Dec. I, i§93.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
383 
tbe Chinesf, the qunlity of fidelity to R barfiain. 
In th»t th(y differ from tie Japsnese. If aChictman 
agrefs to make jou a pair of hcots for three yen, and 
to de iver tliem on Monday, why then, as sure as 
Mondsy coDiep, corce tbe bcotp, made as ihey «cre 
oidered. The bootmaker lakes his throe yen, Rud 
says " Thank you." Mbke an identical orracgement 
■with a Japtnefe. On BIonc!ay ycu cever Fee him. Oa 
Tuesday he calls to eay that be will briig the 
boots ou Wednesday. Ou Thursday he nctnelly litiugs 
tliem. floisviry polite, far pi liter than tbe Chinese 
cobbler. He demam's lour yen, because they fcave 
taken twice the leather be thought they would. 
Nine to one the boo b a'e not just what > ou ordered. 
But there will ba about them that indefinable some- 
thing tbat will stamp them works of art ; and the 
boots tbe Chiuauian made yon, though just as you 
ordered, will be, at the utmott, masteri^ieces of 
mechanical workmanthip. 
In Bengal I have seen women carrying bundles of 
bamboo three times their own height and quite their 
own circumference. They cut it, ibe women of the 
coolie class (hard- working class) and carry it for miles 
on their beaOs. They have a little pad ef rags between 
their skulls and their tremeodous burdens. They bring 
the bamboo to tbe nearest villaf e and sell it to some 
bamboo shop. The '•Mohurrnm" is the tliriving timc-for 
one branch of the bamboo trjce, for at the celebra- 
btion of tbe iVIohunum festival thousands of tazias 
are ca'ried about the s'reets before tliey are throwi', 
as tacrifioea to the native gods, into tbe Ganges or 
its neaiest substitute. Tho lazias are marvellous coc- 
cootions of paper and tiniel, more or less typical cf 
Indian religious history or mjth. They ere carried 
upon carts, or upon the shouliers cf religious enthu- 
Blasts, But whethar the tozias are osiried on cartf, 
or by men, they rest upon bamboo scaffoldings. And 
most of them are built upon bamboo framework. Tbe 
Mohurrum is oce of the two great Mahommedan feb- 
tivals. Ik is often provocative of riot and bloodshed 
and it ia at sujh times, when native fioaticism rie'es 
its high hobby-horse, that European interests are 
moot endangered. 
Bamboo i3 a delightful vegetable. Only the young 
tender shoots can be eaten; but they are very palit- 
able. They are drefsed w.th a a cnaai sauce, tuch as 
Americans ferve asparagus point-i witli. Tbe natives 
use tbem in an iLsipid broth. They arc a toothsome 
aocompaniment to any game curry. They are often 
used in all the nicest curries. I claim to have inven- 
ted bamboo salad, and I assure you it i^ very 
nice. You boil the yonng tender tips, but not 
too thoroughly. Then put tbem in the ice-chest. 
AVhen they are thoroughly cold, servo them with 
a French dressing, or with a rich mayonnaise. You 
can serve tbem with or without lettuce, cucumber, ice. 
But serve u i:ttlo celery «i h thi m, if poseible ; and 
whether you use the Free ch dresaugor tbe mayou- 
aiae, scasoQ it with caye .ne unt:l it is quite piquant. 
The bamboo tips are als 1 very nice served as a 
confiture with preserved ginger end candiel mangoes. 
I was locking the other day over tbo price list of au 
Eastern condime^ut bouse here in London. But no 
Kastern ddecalcsse was there. The fruits, the queer 
combiuationj that give tbe Eastern flavour to your 
foo.l and m^ke every mouthful more delicious and 
pungent than the last, they i.re not to be bad here. But 
it ii happiness to remember them. 
But it is the picturesque asp^ict of tbe growing 
bamboo that 1 would emphasize. IC.'icopt in Japan, 
almost all tbe beauties ot the Eutt are posilive — 
aggressive in col )ur and ia line. Bamboo is soft of hue, 
graceful, indelini'c of OQtline'. It softens and modifies 
many a mile of Indian seciu-ry which without it would 
be crude. 1 remember with genuine gia'-'t'^''^ one 
gloriom dump of bamboo in Jubbnlpore. Ic was so 
delichtH in tint an 1 shape tb a', il tone 1 to tender half- 
colours the rough dyis of tho garmcn's of the natives 
who clu^te^oa about it. I always made a point of iu- 
cluiiing it in my aftercoou drive, and many a 8t«rlit 
bitbt I littvo walked eomc consitlci able distance see 
it outlined, bke wonderful gr^y-green Uce, ug.i^ 8'. tbo 
opalescent eky, from wliiob the sunset bad U'jt ((ui'e 
gone. — I'aU Mull Uiuhjel. 
THE rilUKE or C]^TI10NA 13AEK AJs'D 
QUI>'INE. 
We cfcll the attenticn cf Java (and for that 
matter of Ceylon and Indian) cinchona planters to 
tbe letter from MesEre. Bobringer which appeara 
on page 386. We learn from this leading 
bErk buyiiag bouse that their priccipa's in Mann- 
heim ccnsider the Statistics and Review in our 
latest "Handbcok arcl Directory" as, on the whole, 
fairly correct. But there is one impcrlant correction 
to be noted which we could rot possibly discover 
frcm the anlbority from which we quoted. The 
exports of "Quinine and Quinine Salts" from 
Germany which were returned at the large figures 
of 7,966,000 ounces last year really include the 
weight cf the packages ! " Tare" has to be deducted 
and in some cases this will make a very largo 
difference. Then we are also informed that of 
late yeais, the msnufaclure of quinine in both 
Fiance End Italy baa fallen cff even to a greater 
extent than we ventured to shew. But the im- 
portant point is tbat oltbough the consumption 
of quinine — notwithstanding the number of sub- 
stitutes introduced of late— is steadily growing every 
year, still the total has scarcely reached to our estim- 
ated quantity. Nevtrthelejs it now bears a most 
encouraging proportion to the supply of bark, and 
it the Java planters— as Messrs. Bohringer re- 
commend — will only restrict and regulate their 
exports henceforward, they can very speedily secure 
a considerable difference in the bark market. 
Our Java neighbours undoubtedly hold the key 
of the position: they can easily raise the prices 
by checking their output; for Ceylcn and India 
are no longer to be counted as ot importance, 
What has hitherto kept the prices of bark 
unduly down, is speculation in quinine to hold 
for future ute, based on the extremely lew 
quotations for the latter article. Quinine is 
so eas'ly stoted, that there will be always a 
temptation to buy to hold. But the manufacturers 
rather checkmated the speculators by fixing among 
themselves a minimum rats below which they 
would not sell, and so for seme time, the market 
has been supplied a good deal from the stock 
held bythe sp culators, and the demand for bark has 
correspondingly ftUcn cli. But this will soon 
right itself, and if the Java planters only refrain 
from sending out too much of their jive-pei-cent 
bark during 1894, a considerable improvement in 
the market may be anticipated. 
■ ♦ 
LOWER AMBAGAMUWA. 
Nov. lOlb. 
The Weather.— Quite an inch of rain a day for 
nine Jays in November is a lecord you would be 
quite proud of. Piesumab'y we are in for another spell 
of the wet cycle. Dcciie Meuatobie and dodgy 
iJamasamy with their timf-bonored "Tevallie" bava 
bad a most dam|]ing time of it. In spite (f the 
spirits imbibed tbe coolirg fpiiit has had the 
aaceudancy all thioughoui ; thus Kuri.aeamy ctf the 
balsuce has been a peculiarly r. re feature tbia festive 
season. For sncb little mercy at least let us ba 
truly thankful. 
Queen Iea is behaying herself very encourugiu(;ly. 
Spring-tide, as tbeie mouths are g( nernby termed, 
nutuially turns the scale in favour of the long sutfer- 
iug C( jlon planter, and with tbe ceb brated lir. Olark 
gathered uuto bia fathers, Oejluu aud iLdian tea 
planttrs are at letst one sl.ort of their Lumerous 
liiloiicllis, and crape mannfacturtrs, 1 am afraid, nteJ 
not turn their atieution to '..'tjlun and Indian tt« 
pUntcro for a fottone in ciapo tiaJj, 1 I'out think 
they would sell A a >ard iu tU') T«a diitrict6 of Ccyloiil 
J)e niortins nil iiisi l/vnum. 
f 
