Oct. i, 1894.] THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
247 
IS THERE TO BE A BOOM IN CAFFEINE 
AND TEA REFUSE ? 
Mr. T. Christy, the well-known wholesale 
Drug-dealer, &c, has been asking of trial 
samples of " tea debris," that portion of the 
leaf, be says, not used by the planters, in order 
to make experiments for the extraction of "caf- 
feine." At present this is mainly got from "tea 
refuse" obtained from the London warehouses; 
but surely the plantars could give something 
more suitable, if the value be worth their trouble. 
Caffeine is evidently getting soaroe ani wa find 
in an American paper the following information 
of speoial interest to tea planters: — 
The Position cf Caffeine.— Oaffeir e is one of the 
articles of minor importance in the drug market, and 
yet it is today receiviug coniderable attention by 
reason of its scarcity. It is practically in thsooi.trol 
of three manufacturers and yet comparatively little 
information ia obtainable regnrdiug the state of the 
markets abroad. Last October tbe price was $2. 10 
per pound, but early in January it advanced to §2.15 
at 2.20, and a little later to S2.30 at 2.40, at which it 
ruled firmly until about two weeks ago, when our 
market leports indicated a further advance. That 
there should be any scarcity of tea sweepings, from 
which caffeine is made is considered very improbable, 
inasmuch as Englishmen drink ja&t as much tea 
as tbey ever did. It has been suggested that manu- 
facturers have worked up all the crude stock they had 
and sold heavily against ib, and that they will now 
be obliged to await the next deliveries of the sweepings 
from the London warehouses, which, according to the 
terms of the contract they have with the Government, 
are made at stated intervals. It is understood that 
the contract is tor a year, and that it still has eight 
months to ran. As scon as tbe next deliveries are 
made it is thought the scarcity will be relieved. On 
the other hand, the suggestion is offered, thit inas- 
much as the balk of the teas now sold in England are 
cultivated in Ceylon, dealers are so anxious to main- 
tain the advantage they have thus far secured over the 
Chinese teas, that they exercise great care in protect- 
ing tbeir product, hence there is comparatively l.ttle 
waste. If this view is the correct one, it would appear 
that the senrcity will become permanent. 
Up to about three years ago all caffeine was made 
in Germany, though the tea sweepings were obtained 
ia England. The Biitish Govern tceut, ever ready to 
protect its revenue, refused to allow the sw> epiogs of 
the warehouses to be sold in England for fear of their 
being used for consumption in place of the leaf, and 
the Exchequer thus defrauded of a certain amount of 
revenue. All sweepings were shipped abroad and sold, 
principally to Germany, but English chemical manu- 
facturers protested so vigorously that tbe Government 
exprefsed a willingness to permit their use inEnglaud, 
provided they could be rendered urfit for domestio 
uee. A soheme was hit upon, whereby they were ren- 
dered unfit for the makiug of anj thing but cafftine 
through an admixture of esafcetida lquor and tbo 
manufacture of thisvery important drug commenced 
in London , where the bulk of it is now m> de, but one 
Gfrman manufacturer remaining in the business. 
What does Mr, Cochran say to the extraction of 
caffeine from the large leaves of tbe tea bush, or 
from tbe factory "red leaf" out here; but no 
doubt tho chemical prooesses required can be far 
more economically carried out in Euoh large 
Chemioal Works as those of Messrs. Bohringcr 
at Mannheim, and others. 
< 
OPENING UP A NEW PLANTING 
DISTRICT. 
The Palleoama Grant.— Mr. Ross Wright, who 
has charge of the Palleg&ma Grunt Association 
Company's land in North Mutale, is opening up 
what, may be called a uewdiBtnot for tropical prodnots. 
The work he lus before bim is nneroup, 113 all 1 e.v 
clearing work is, a.n\ in this caso it is doubly d ill' u L 
81 
by reason of the fact that he is far removed frein other 
esta'es, and has to rely sololy upon himself. His nearest 
neighbour is Mr. Frafer, of Brae, goodness keows 
how many feet abovs bum, and fourteen miles as 
the crow flies. Mr. Wright lives at present in the 
Korale's house, in which ha has two rooms, but an 
upstair bungalow is being built for him on the 
estates which will imke him more comfortable 
when fini.'hed. He has already felled about 300 
acres, end they are all burnt off, strips of juDgle 
being left ber3 and there to provide shelter and to 
keep out too much light. When tbe North-Eaet 
monsoon 6ets in he will p ant up the whole 300 acres 
wilh cocoa, roootuts, Libtrian coffee, and Arabian 
coffee. Cotton and chillies are to be planted in 
between the rows of the coconut trees. It will thus 
be seen that he has a laborious task before him and 
a very anxious time. Mr. Ros3 Wright assures as 
that in all his experience of Ceylon ho never saw such 
magnificent jangle tmd soil as is to be found on the 
property of which he has charge. We can only say 
that we shall watch the result of the experiment 
which ia beirg undertaktn in this new district with 
great interest, and we hope the success attained by 
the Associa'ion will induce others to take up land 
in the vicinity — of which there is an abundance — so 
that ia time a large district may be formed on the 
backs of the Ambau-ganga. — Local "Times," 
♦ 
FOREST CONSERVANCY. 
We have to acknowledge receipt of the adminis- 
tration report for 1893 of Mr. A. F, Broun, Con- 
servator of Forests, which seems to be of a very 
oomplete character. Today we can only quote 
the following paragraphs: — 
SALES OF FOREST LAND, 
Considerable alarm has been expressed of late to 
the effect that Government is allowing forest lands 
to be sold for purposes of extending tea cultivation. 
Whether it is advisable to sell more land for tea is a 
question which it is hardly my duty to deal with, but 
all applications for large lots of land which are sent 
to me by Government Agents are carefully considered, 
and if in my opinion the land should be reserved, I 
decline to agree to the sale. Thus at tbe end of the 
year I requested the Hon. the Government Agent, 
Central Province, to delay the sale of a block of 1,000 
acres of forest land near Laxapana until I had 
inspected it. My inspection satisfied me of the 
desirability of reserving the block with the rest of the 
Adam's Peak forest to which it belongs, and the sale 
was withdrawn, It is not likely that blocks of forest 
will be set up for sale unless they are too small for 
reservation, or unless their position renders them of 
little use to the Government. 
OPENING OF THE HAPUTALE EXTEN8ION. 
The opening of the Haputale Extension has ren- 
dered accessible for exploitation tbe large stretch of 
forests between Nanu-oya and Haputale. A portion 
of these forests will yield the fuel for working the 
trains on the extension, but large areas are available 
for the supply of timber and firewood to estates. 
The frtights on the railway are unfortunately high, 
and the prices of produce brought out of tho 
forests must of necessity cover something more than 
the price of transport. If, however, the rates on 
freight of timber are reduced we should be able to 
satisfy all the requirements of the country near the 
railway. 
GAME LAWS. 
It cannot be said that tbe Game Laws ere sufficient 
to prevent the slaughter of wild auirnald in tho low- 
country. The imposition of an export duty on hides 
has, no doubt, done some good. It; will only | be 
when the game will be able, as iu India, to retire 
within reserved forests that it will have a chance of 
avoiding the annual butchery. Tho enly portion of 
the Island where tho game is on the increase is in 
tho hills, uud there tho Gamo Laws aro hardly neces- 
sary. Elk uud deer are rarely shot iu tbe hills, 
