ke the sheKrtrs iu 
mis colony and the hop-pickers in Kngland, n class 
of coflee-piokers will spring into oxistencj aud triv^l 
ftlout earning good wages. Coffre-growiog in hig 
areap, like out tugar plaotatioue, is not advcxa.*ed 
under present labour ccuditioni', tbeie paKCs beiog 
written for small growers only. Areas of from 5 to 
10 acres are quite sufficient for any one grower, and, 
were tix or twelve 6uch groweni to co-operate knd 
procure* gojd pulper, would prove highly remuntra- 
tivr. 
The inteudiog coffee planter will naturally atk 
where the market for bii produce I'es. The following 
t%ble of imprrlB during 1890 will clearly show the de- 
mand there i.s for tbc article. These ^garer, da not 
limit the demand, for so surely as it i» tscertiioed 
that genuine unadulterated eoifce ia procuratjle, to 
»uroly will the dtmaud for this most popnUr beverage 
arite :— 
Coffee 
Value 
lb. 
£ 
Victoria 
New South Wales 
Qinen^land .. 
South Australia . . 
l,2H8,9(t6 
Cr,9,24L 
223,193 
•M7,il9 
56,31 
9.947 
19.912 
Total... 
2,568.yo3 
120,407 
The above figares represent imports of both raw and 
rousted coff ' e. Can anyoue doubt the chances of 
success of coffee-growing ^ 
PICKINGS WITH A LOCAL APPLICATION. 
The llitrul Cait/oniiun has the following paragraph 
referring to Coconut cultivation in our Island : — •'The 
coconut has made such good progress iu Ceybm, 
that the difficulty now is to obtain first-class suitable 
land. Wherever there is any. Government should 
have no hesitation iu hurrying it in to the market, 
for whatever may be said about tea, the plaiitini; 
with palms is, in every sense, better, for the Island 
aud its people than the maintenance of the forest." 
Good advice in a way, but it may be pointed out 
at the same time that our forests do not, as things 
go in Ceylon, consist of tea. 
Mr. Forsyth, of the School of Mines, Adelaide, 
ably deals with the subject of the education of 
Colonial boys in a lecture which the Addaiile 
Obserrcr epitomises. The question is one of universal 
interest and the following quotation is worthy the 
consideration of parents in this country: — 
The question of questions among educationists 
now is whether the usual studies of the ordinary 
lad are to be curtailed in order to make room for 
manual training ? One class of instructors reply 
in tho negative, and contend that every boy should 
have his intellecttrained while his time is free for such 
training; busy times, occnp'ed with other things, will 
come soon enough, but the intelligent boy, who has 
made good use of his intellectual school training is 
the one who has reasoning powers to give him a 
good start in life, and who will ultimately succeed. 
Hazlitt once remarked very forcibly that ' a very 
large proportion of people confound a knowledge of 
useful things with useful knowledge.' The most 
valuable training which any boy can get is not 
that which consists in the actual handling of useful 
things, but that which \yill in later years enable 
him to understand and appreciate these things 
when he comes to use them. If together with this 
sort of knowledge we can succeed iu instilling into 
the rising generation not only a taste for useful 
manual work, but aleo a clear idea of the dignity 
of labour and its importance in the world's progress, 
we fha'l have done all that ia nsually possible, eo 
fur as tchocld.ys are concerned. The great want is 
a more decided rtccguili u by parents of the necessiiy 
of (lettrmiLiiig whit line of lite their children shall 
follow out. If there weie decision ou tliia point the 
work of the teacher would be greatly simplified. Those 
iuteniltd tor professiooal lite could then aim at passing 
tho University itandarde; thote meant to take up 
commercial pureuits could etudy bookkeeping, modern 
' ianguagfcs, shorthand, and so forth ; while those with 
