April 2. 1894.J THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
and in oonBultation with all tbe larpre wholesHle 
bouses on bfhalf of Indian as well as Ceylon toaa, 
Mr. Qrinlintoa wou'd spfedi'y learn what would 
Buit the ease bf-Bt, whetbfr to ppend a lew 
thouBands iu advrrtising, or to oommend back 
to hia joint Committee the starting of a 
bounty oommiepion. The great matter now ia to 
vcta for the aeleotion of Mr. Grinlinton aa eoie 
responpible Bepreaentstive for the teaa of Ceylon 
and India to open a Campaign throughout the 
length and breadth of North America with a 
view to ousting China and .Japan teas. With a 
joint fund eqijal to £12,500 per annum to bepin 
with, and yearly inoreaaing, thia could not iail 
to become a very important mission and one which 
would draw the attention of the whole Tea Industry 
to the work of our Commissioner. We feel surs 
that Mr. Grinlinton will rise to the occasion and 
if he is given a free hand, we may expect 
a speedy impression to b9 made on the American 
markets ; and then the great fact to be remembereJ, 
is that every ton whether of Indian or Ceylon tea 
diverted across the A'lantic is so much less 
pressure on Mincing Lane — an all-important 
consideration for both India and Ceylon, 
DEATH OF AN OLD COLONIST. 
Mb. John Brown Dies on Hi3 Way to Cairo, 
It is with much regret that we receive Ihd 
above sad intelligenca. Mr. Brown, who had been 
out on one of hia usual winter trips to Ceylon, 
began to feel poorly in February and hia depatture 
was hasteoed by medical advice, while for the 
same reason his sou, Mr. Alfred Brown, accom- 
panied him in the bs. " Oceanieu" on the 4tb ult. 
from Colombo, intending to go as far as Aden, Mr. 
Brown, senr,, had not then, however, improved in 
health, as was anticipated, and fortunately it was 
decided hi9 eon should go on to E^ypt, so that 
he wa.*! with his father to the end. The sad news 
reached Mr. Wardrop by telegraph from Alexan- 
dria, intimating Mr. Brown's death yesterday 
while en route to Cairo. For several years bask, 
Mr. Brown has been known to have a w^ak heart, 
accompanied by a tendency to bronchial affection, 
and it is for this reason he, of late years, avoided 
the English winter and early spring. But the 
end had to come and tbe sad part is that the 
invalid's strength did not ketp up until he 
reached his family who were awaiting him on the 
Continent. 
So has passed away a Colonist whose engineering 
skill, activity and enterprise hed a good deal to 
do with the development of Ceylon from the 
"fifties" onwards. FbW individuals, indeed, have 
left their mark so clearly on the progress of the 
colony. Mr. John Bvown came cut originally as 
the Engineer in charge cf the Waterworks for 
Mr. Tytler's Rajuwella, which included what were 
then one of the largest turbines and most powerful 
pumps anywhere in the world. When thia work 
was cimploted — at a cost we believe of £20,000 — 
Mr. Brown, like so many practical engineers be- 
fore and after hia time, turned his attention to 
planting, and he became part-proprietor with 
Messrs. Norman Stewart and Macintyre of a fine 
block of lani near the famous Spring Valloy 
estate in Uva, which they developed into the 
Glen Alpine estate. How a't'T hia parlners had 
retired home, Mr. Brown — a* a tim.; whi.ii Ooylon 
Limited Companies were few i u I fir hotw<.en — 
arranged for tbe establishment of the Uva Coffee 
Co., Ld., with Glen Alpine as the nuolmiB, and 
th; Spring Valley and afterwards Hunasgiriya 
Companies ia matter ol local history and no 
Inea his iounding of the Colombo Commercial 
Company, now representing— under the able 
management of his son-in-law Mr. Wardrop, — so 
important a section of local mercantile, agency, 
engineering and building business. Mr. Brown's 
Colfee Companies stood out long after most invest- 
ments in our old staple ; but at last the time came 
when they also had to go in for "tea" and the 
activity and interest which the old veteran mani- 
fested in the transformation would have done 
credit to a much younger man. Of Mr. Brown's 
inventive genius in respect of coffee pulper, wire 
shoots and other estate-Jabour saving contrivances, 
as also in respect of tea-rolling (the roller being 
the cause of litigation still in force), and tea-drying, 
— his desiccator being a great success — we need 
say nothing beyond the mention, On« whj well 
deserves to bs enrolled among the Pioneers of thia 
Planting Colony — both as Engineer, Planter and 
Merchant — has passed away, and our special sym- 
pathy is due to members of his family, both here 
and in England. Mr, Brown was twice married : 
his second wife, who survives, being a daughter of 
the late Mr. James Aberuethy, head of the well- 
known Aberdeen Engineering Firm. 
^ 
COFFEE IN JAVA. 
AmslerJam, Feb. 21. — From a reliable source it ia 
reported that the newlj-,ippointed inspector, Dr. 
Burcfc, who has mode an mvestigstion about the 
compulsory cofTte cultivation in Java, does not con- 
s'der the condition so gloomy as was generally 
presumed. In Central Java the prospects are not 
encouraging, and in many districts there the Govern- 
ment will have to give up the cultivation, like baa 
been done already in the districts of Bantam and 
Japnra. However, iu Eastern Java, and especislly 
in Proboiingo and Bezoekie, there is an abandance 
of maguificont grounds suitable for the cultivation of 
c ffee, and aieo iu the Presnger districts the «oil ia 
certiiin y t ot exhausted. Dr. Burck EeeniH to be • 
strong promoter of the fyatem of granting an extra 
piymt^nt fi r the construction and maintenance of 
of coffee lands, besides the prica paid for prodace 
delivered, — and C. Express. 
INDIAN PATENTS. 
Calcutta, Feb. 22. 
The inventor of the under-me tioned invention 
having respectively failed to pay within the time 
limited in that behalf the prescribed fee, it is hereby 
notified that the exclusive privilege of making, sell- 
iLg, and using the said invention in British India 
and of autborisinE; others so to do had ceased : — 
Tea-Sifting— No. 60 of 1889— FI Sabow's iuvention 
for a cylindrical vibration tea s'fting machine. (Spe- 
c fication tiled 14th November 18a9.) 
The fees prt<Boribed in Schednle 4 of Act V ofl8?8 
have been paid for the continuance of exclasive pre- 
vilege in respect o: the unuermentioaei invention for 
the periods shown a^iiinst eech : — 
Drying Apparatus.— No. 90 of 1888.— Samuel 
C eUnd DividaoM, iVIcrchant of Sirocco Works, Belfast. 
IreUnd, for improvemeuts in apparitus for employing 
heated air in dryinc or ba^iini? vcgotab e or other 
substances. (From 6th March 1891 to .'ith March 1395.) 
Tea Driers.— No. 80 of 1883. Henry Thoiipson, 
Engineer of Trinity St., Gainsborough, Lincoln, England 
for improveiu»ntfl in the method of, and apparatas 
for, drjmg t .a I'jaf. (From 17th April 189-1 to IGlh 
Ap .1 1895.) 
Tea R oLLKRf — No. 142 of 1888.— Henry Thompson, 
Eni;inior of Trinity St., Gainsbotou^-h. Lin olo. 
Eii^^laiid, for improvements in machinery i>r ap|i«r«'nrt 
for rolling or curling tea lea'. (From i/ih Apiil IbfJ 
to IGfh April 1895.) — Indian Enttiiietr. 
