732 THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. i Mav i. 1894. 
pf reyloti tfia w.is rifiically iiiffer>^n' (ro .n thst 
of ''hina a id Japan. It wap, howeier, growing in 
flivor for blending purposfs and were consumers as 
certain of getting euch tea as was served at the 
Ceylon pavilion in Chicago, at various food ex- 
pOBitirna in the large citic'', and at the Cailifornia 
Mid-Winter Exposition, they bclived ihi oonsump- 
tion of straight Ceylon tea would rapidly increase. 
COCONUT PALM AND BEETLES. 
A practical planter writes • — '' I am making an 
experiment with a view of saving some of my palms 
attookcd by the weevil by taking the trees in hand 
early, before the grub has Lad time to do irreparable 
harm, digging out the larva and stopping the cavity 
with clay after applying a mixture of coal tar and 
kerosine oil. Results will be reported in due time.'' 
THE TRADE OF FIJI IN 1893. 
The import trarie of Fiji for ilie jear set aga'u*t 
totals was as foUows :— 1885 £301,0as, 1886 £230,629, 
1887 £188,071, 1888 £183,222, 1889 £189,393, 1890 
£206,757, 1891 £25;,049, 1892 £253,53«, 1893 £275,034. 
ICB exports represeuted in 1885 £326.750, 188ij 
£283,496, 1837 £281,080, 1888 £37(i 978. 1889 £364,282, 
1890 £364,533, 1891 £474,334, 1892 £434,791, 1893 
£354,972. 
It will Ihue be roticed that, although the l u-ii ess 
of last year was lower iuamoaut to that of eaoh of ibc 
two annual periods by which it was immediately pre- 
Cc^ded, it yet shows a mat'^rial advauce on allottitrs 
with the exception of 1885 where the dilfereiice ii com- 
paratively immaterial. — Fiji Times. 
SOUTH MYSOillfi PLANTERS' 
ASSOCIATION. 
At the annual general meeting held in Bel or oii 
22nd March 1894, there were present jlessrs. Graham 
Anderson (President), H, f. Anderson, E. S. 
Broughton, B. Uayley, H. D. Uhaldecott, H. P. 
Cobb, J. G. H. Crawford (Honorary Secretary), G. H. 
Eicke, W. GaHffe, J. G. Hamilton, J. A. Harris, 
P. Hunt, S. Hunt, L, Lake, Brooke Mockett, E. P. 
Playford, H. B. Town send, and M. J. Woodbridge. 
Mr. Graham Anderson, in opening proceedings, 
congratulated the meeting on so satisfactory an 
attendance, and, having read n paper of introductory 
remarks, called upon the Honorary Secretary to 
read the Annual Report 1893-1894. This Report 
deah with : — Planters Conference. Registration im- 
provements, Coffee Stealing, Postal, Cattle Trespass, 
Cardamom Lands, Weights and Measures, Medical, 
Telegraph, Arrack Shops, Game Law, Railway 
Extension, Roads, Statistics, Accounts. 
JAMAICA GINGER. 
Bidden away in a little official Journal issued by 
the Jamaican Government, which is probably seen by 
few but botanists, there is some interesting infor- 
mation about one of the chief export articles of the 
island — ginger. The Jamaican Government has been 
somewhat troubled about the irregularity of the 
prices realised by this drug, an i has set its tax- 
collectors to inquire why tbe average price uf the 
rhizome from cue Manchester parisu s ould be 16s. 
V:d , and that ot the Weatmoreland parish 606. per 
cwt. The answers are generally that the want of 
care in the curing of the root is responsible for the 
low rates realised by much of the product. The 
green ginger, after scraping, should be kept from 
moisture, and daily exposed to the sun uuiil it is 
perfectly hard ; but these precautious are often ne- 
glected, the drug being dried while still immature, 
and put away damp into bags. Ratoon ginger is 
generally mildewed because it is harvested early in 
the season, when there is not yet enough constant 
sunshine available to enable the rhizome to be cured 
properly. The eharpi thin, narrow bladed knives 
used for scraping — or, rather, paring — and peeling 
the ginger are specially imported for that purpoae, 
and are known as ginger-knives. When the rhizome 
has beeu scraped and peeled it is washed once or 
twice, and then dried on mats. In the Manchester 
district two varie.ies of ginger are frrown -viz., 
yellow and blue — the farmer being the better grade. 
The name of "Rantoon" ginger, wViich often puz- 
zle dealers in 'his country, is applied to the root 
produced from the same piece of the land after the 
first year s harvest has beeu garnered. These piec s 
of ginger (ratoons) left in the ground after the 
harvest, are again du^ up. season after season, until 
their market value falls below 10». per cwt. locally, 
when they are no longer remunerat've. The use 
of lime-juice in washing ginger is condemned, as it 
is said invariably to cause mildew. An expert in 
ginger-culture describes the industry as a curse to 
the island, which should be abandoned — the sooner 
the better. Vi-gin soil is in constant demand for 
ginger-growing, but the exhausting effects of the 
crop on the soil, and the wholesale destruction of 
valuable timber in forest land (fire being the only 
agent for cleaning up), can only be rea ieed by vi-it- 
ing growing districts and observing the dried-np 
streams, the clearance by fire of thousands of 
pounds' worth of timber, and the impoverished soil, 
which will only grow ferns afterwaras. A howling 
\>ildcrness marks the progress of ginger -culture in 
every direction, aud 'M. worth of ginger is the out- 
come of ten times the value of other material 
destroyed. — Clierniit and Druggist. 
L'LUxMBAGO IN THE UNITED STATES. 
Fiom a pauipUlet publiolied by the Dep^rlmeul 
of tbe Interior Unitea btiiee Geologioiii burrey, 
on G^pbum, Fluorspar, and GiapiiiM iii lt>9/ ty 
K. W. Parker, placed at our di^pusal by Mr. ae 
Mell, jar., we quoto as loilowe: — 
GKAPHITE. 
The production in 1«(92 was 1,398,363 poands of 
retined graphite, valued at §87,902, against 1,559,674 
pounds, worm §10,000, in 1891. Of the product in 1892, 
1,298,363 pounds were from Ticonderoga,N Y. The other 
100,000 pounds was mined in Berks County, Pa. 
Uses. — The higher grades of graphite are used 
in the manufacture of lead pencils and lubricants. 
The poorer quaUties are used for crucibles, stove 
polisb, foundry facing, and in the manufacture of 
paint for metallic surfaces. 
Sources of Supply. — The graphite produced in 
the United States is by no means commensurate 
with the demand, and manufacturers are obliged to 
secure supplies elsewhere. The island of Ceylon 
furnishes the bulk ot the world's supply of the 
mineral, and graphite mining is one of the most 
important industries of the island Only the most 
primitive methods are employed ij mining, but, 
nevertheless, the industry is a very prolitable one. 
Germany also produces a considerable amount of 
graphite, the output of the empire in ltt9U being 
4,355 metric tons. 
The production in the United States since 1880 
has been as follows : 
Pboduction of Geaphite Since 1880. 
Years. 
Qaaut ty. 
Value. 
Pounos. 
1880 .. 
49,<H/0 
1881.. 
400.000 
3U,lXJ0 
1882., 
425,UOO 
34,100 
I>i9i... 
575,tO,f 
46,000 
1884... 
1CS5 .. 
327*883 
26,231 
t8ad... 
415,525 
33,<:(J 
1897... 
416,000 
3J.UU0 
1888.. 
400,000 
33,000 
1389... 
72,662 
1890.. 
77,500 
1891... 
1,55*9!674 
ilO,OW 
1892... 
... 1.398,363 
87,902 
iMPOms. — lha amount of gruphitj imported and 
eutered for coubumptiou iuolutlmg -withJrawaL irjui 
watehouse*, ia 1892, was 11,677 short tone, or 
