202 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Sept,  i,  1892. 
CEYLON  TEA  EXPORTED  FROM  LONDON 
during  the  six  months  ending  30th  June  last, 
as  compared  with  the  same  period  of  1891 — no 
le3S  than  105  per  cent. 
The  letter  of  “Tropical  Rustic,”  which  I duly 
forwarded  to  the  Financial  News,  appeared  in  the  issue 
of  the  18th  inst.  and  is  very  much  approved  of 
in  “the  Lane  one  Ceylon  proprietor  calls  it  ‘‘  mott 
interesting.” 
The  Edinburgh  Scotsman  has  had  a long  article  on 
“ ASSAM  AND  ITS  TEA  PLANTERS  ” 
(which  I send  you)  and  among  other  things  urges  the 
Indian  authorities  to  hurry  on  improvements  (by 
railway  connection  and  extension)  so  as  toplacothe 
Assam  tea  producers  in  a better  position  to  compete 
with  Ceylon  planters  whose  produce  is  cheaply  shot 
down  from  Nuwars  Eliya  ‘‘in  the  Kandy  bills,  by 
railway  into  the  ship  at  Colombo  ; while  that  of 
Assam  struggles  to  Calcutta  after  a oostly  fashion  by 
boat  through  a roadless  land  at  a cost  of  3d.  per  lb. 
equal  to  the  English  duty.”  You  will  no  doubt 
republish  the  whole  a rtiole,  if  you  have  not  indeed 
already  done  eo 
The  hope  is  expressed  that  Ceylon  tea  may  now 
—that  the  elections  are  over  and  that  the  China 
tea  is  proving  a disappointment — materially  im- 
prove in  price : one  proprietor  thinks  that  the 
failuro  of  your  monsoon  should  still  further  reduce 
imports  for  a time. 
A NEW  PRODUCT  FOR  WYNAAD. 
We  have  frequently  pointed  out  in  these  columns 
( Madras  Times  of  14tb  July)  how  necessary  it  is  for  the 
well-being  of  the  planting  industry  that  attention 
should  be  paid  to  the  cultivation  of  products  ether 
than  those  already  flourishing  in  the  different  districts 
of  Southern  India.  The  whole  history  of  the  plaintii  g 
enterprise  in  every  tropical  or  sub-tropical  country 
shows  that  an  epidemic  is  liable  at  ai  v time  to 
break  on',  which  all  tho  skill  BDd  care  of  the  culti- 
vator is  unable  to  stay,  and  the  only  means  of  stemm- 
ing the  tide,  of  ill  fortune  and  prev<  nt'n.g  it  from 
overwhelming  with  widspread  ruin  the  districts,  so 
lately  prosperous,  is  to  have  some  reserve  in  the  shape 
of  an  entirely  different  cultivation  to  fail  back  on. 
We  have  on  numerous  occasions  shown  how  particularly 
suitable,  both  in  climate  and  soil,WjDaad  is  for  the 
cultivation  of  tea  and  we  have  learnt  with  pleasure 
that  extensive  clearings  have  already  been  made 
this  monsoon,  and  that  arrangements  are  in  hand  for 
even  larger  clearings  mxt  year.  Iu  some  districts 
coffee  stid  gives  a good  return  in  spite  of  the  thousand 
ills  that  it  is  heir  to,  and  certain  varieties  of  cinchona 
are  still  worthy  of  the  attention  of  planters  even  though 
the  unit  hovers  only  just  above  the  penny.  Pepper 
as  a bje-product  is  found  on  many  estates,  and  now 
we  are  glad  to  say  that  a new  plant  is  engaging 
the  notioe  of  growers  in  this  distriot.  This  time 
it  is  the  fourcroya  gigantea,  an  aloo  indigenous  to 
South  America,  which  yields  au  excellent  fibre  of  great 
strength,  which  is  used  largely  at  home  for  the  manu- 
facture of  ship’s  ropes.  Some  half  a dozen  planters 
are  opening  out  land  this  year  with  this  aloe,  and 
several  hundreds  of  tlious  nds  of  plants  will  he  put 
down.  This  is  no  rash  experiment,  but  tho  result 
of  a trial  shipment  of  this  fibre  which  gave  the  most 
satisfactory  return,  and  there  is  every  reason  to 
believe  that  in  a very  few  seasons  the  fibre  of  tha 
fourcroya  gigantea  will  form  a valuable  adjurct  to 
tb6  exports  from  this  district.  A certain  emonnt 
of  attention  has  already  been  paid  to  the  different 
fibrous  plants  which  either  grow  wild  or  flourish  in 
a ssmi-wild  state  in  Wynaad,  but  wish  the  excep- 
tion of  rhea,  this  has  been  of  a very  desultory  character. 
J2hea  was  systematically  cultivated  on  a large 
scale  for  some  years  in  South-East  Wynaad,  and 
the  fibre  was  extracted  satisfactorily,  but  it  was 
£uand  that  the  machinery  employed  at  home  for  work* 
ing  up  fibres  was  uusuited  for  it,  and  manufacturers 
declined  to  go  to  the  expense  of  setting  up  entirely 
new  and  expensive  plsnt,  unless  a certain  number 
of  tons  vvasguorrnteed  by  the  growers  every  year,  which 
wsb  practical'}'  impcssible.  Hence  the  failure  of  rhea 
cultivation.  Bat  with  fourcroya  Ibis  is  different.  It 
already  forms  one  of  the  chief  exports  of  that  hurri- 
cane-swept island,  Mauritius,  and  the  demand  for  it 
among  repo  manufacturers  at  home  is  large,  for  after 
Manilla,  it  oDjoys  the  greatest  popularity.  That  it 
will  rot  only  grow  bn‘  flourish  exceedingly,  in  Wynaad, 
is  evidenced  by  the  gigantio  hedges  which  are  fre- 
quently met  with  in  ihat  district.  Here  after  the 
plai  ts  were  once  put  in,  little  or  no  care  was  bestowed 
upon  teem  beyond  keepit  g down  the  weeds  and  secon- 
dary jungle  growth  during  the  first  year.  The  land 
which  appears  to  suit  best  ie  of  pcor  stony  soil,  for  if 
the  soil  is  too  rich  ihe  leaves  put  on  too  much  fleshy 
eubslauce  and  fibre  suffers.  The  chief  difficulty  in  the 
profitable  cultivation  of  all  fibrous  plants  is  the  heavy 
cost  of  transpoitof  tho  leaves  fiom  the  field  to  ti  e 
mill,  for  it  must  be  remembered  that,  to  instance  the 
fourcroya,  only  Jto  1 per  cent  of  the  weight  of  the 
leal  when  cut  is  of  value,  the  otter  99  per  cent 
consisting  chiefly  cf  water;  and,  further  the 
fibre,  to  obtain  a profitable  price,  must  bo  extracted 
as  6con  as  cut.  Many  a planter  h s turned  longing 
eyes  on  the  groves  of  wild  plaintsiu  'hat  abound  on 
the  hill  sides  and  in  the  bholas  of  Wynaad,  but  ho 
has  hitherto  always  been  met  by  that  insuperable 
difficulty,  the  cost  of  carrying  the  stems  to  a central 
mill.  As  regards  the  fourcroya , we  understand  that 
this  difficulty  has  been  overcome,  and  a machine  of  the 
most  simple  nature  hss  bten  invented,  which  will  en- 
able the  bulk  of  the  water  to  be  pressed  from  the  leaf 
in  the  field,  before  it  is  taken  to  the  mill  for  final 
treatment.  As  regards  the  different  qualities  of  the 
fibre  itself,  experiments  already  made  point  to  this 
difference  being  dependent  chiefly  on  the  age  and 
size  of  the  leaf,  and  so  it  is  thought  that  it  will  be 
possible  to  sort  these  qualities  sufficiently  for  all  practi- 
cable purposes  in  the  field,  and  thus  no  farther  expense 
need  be  incurred  after  the  leaf  has  finally  passed  through 
the  mill,  beyond  haling  and  marking  for  shipment. 
As  we  have  already  remarked  pcor,  stony  soil  is  best 
suited  for  the  cultivation  of  the  fourcroya,  and  the 
distance  at  which  it  is  planted  viries  from  three  to 
four  feet.  Cutting  can  be  commenced  in  the  third 
year,  and  an  estate  once  established,  never  requires 
replanting  or  any  cultivation  worth  meotioomg  The 
manner  in  which  this  aloe  is  propagated,  is  by  the 
parent  plant  throwing  np  a stalk  in  resemblance  like 
a bilge  asparagus,  on  which,  after  flowering  the  youDg 
bulbous  plants  may  be  found  growing.  The  wind  blows 
down  these  t ny  bu!b«,  with  routs  already  formed,  which 
sprirg  upwi'.h  marvellous  rapidity.  Alter  feeding  the 
parent  plant  dies,  but  as  one  stalk  olten  yields  from 
two  thousand  to  three  thousand  seedling  bulbs,  there  is 
little  chance  of  the  fourcroya  gigantea  ever  becoming  an 
extinct  species.  These  bulbs  are  collected  as  they 
drop,  if  required  for  planting  ouri  for  in  the  same 
marmer  as  hyacinths,  tulips  aud  o'her  bulbs,  they  may 
be  stored  for  months  at  a time  without  injury.  Wo 
undent  md  that  the  present  price  a ked  for  seedlings 
is  five  rupees  per  thousand  and  that  these  are  of  a 
size  large  enough  to  put  out  at  once  in  the  fields. 
Considering  the  large  amount  of  poor,  stony  soil  which 
exists  in  Wynaad,  we  cannot  but  regard  this  new 
product  as  likely  to  beoome  a valuable  source  of  pro- 
fit to  planters  in  the  near  future.  Iu  Mauritius,  the 
machinery  employed  for  the  extaction  of  the  fibre  is 
of  the  most  rudimentary  nature,  and  worked  entirely 
by  band,*  whereas  in  Wynaad,  water-power  will  be 
utilised  for  this  purpose.  The  expenses  connected 
with  the  cultivation  of  this  aloe  will  be  trivial,  as, 
beyond  planting,- weeding  the  first  year,  and  harvesting, 
they  will  be  nil.  So  far  as  is  known  up  to  now,  this 
aloe  suffers  from  no  pest  nor  enemy,  and  wherever 
it  has  been  p anted  in  Wynaad,  it  has  grown  like  a 
weed.  We  have  always  held  that  the  superiority  of 
Wynaad  over  other  districts  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  is 
* The  accounts  we  have  read  are  very  different,— 
Ed.  T.A. 
