April 2, 1894.] THE TROPICAL 
AGRiCtLTURIST. 
»re not tnaoy tracts nnopened, but on the northern 
slopes there are exiensive areais finer and richer than 
any now onltivoted Ijing in the upper portions of the 
valleys of the Eio Grande, S\9ifl and Spsni h R'vers, 
Th«6e trttctB »ro estimattd at from 60,000 to 100,000 
aoiea, and cODHist almost entirely of untouched virgin 
iorest." s 
Wbilet the coffee production in Jamaica ia on the 
decliue, we read that, ia spite of the great difficulties 
experienceJ inGautemala with regard to labour, it is 
noticed that the produolion of coliee has risen froro 49 
million pounds in 1888 to 75 million pounas in 1892. 
Of the latter quantity more than 8 million pounds, of 
the value of £iS22,000^ have been received in the United 
Kingdom. XhesB tacts are of ocnsicetable importance 
to Jamaica, and Mr. Thiselton Dyer is of opinion that 
Ibe Government of that island would co well at the 
present time lo encourage in tvcry pcssibJe vfay the 
development ol so important an induttry. Surely 
some of the spare tapiial of ibis country would bo 
better employed in coffee growing m our Western 
colonies than io loana to South American Republics! 
— Jamaica Post. 
^ 
CEYLON AND INDIAN TEA IX AMERICA. 
The Pioneer— ihe leading Indian Journal — has an 
editorial on this Bubjeot from which we quote as 
foUowB : — 
The indian p'auter seem willing to bear their share 
and also to worii in harmony with their Cajlon breth- 
ren, the great aim i f both being to relieve the London 
market, wtiioli is at times glutted with tea causing a 
serious fall in price?. In opening out a new country 
tbere are b1vv»js diffiouitita to be overcome in the 
matter of the kcal agenciei to be employed in the 
Bale aod distribution of llie gools introuuccd, and 
these have occuned in thecso of America. To give 
one or even two firms a monopoly is to mvite opposi' 
tiun from all the re^t, and yet at the outset some par- 
ticular bouiie must be employed to ensure the trade 
being pushed. It is for the ludian and Ceylon Aa- 
Bocia tioi 3 to dec.de by the light of experience 
how thia difficulty can ba best overcome, and 
we bave no doubt they will find a way cut of it. 
They also bave to guard against inftriur or spuri- 
ous bleuda being soIj, B8 the high leputaiion of Indian 
te» or parity and strength must be maiutaiiiod at all 
c.stg. One plan which was put forward to secure 
la' ga sales proved a complete failure. Thia was the 
institution of tca-auclioLS in various parts of the 
State?. The 'cute traiers of America soon saw a way 
to making large profits : they bought up the tea 
cheaply, and ret-hipped it lo the Loidoa market 
where it could be told at a higher price. Thete 
s^ems no reason why Indian tea ehou'd not supplant 
the growth of China and Japan at leiat in the 
B»9tern Stales ; and the action now beirg taken, 
namely, co-operation between Indian, Cejion and 
Louden proprietors, with a view to forming a Joint 
Committee to cuntrol future operations, thouid eoun 
bear Iruit. It may be noted that tbe exports of tea 
from India to America for the 11 moutbs ending on 
February 28th wt re over 266,0001b. as compared with 
only 83,000 in the similar period of 1893 and 
I83,0001b iu 1893. These figures are very small 
considering that Austialia aod New Zealand take 
over six million pounds a year. 
SELANGOR AND IRIiLAND AND COFFEE. 
It is proposed to plant Libeiian coflVe on a con- 
siderable Boale at Klang in Selaogor. But the p antocs 
who propose to begin work iu the low-lying grounds 
fear that porwons who may afterwards plant above 
them may so drain the upper laud on to tbe lower 
laud as to flood it. It ia ihorcforo urged that tbe 
Oovernmout shall ailopt a drainage policy iu that 
district similar to the uraitiiige pobfy thai exists in 
varouM ngricnltnral connlies in Irelaud. That is to 
say, the Government is ajked to underiaite the 
drainage at the cost of the ilanters, dividing the 
90*1 Uii'l; among all tlio (enona who may plant 
there, and seeing that the one planter does not suffer 
by tbe diaiuage from the land above him. It ia 
uuders'.o d that the Selaogor Government would be 
favourable to tuoh a proposal but that it is net ap- 
proved at the Colonial Secretariat in Singapore. It is 
therefore intended that the matter shall be placed 
before H. E, Sir Charles Mitchell, with the intention 
of obtaining his decision as to whether such a land 
and drainage policy should be entered upon. It 
ia said thut various persons have proposed to embark 
considerable sums of money in Liberian ccffea culti- 
vation At Klang if tbe Government will adopt the 
propoted drainage scheme. It may be added that 
thegtntleman who propounds the Bcbeme ia at once 
a planter and a Celt. As a pioneer and now suc- 
cessful planter, he brings a ripe Malayan eiperienee. 
As a son of Ireland, he adds the true fidilesian belief 
that the Government must help and that tbe land 
laws must be Ktottnei.— Straits limes. 
''JOHN GiVIN, PLANTER AND MER- 
CHANT." 
Beferring to the extracts which were published in 
the Ceylon Observer from the Memoir given in this 
number, a correspondent writes: — 
If Joan Gavin landed in Ceylon on July 4th, 1843, 
then his earliest coffee planting experience muse 
have been gained on Gaioya. When Mr. William 
Budd gave over charge of the Gaioya estate to 
" Bob Swan '' (the brother of James Swan the 
pr prietor) on August 8th, 1843, John Gavin went 
with the new Superintendent as his Sinne Durai, and 
drew a salary of £7 a month. He worked as Swan's 
assistant till September 1844, by which time hia 
salary had risen to £8 63 8d. He then left Gaioya 
for Moorootie in Dolosbage, but he certainly did not 
have charge of Gaioya any time in 1843 oc 1844. 
Mr. Ellis succeeded him as assistant on Gaioya, bat 
did not remain long. 
JOHORE. 
On the 8th, the first of the Muhammadan Fast 
month, a oopious fall of rain oooutred after a 
long taok of dry weather such as we have not 
had for the past 17 years. Gambier and pep- 
per, being tbe staple cultivated, were beginning to 
suffer. — Cor. 
Coffee Drinking in England in the Eigh- 
lEENTH Ceniuby. — Temple Bar for Maroh contama 
a paper on William Stulkeley, a Linoolnshire anti- 
quary, in which we are told that among fifty other 
thioga he loved to illustrate the changes in social 
lile :— 
His notes on coffee-drinking would furnish some 
material for a new edition of Mr. Kobinson'i little 
volume on coffee-houses. Sir Christopher Wren and 
Kobert Hooke, the professor of geometry, were "greal 
drinkers of Coffee. Dr. Gale drank 2 dishes twice a 
day. Mrs. Beben drank it much." These were gre»» 
testimonies in its favour, but more conclusive atill 
was the anecdote of the " Clergyman iu Kent " who 
confessed to have taken it for forty years, wiihonl ill 
effects — an instance of the slowness of its application 
as a poison, which might rank with the suit more 
celebrated case ol Fonienelle. Dr. Barrow introduced 
this seductive drink to tbe notice of the dona at Cam- 
bridge, Stulkeley 'e own grandtather was " the en- 
courugerot the hrtt cjffee-boase in Stamford. " About 
1698 "my mor. had her first set of the equipage. 
Chocolate drank before then." The introduction ot 
snuff he attributes to Cbarlci II., whom bo al.-x 
credits with tho pateiuity of wigs, to talc this 
titillating dust "they first aged a cocoa .'^hell wicb a 
brass nozzle to drop a pinch out upon their hand 
from whence they snutfed it." ^V'iga were ibo curse to 
of his existence. At last, in January 172?, ho resolved 
to leave thom uSaud wear bis onn hair, llo carried gut 
bu leaolve, but it " ended in wj l«aTtoj( tOe (ovro. ' 
