8o4 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [June i, 1895. 
the Cape Cloverninent railways have 220. Never- 
theless from the point of view of railway re- 
venue, the browner population is the better. 
That the Sinhalese take to railways like ducks 
to water, a glance at the 3rd class cars on the 
seaside line will show ; but how much is to be 
ascribed to aptitude and how much to the 
amazingly low fares (17-8-and 3 cents a mile 
with the' rupee at a little over a shilling) is an 
open question. In Cape Colony the volume of 
passenger traffic has been found to he but little 
affected by tariff changes perse, doubtless owing 
to the large spending power of the people. A 
second consideration going to show that 41 cents 
is below the potential coaching value of the 
Sinhalese is that in the calculation whirl, gave 
it, the entire population was supposed t<> have 
equal access to the railway. As a matter of fact 
however, for at least half the population the rail- 
way, for passenger purposes, is non-existent. Had 
the whole island equal facilities for cheap and 
rapid inter-communication the coaching value of 
the people per capita, having in view ii> presenl 
figure, would be uniquely high. For the increase 
of traffic on any system of railway caused by ex- 
tension into new areas is according to the fol- 
lowing scale : that if the traffic on a Inn connect- 
ing two centres of population be taken as unify, 
the effect of linking in a third centre f ill he to 
double the volume, of linking mafowrth to treble 
it, a fifth to quadruple it, and so on. A lini- 
ment's reflection will show how this should he. 
Imagine the population as made up of a number 
of units -individuals or groups of individuals, 
each of these units has potential traffic relations 
with every other ; they visit one another for plea- 
sure or for trade, they travel in search of occu- 
pation from centre to centre; tempted by tin- 
wider field of possible customers they produce 
more. But until cheap, rapid, and regular trans- 
port is provided these relations lie dorm inc. A 
railway renders them actual, and does so at such 
a rate that the resulting increase of traffic is in 
much more than simple ratio to the number of 
units linked in. The Kelani Valley Railway 
Commissioners estimated the coaching value of 
the district at one rupee per head per annum — 
given the railway ; in the light of the foregoing 
considerations that estimate will certainly not 
appear excessive. 
therefore, points rather strongly in favor of a con- 
tinued abundance of the article cocoa, and as the 
principal manufacturers are believed to be already 
well supplied from former purchases, there is no 
immediate prospect of a return of higher prices." — 
American Grocer, 
COCOA IN ENGLAND, 
Within eleven years the consumption of cccoa in 
the "United Kingdom has risen from 13,983.081 j ounds 
to 22,440,020 pounds. The imports reached in 1894 
a total of 40,219,631 pounds, of which 7,771,191 pounds 
were exported. The stocks held at the close of 1894 
were 21,935,539 pounds. The increase in consump- 
tion is due in part to lower prices and more liberal 
crops. Since 1884 raw material has declined enor- 
mously. As proof we compare prices in England in 
1884 and 1894, as follows : — 
1884— per cwt. 1894— per cwt. 
Trinidad . . . . 70@110s 51@76s 
Grenada .. .. 66@ S2s 44@57s 
Ceylon • • • • 65@ 94s 24@70s 
Guayaquil .. .. 73@102s 47i»6ts 
Bahia 70® 80s 44@50s 
The London Grocer, in reviewing the outlook for 
supply this year, says :—" Another fruitful source of 
supply has come into prominence with recent years, 
viz., St. Thome, an island off the west coast of 
Airica, where increased quantities of cocoa are raised 
season after season, commencing in October and 
finishing in April, and leading to imports of a des- 
cription that is much liked by the trade, who con- 
sider it equal in quality to tho nuts that come from 
Grenada, and buy it freely accordingly. Everything, 
COMMERCIAL FIBRES. 
My last letter gave you a report of a lecture 
by Or. I). Morris upon lihres. Doling the pre- 
sent week your former fellow colonist has delivered 
an additional lecture continuing the Mtme subject, 
and of this there is now ^iven you below the 
notice published by The 'linns: — 
Dr. D. Morris delivered the third of the series of 
Cantor Lectures before the Society of Arts on 
Monday. Continuing the review of fibres yielded by 
members of the palm order, he drew attention to 
the remarkable vegetable substance, resembling 
wha'ebone in strength and elasticity, called bass or 
piassava. This was extensively used for making 
brooms and brushes, and consisted of the indurated 
fibre bundles thickly clothing the stems of palms. 
The fibres vielded by the husk of the coconut mn 
of considerable commercial importance. They afforded 
material for brushes, mats and matting, cords, ropes, 
and tow. Coconut refuse, on account of its wonder- 
ful properties of absorbing moisture, had been re- 
commended for use as a backing material for steel 
plates in the construction of men-of-war. Of all 
vegetable substances the most noted substitute for 
horse-hair was the fibre of the Spanish mos6 
f TUlandsia u-mcoidesj. The plant grew in long, 
hanging tresses on cypress tree6 in the swamps of 
the Southern United States. The supply of material 
j for paper-making was becoming more dependent on 
j wood pulp. The lecture concluded the course by 
j discussing in some detail problems connected with 
1 ne introduction of new fibres, the improvement of 
fibre p.ants by syste .i tic selection and cultivation, 
and by a gene. 'i re vie v of the methods uitneito 
adop.ed by mechanical ind c. emicitl moans for the 
extr iccjon of commercial iibre >. — JLouuon Cor. 
VARIOUS PLANTING NOTES. 
A Big Indian Tea Company with Largk 
Land Reserves. — This is how Commerce in its 
issue of 3rd April deals with the new Singlo Tea 
Co., Ld., (what strikes us most is that the reserves 
of first-class land for tea equal 9,500 acres) : — 
We don't see anything particular to object to in the 
prospectus of the Singlo Tea Company (Limited) neither 
on the other hand, do we see any reason why the 
public should single out this special company for an 
investment. In fact, the Singlo Tea Company, (Limited) 
is about on a par with the average company put upon 
the market ; it may turn out to be a remunerative in- 
vestment, but, and just as likely, it may not. It has 
been formed to take over as going concerns, and unite 
under one management, the estates of the Singlo Tea 
Company, (Limited), the Jaboka Tea Company, (Limited) 
and the Kisna Tea Company, (Limited). The estates are 
held under leases, renewable in perpetuity under the Go- 
vernment regulations, direct from the Indian Govern- 
ment, with the exception of 458 acres held on a yearly 
tenure. They measure about 23,497 acres, of which, at 
the close of 1894, 3,504 acres, 2,090 mature, and 1,414 
immature, were under tea. The reserves of first-class 
land for tea comprise 9,500 acres. Singlo and Jaboka 
estates cover 13,773 acres, have 2,650 acres under tea, and 
according to the prospectus, are long-established and good 
dividend-paying properties. Kisna is newer, and only 
coming into profit. In 1894 the combined properties pro- 
duced 1,197,862 lb. of tea, but as the younger bushes 
mature, the out-turn from the land now under tea ought 
to increase. It is not proposed, however, to restrict the 
tea cultivation to its present area, the company propos- 
ing to make use of its large reserves of land for exten- 
sions. The purchase price of the three estates, with all 
buildings, machinery, and plant, is £183,334. The full 
capital is £300,000 in 17,000 ordinary and 13,000 6' per 
cent preference £10 shares, of which 10,0ti0 of the former 
and 8,000 of the latter are now issued, the ordinary at 
arp, and preference at £1 premium. 
