ke. I, 1894.] ^TtlE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
523 
Don't reglect it, for a boiler can't be expected 
to keep itself in good condition, 
Don t overheat it, for a boiler is very sensitive 
to extreme heat. 
Don't cool It suddenly, for a boiler has a way of 
resenting such treatment that is apt to be ex- 
pensive to you. 
Don't let it leak, for leaks and explosions are 
Bometimes spoken of in the same breath. 
Don't work it when oat of order, for a partly 
disabled boiler is likely to become permanently so 
if kept under steam. 
Don't neglect making necessary repairs to your 
boiler, for delay means danger in such cases. 
Don't let an inexperienced man fire it, for a boiler 
will show by the way it performs its duty that it 
knows the diii'erence. 
Don't open the furnace doors unless it is neces- 
sary, for every time you do it the cold air rushes 
in and lowers the temperature, and retards the work 
of steam-making. — Planters' Jloathbj. 
TEA AS AN INVESTMENT. 
At the present moment the mania in Tea Com- 
pinies is rife, and on every eiJe we hear of aHomptg, 
if not actual sucofss, in amalgamations. What the 
idea of those pnlliug the ropes is. i< another thing. 
It may be that the Direator advocalmg amalgamation 
view-i with distrust the outcome of his own individual 
properly in the near future, and vi^wa with (nvy 
soQje new garden being opered out, and likely to come 
to the relief of the falling fabric of an old gnrden, or 
it may be that our Director has some near ami inti- 
mate friend whom he wants to let in lor a soft thing. 
At uny rate, we will not enquire too cljfely for what 
conotraeth it ; the rage is for big OompanieSj and the 
BDBwer cne receives, if an attempt is made to float a 
Company with, say £12,000 to £16,000 i^— not big 
enough" why didn't you mal<e it£50,C00? From one 
point of view the promoter is right ; that there i? quite 
as much, if not more, trouble in floating a Bmall thing, 
as there i< a big one. The organisation of the huge 
Compinies now being lautiched is simply reverting to 
the old days of " promotion." Let us hope that 
the same dire ^ei^lt^ will not he the outcome, and 
that history will not repeut itteif 
There «re risks in every line of busineES ; and in ta* 
the risk is vtry much less than it used to be. The 
meann of communication are fo much improved, the 
quality and description of land to be operated upon 
are all wtU aecerlaiue d beforehand, and the periodical 
visits of approved supervisors are so altered from old 
day, that tailure is now the exc. ption, and not the 
rule a? in old times. When one of the largest ven- 
turfs in tea, in existence, was first started, only a 
couple or so of tea factories were oousidercd necessary, 
but after a time it was found thnt double the 
quanrity not only entailed little or no more expense, 
but that the pmiiler quantity in each factory far more 
slian compensated any extra expenditure by the 
eup rior quality turned out, and thus substantial facts 
eatabiisb the truth of our remarks above, that gmaller 
venturt s give better resulla tban gigantic ones, — Indian 
Planters' Guzctle. 
THE AMSTERDAM CINCHONA AUCTIONS. 
Amsterdam, Dec. 14. 
At today's auctions of Java cinchona barb, con- 
Biating of t),"242 packages, 1,609 baleH sold (. ml 1.308 
wtro diapo ed of privately immediately at ter the close 
of the auc ions) at an iuiprovement iu price, compared 
to the Njvetuber sales, of about l.'i per cent. 'Ihe 
•virugc unit today was :i 860 per half kilo, against 
3 38o ill November, The prices realised were : — 
Manufau uriug barks iii quills, chips iv d ground from 
8ic to 42Jo (Miual to nLout l.Vd to Tflperlb), (iitto 
root from 9io to 31o (equal to about i;l to 5Jd 
per lb.) Drjtgi:ita' bark-, in quills and chips from 
10a to eOo (equal to ijd to Is i.'J)d per lb.); ditto 
iu {oot (lotn 8iQ to lUo (ctjualto 1|<1 to 2cl per lb.) 
The principal buyers were Mr. Guatav Briegleb of 
Amsterdam, the Brunswick, the Auerbach, the Frank- 
fort o/M, and the Ani8tetd»m Quinine Works, — 
Chemist ami Dniygist, 
AVENUE TEEES ON THE NILGIEIS. 
Avenue trees on the Nilgiris serve a twofold 
purpose, they afford shelter during the hot sea- 
son from the heat of the sun, which is inten- 
sifiid by the rarified atmosphere, and they pro- 
tect against bleak winds ihat prevail during the 
monfeooD. These who have journeyed between Coo- 
ncor and Ootacamund, in the height of the Bouth- 
west, can testify to the relief they experience from 
the wajsiele trees Bgainst the drifting rain and 
piercing cold that work through the thickest of 
over coa's. These trees are of the two varieties 
of the Acacia, loimiug rather a dense fence than 
an avenue, and are valued by the Public Works 
Department as mucn for the service they render 
in consolidating the roadways as for their utility 
to the travelling pixblic as a shelter-belt. Some 
eight or nine years ago, it was suggested that 
this avenue should be continued to Pykara and 
Neddiwuttum to perform the Siime efficient 
functions oo that blown thorotighfare,but the advice^ 
so far as we are aware, remaiua unappreciated. 
There aie gaps in the 22 miles of distance between 
Ootacamund and Neddiwuttum where the force of 
the wind is great enoixgh to unseat a horseman, 
and acoidenis have sometimes occurred o! this 
nature, at a spot named the "Devil's Gap," Even 
the hardy Aoacia, here, has a struggle for esisttnce, 
and it was several years before any plantitig suc- 
ceeded even on a limited S3ale. Long Et:etches of 
mileage, to this day, have to ba traversed, without 
the friendly she. tar of a single tree, against the 
fieroest blasts. Cooliej are known to have Euooum- 
ted to the inclemency of the weather on this road, 
and Ecarcely a monsoon passes without one or two 
casualties. The village monygar buries the corpse 
at the public expense, and nothing more is heard. 
Some jeurs ago, an avenue was started on this road 
and continued for a d stance of two miles from Oota- 
camund but it is was in the main of the blue gum, 
which is ill-adapted for a shelter-belt when 
planted in single tile as these have been. The trees, 
however, have attained a splendid growth, so 
unlike the drawn branchless specimens we are 
accustomed to see in plantations. The umbrag- 
eous crown affords a partial shade on a hot day, 
but the trunk three feet and more in diameter in 
some instances, is no protection against wind and 
rain. iSiniilar planting was done on the road to 
Kulhutty and is equally objectionable, though 
this road is not so exposed to the south-west as 
the one to Neddiwuttum. It is only recently 
that attention ha.s been given to utilising the 
Forest trees of the Nilgiris. Many of them like 
the hexes, the Elcvcarpi, the Eiujcnias, and the 
Meliomas are of fine umbrageous habit and long 
lived and would do admirably for Avenues, 
yielding a cool and perfect shade, and, if planted 
in rows of three or four deep, be equally effective 
as protection against wind and laiu. Big trunks 
bare to a height of twenty or thirty feet and 
giving a checkered shade are not the trees for au 
avenue. The two partial efforts at avenue plan, 
ting m this District, which we have noticed, are 
all that the Local Fund Board have done, not 
counting the insignificant and unsuccessJul planting 
of such now lines as the Connemara Koad wbera 
the fencing is more prominent than what is inside. 
With an inexhaustible supply o( acolimntiscd 
exotics ava lable in the Public Gardens, and ekillcd 
Pgeuoy in tht fcreon of the Director at 
