THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [March i, 1S94. 
ties are bought and sold at the eame price, 
either the merchant or the planter tbrowa away 
money, as the difference in their agricultural 
value, when expressed in money, is fully B15 per 
ton. If such a manure is bought on analysis at 
BO much per unit, this is at once evident. Bup- 
poae the value of the unit of nitrogen to be 
119 '20 we get as the value of the better quality 
7-7 H 9-20 = R70-84 per ton and of the other quality 
6 K 9-20 = E55-20 per ton. 
Supposing these to be the respective values per 
ton in Colombo, many planters might prefer to 
purchase the cheaper article ; but it would be 
really more economical to purchase the dearer 
when carriage to the estate has to be taken into 
account. In buying castor cake the planters' main 
object, is to get a supply of nitrogen delivered* 
at the estate at the cheapest rate. Now a ton 
of the best quality of castor cake referred to con- 
tains fully as much nitrogen as a ton and a 
quarter of the other, and it has to be carried, 
Bay a hundred miles, at 12^ cents per ton per 
mile. The following shews the price of the same 
amount of nitrogen on the estate in the two 
oases :— 
Oost of 1 ton best castor cake ... 1170*84 
Carriage for a hundred miles . . 12-50 
Total oost ... B83-34 
Oost of 1^ tons castor cake .. B70-84 
Carriage tor a hundred miles . . 16-63 
Total cost . . R86-47 
It ia manifest, then, that the effect of analysis 
ia both to keep up the quality of manures offered 
for sale, and to adjust prioe to agricultural value. 
After all that has been said about the need of 
watohing and determining the proper degree of 
fermentation and watching other stages in the pro- 
oess of manufacture, ws are surprised to have a good 
Authority write to usi — ''I do not see at present 
that the Chemist can be of any great use in the 
factory. All the processes at the factory are con- 
ducted with a view to bring out the best flavour 
of the tea, and in this the palate seems to be a 
better guide than chemical analysis. The tea 
manufacturer tastes the teas made daily, and he 
knows how the taste is affected by modifications in 
withering, fermenting and drying. Should it be- 
oome an important question at any time to try 
to .increase or to diminsh any of the natural 
oonatituents of the tea, then tea analyses would 
become indispensable." This may, howsver, be 
the very point of importance even now, and, 
therefore, there is surely room for a series of 
chemical experiments in the Tea Factory which 
might yield results of considerable importance to 
the practical teamaker. In this, we believe, Mr. 
Butherford quite agreed. 
^ 
OUT OF EMPLOYMENT. 
StlAClItNESa IN PLUMBAGO AND DESICCATED COCONUT 
INDUSTRIES ; HOW CRIME IS INCREASED. 
{from a Correspondent.) 
A large number of men have been thrown out of 
employment in consequence of the stoppage in most 
localities of plumbago digging and the closing of 
some disiccating mills. The price of plumbago has 
gone down fearfully and the smaller proprietors 
* Castor cake which is richest in nitrogen is also 
richest in phosphoric acid and potash. Castor cake 
containing 7'7 per cent of nitrogen was found to 
contaiQ also m less than 4 per cent of phosphoric 
who work their pits on " advances," have decided 
to stop work waiting for better prices. A few of 
the larger proprietors, however, are working their 
])itB and have a large quaatity of plumbago in their 
stores. It is aransing to hear these men ape&k of 
the " coming war " which is de»^tined to send up 
the price of plumbago to a height never before 
reached. Whether the "corners" created in conae- 
quence will in the end benefit them or otherwise, 
it is difficult to see. Corners certainly ejre the 
most dangerous of things and may make havoc in 
quarters least expected. In the ca&e of deeicoated 
coconutB overproduction is certainly the canee of 
the stoppage of demand. There was an unheard- 
of rush for thia manufacture and the bupply has 
exceeded the demand. The fibre iaduutry is alsu 
being ruHhcd. Mr. Harrison, late of the Police, opened 
a manufactory at Wattala, about four miles from 
Colombo, and now one sees mills put np in every 
direction. Mr, Harrison's experience has to be noted. 
Wattala and the viUages about were lufei-ied by 
the most dangerous characters. The Kagaiua gang 
after the murder of the famous liapama Modaliyar 
were broken np and scattered themselves in the 
villages. There they carried on cattle stealing, 
gambling, high-way robbery and all sorts of crimes. 
The headmen were powerless to act. Mr. Uarrisoa 
employed all these thieves in his mills, giving them 
a good d«y'spay for a good day's work. He had some 
difficulty at first but eventually succeeded and at the 
present moment cattle-stealing is a thing unheard 
of thereabouts. Unfortunately the closing of the 
plumbago pits has let loose in the villagee a lot of 
desperate characters. It is no secret that many a 
man "wanted" is in some one of the pite and 
prefers the rough work and comparative freedom 
there to the penal diet in 'W'elikada. Theae men 
thrown out ot employment have gone back to the 
villages and are duing a deal of mischief. There 
is no doubt that the boutique looting at Miri- 
gama was planned ajid carried oat by these men. 
CACAO CULTIVATION. 
Wattegama, Feb. 15.— Thanks for the vei-y 
useful Almanac. Quo is struck with its monopoly 
of space by the tea enterprise. Some day let us 
hope cacao will be a more promuient feature than 
at present ! Too much of this very unpleasant 
wind prevailing here. 0-H.3 in. rain is all we have had, 
on one day, .since 22ud ult., when we had 5 in. on the 
evening of 21st and morning of 22nd — a record for 
'li: hours in this district for past 8 years ! 
Ciui you get us particulars from various countries 
of total imports of cocoa into England in 1»03 
and the world's production! "Financial Reform 
Almanac for 1803" gives :— 1891— total 192,«13 cwt. 
retained for home consumption and 279 08 cwt. 
total imports, [When our "F, R. Almanac " for 18114 
arrives, we can give later information, and the figures 
for IS'.to perhaps from the Economist about the end of 
March. The nearest approximation to the World's 
Production and Consumption we give in our " Hand- 
book, " page 176/; but we find a big slip here as re-, 
gards the United Kingdom in estimating 100,000 cwt. 
in place of 200,000 cwt., for consumption, although 
on page G07 we gave the detaUcd table our corres- 
pondent refers to. We shall be on the lookout for 
later infonnation, — Ed, T.A.} 
A New Book on Coffee.— We shortly hope to 
have the pleasure of reviewing Mr. Robert Elliot's 
new book on " Gold, tJport and Coffee Planting," 
which will, we understand, be for sale at Mesara. 
Higginbotham's Among other subjeets of general 
interest to planters, Mr. Elliot has gone to the 
pains of collecting a mass of practical information 
dealing on the manuring of Oofiee in Mysore,— 5ou(^ 
0/ India Observer, 
