TtlE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Dec. I, 1 89V 
The Phaihies op the Congo. — The King of the 
Belgians, aa SovereigQ of the ludependeut Slate of 
the Congo, has sent a piofehsor from one of the 
Ecoles d'Agriculture, of Belgium, to the Congo, to 
choose the site for the prairies destined for grazing 
cattle in large quantities to meet the requirements 
of the new country. — Gardcnci-n' Chroinck. 
81KAL Hemp. — Referring to the culture of Bisal 
Hemp in Havana, it is stated in a recent report that 
limited attempts have been made to introduce this 
branch of industryj but up to date jio profits 
have been derived from it for want of special atten- 
tion. In and about the port of Nucvitas more than 
1,800 acres have been planted close to the seashore, 
of the very best appearance and quality. Now that 
the plants have attained full growth, there seems 
to be no doubt but that the industry could be made 
a thriving one if some capital were invested in proper 
machinery to obtain the fibre, which is of remark- 
able strength, length and whiteness. — Had. 
Storx 01' AN English Faiui. — Mr. S. Skinner, 
a farmer, of Mount Pleaeant Farm, Hornchurch, 
told a painful Btory yesterday at the liomford Petty 
Sessions to exp'ain the non p .yment of oertain 
rates. He said he had lost £1,100 duricg the past 
threj years, and owing to the drought his early 
crops this year entirely failed. The landlord's 
Bgent came in for rent and sold him up, property 
worth about £500 bringing in only £60. His rent 
again became due on September 2'J, and on the 
very nest day the landlord's agent came in. He 
declined to allow him a few days' grace to get 
up his potatoes, and another forced sale r. suited 
in a serious loss on the potato crop. If time was 
given him he should be able to pay tbe rates. 
An order was made for payment of the rates, but 
it is to stand over for six weeks,— G/o6c. 
Me. Duplock, Mr; Lipton's Ceylon agent, who wna 
recently ia Calcutta, h*B not a good word for the 
tea industry in this part of the world. He must 
evidently have been " crabbed " while hero or be 
could never bavo spoken so unfavourably o( wliat ho 
saw while in Calcutta. " He has,'' says a Colombo 
paper, " a few iuteresting itfms to give us in reference 
to tbe Caloutta tea market which be eay;, has 'gone 
to the dogs.' Asked why this was fo, be said that 
the quality of the tea coming down from the gardens 
this jtar would not bear comparison w th the crop 
last year. Some of the estates in the Dooars and in 
Ceobar have been innundattd with floods of a most 
disastrous character and the weather has been alto- 
gether against manufacturiug good teas. The result 
is that fine teas are very scarce, and the tea gardeas 
lire having a bad time. 'This ought to be good news 
for Coylon estates ; bu"; the number turning cut fine 
teas now is not large." — Indian I'lmtters' Gor.ctte. 
Palmyka Fibrb I was asked a liitle time 
back for information as to the varied uses to 
which Palmyra fibre is applicable, but was un- 
able to afford the information desired. What 
it was possible for me to say as to the nature 
of the fibre itself made my questioner very 
doubtful as to tbe possibilities of its applioatioa, 
and it occurs to me to suggest that full informa- 
tion on this point would be very acceptable. Would 
it not be possible to find some use for the fibres 
of the trunk itself ? They are very coarse, too much 
BO it would seem for any textile application, but 
they are possessed of immense individual strength. 
Many years ago a series of experiments upon 
Palmyra wood was entrusted to me, and comparing 
the results obtained with those deduced from 
comparative experiments with other woods, it was 
found that the Palmyra was prominent among all 
the Bpeoimens for strength. The peculiarity of 
the trials made with this was that it did not yield 
to strain in the same way that all the other woods did. 
Teak, satin, halmilla, nadoon, and the other woods, 
all broke at the first shown symptom of yielding. 
The Palmyra gave repeated warnings before doing 
po, tbe ^eftkei amoag Ua gbie giYioB vra; fii:st wUb 
1 ~ 
oud reports at marked intervals, sbowing that the 
wood would indicate a dangerous strain being put 
upon it bsfore completely giving way to it. This 
peculiarity might in many cases of spplioation prove 
to be a most useful one, giving time to remove any 
undue strain to which the wood might be sabjected. 
— Ill ilia it Cor. 
CoFKF.E Prospects. — Messrs. Kucker Ben- 
oraft thus deliver themeelves on future of coffee, 
writing on 13th Oct. : — 
History repeats itself. We are again in the midet 
of small cropf, with a tendency btre and there to 
look for stnalhr supplies than the rs'lmatea pointel 
to three months ago, at tbe commnncemcnt of the 
current season ; wbili-t at the same time mai y seem 
overpowere 1 by the ide» that next eeaeoo the sappliea 
may bo over bountiful. Tbe latter idea caDunl at 
present be treated as a matter of practical politics, 
6rally, because it is s'ill purely conjictarsi, •n<t 
secondly, becuFe the shortuess of current cropa, which 
is not conjectural, has not yet been rea'ly felt. There 
are houses of the first class who estimate tbe present 
Klo and Saatos crojis as low as 1,50(1,000 bagp. Brazil 
stocks in Eiu and Santos at the commencement of tbe 
season were as email as 167,000 bags, to thejr canaot 
be much drawn on. Again, when «e recollect that the 
Cape, other countries, &c., &o , take at le«st 2.00,000 
biifs per annum, probably nearer 250,000 bags, and 
that last season nearly 0,000,000 btgi were exported 
to Europe and tbe States, it is evid< uc that thin sea- 
son we may be anything from 1,250,000 to 1,750,000 
bags short as compared with a year ago. Tbe export* 
from tbe Dutch Eist Indies are estimated at about 
400,000 bags against 1,081,100 bags last year. The 
course of deliveries it gsnorally oooceJed to be ac- 
nsually uncertain, and few would care to commit 
themselves to a figure, but, on the other hand, we 
bear nothing about boiinteoas stocks apcountry, and 
consumers will have to draw their requiremeata from 
tbe entrepu'.s. Under these ciroumstancea we find it 
imposiible to treat vulues such as are cow current as 
auytbiug but uormal. 
CooLv Immioration 10 THE W"esi Indies. — The 
editor of 'Truth baa been airing his opioiouB ou lodiao 
immigration to tbe West Indiau Islands, and, as so 
often happens, has mido a sad muddle of tbe who'e 
affair. This week's 'JrutU coutiiius a letter from a 
Jamaica coffee planter — whom, I euspec'', ie none other 
than our old friend W. Sabonadiere. It is worth 
quoting as showing the difficulties under which the 
planter labors in the Carribean seas. He says:— "On 
my coffee plantation the natives oomrrience work at 
9 a m. (^1) and leave off at 4 p.m., taking one hour for 
breakfa«t in the middle of the day. If, from rain or 
any other cause, they do not turn out on Monday 
morning, they take a holiday for the entire week. 
None work coatinnously. and nine months of this 
kind cf labor during the year is probibly the utmost 
they ever give. They are employed by contract, and 
can earn from 12i to 153 in four daya. Coneilerin? 
that the cMraate does not compel them to bay clothes 
or fuel, that their grounds give them all they reiaire 
to ent, that illcgitimaay is 72 per cent, and that they 
do pot drink and have no ambition, yon will ee? that 
they are infioitely better paid than the ' gentlemen 
of Billingsgate.' With such insuflioient labor — for it 
as only a few who will work even as above defcribef^, 
the greater portion do nothing — it is impossible to 
cultivate any eitate. In Jamaica all coffee planters 
are resident proprietors. No new industries can 
possibly be opened up without cooly immigratioo. 
Coolie^ in no way injure the natives who will not 
work, or reduce the earning power of those who 
occasionaHy go ; but by their constant labor enable 
produce to be raised, which is the only source of 
prosperity. To stop coolie immigration woul 1 te to 
reduce tbe natives to the state of the savage, for all 
capital must in that cafe leave." Labby's moralising 
on thi? plain statement of facts is a study, and I 
comihend it to your not'ce. You will find it at page 
746 of Truih, illnstrating the teachings of tbatOobden 
school whose motto is " Perish ludi*."— I might add 
«'ftnci the ColomsB" 1— Loudon Cor., iiijcaJ "Times.'; 
