Oct.  i,  1892.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
285 
wretched  permanent  settlement  ; and  the  still  more 
wretched  thakbast  survey  of  1S60  odd,  which  was 
supposed  to  define  the  limits  of  the  permanent  settle- 
ment ; combined  with  some  vague  and  ill-defined 
rights  of  the  Maharajah  of  Tipperah,  who  claims 
nearly  all  the  land  outside  the  permanent  settlement, 
holds  lands  within  it,  and  exercises  certain  surface 
rights  of  cultivation  and  jungle  cutting  —jlium  and 
gurkliatti  over  the  lands  he  doesn’t  own  ; — all  theie 
mixtures  of  tenures  and  claims  re»ult  in  a fruitful  and 
endless  crop  of  litigation,  which  the  average  Sylhetti 
seems  to  revel  in. 
Another  of  the  propensities  of  this  specimen  of  the 
people  we  sacrifice  ourselves  end  govern  India  for,  is 
a matter  one  can  hardly  write  calmly  about.  They 
are  ghouls,  these  brutes ; they 
DIG  UP  GRAVES, 
pour  s’amuser,  I suppose,  for  their  plea,  or  rather  the 
plea  advanced  for  the  culprits  (who  have  never  been 
caught)  by  their  brethren  when  questioned  as  to  the 
reason  of  this  ghastly  praotice, — that  the  sahibs  are 
supposed  to  have  a lot  of  treasure  buried  with  them, 
is  too  transparent  to  be  accepted.  Whatever  the 
reason,  there  is  the  fact.  Not  a European  has  ever 
been  buried  in  South  Sylhet  hot  has  had  his  grave 
desecrated,  his  body  dug  up,  and  Lis  bones  scattered 
abroad,  unless  most  extraordinary  precautions  have 
been  observed  to  guard  and  watch  the  gravp.  Time 
is  no  object  to  these  loathsome  villains  : if  they  can’t 
dig  you  up  fresh,  thsv’ll  wait  weeks  and  months  for 
you.  More  than  one  man  has  sat  up  night  after  night 
with  a rifle  or  shot  gun  over  a friend’s  grave,  only 
to  find  that,  the  first  night  precautions  were  relaxed 
— the  deed  had  been  done.  Which  is  one  of  the 
reasons  I don’t  like  the  Sylhetti. — Indian  Planters' 
Gazette,  Aug.  27. 
WEST  AFRICAN  ANNATTO. 
(Bixa,  Orellana , L.) 
The  cultivation  and  preparation  of  the  colouring 
substance  known  as  Annatto  were  fully  discussed 
in  the  Kew  Bulletin  for  the  months  of  July  and  Sept. 
1887.  Since  that  time  attention  has  been  given  to 
Annatto  in  West  Africa,  where  the  plant  has  appa- 
rently become  widely  naturalised.  From  the  corres- 
pondence with  follows,  it  will  be  gathered  that  the 
Annatto  seed  so  far  received  from  West  Africa  does 
not  possess  the  qualities  of  Jamaica  Annatto  ; but 
this  may  be  due  to  the  fact  that  the  seeds  had  been 
gathered  before  they  were  fully  ripe,  or  that  they 
had  been  packed  in  a damp  condition.  There  is 
apparently  only  a limited  demand  for  Annatto  in 
commerce,  and  it  would  be  undesirable  in  any  case 
to  embark  upon  the  industry  on  a large  scale. 
Where,  however,  plants  are  found  in  a semi-wild 
state,  as  in  some  parts  of  West  Africa,  it  might 
be  possible  to  establish  a small  trade  in  preparing 
“flag”  and  “roll”  Annatto.  These  consist  of  the 
colouring  matter  washed  from  the  seeds  and  made 
up  into  rolls  or  paste.  There  is  a steady  demand 
for  good  Annatto  made  up  into  this  form,  and  as 
the  freight  and  other  charges  would  be  less  on  paste 
than  on  seeds,  there  is  a distinct  inducement  to 
adopt  the  preparation  of  paste.  While  the  price  of 
seeds  varies  from  1 \d  to  3 d.  per  pound,  the  price 
of  paste  ranges  from  6 d.  to  Is.  8 d.  per  pound, 
according  to  quality. 
From  the  correspondence  which  follows  we  make 
an  extract. 
Messrs.  Fullwooa  and  Bland  writes: — 
We  have  received  the  parcel  of  Annatto  seed  from 
Lagos,  and  inasmuch  as  they  are  not  a good  sample, 
being  small,  and  their  colour  not  so  bright  as  it 
should  be,  evidently  having  been  gathered  before 
they  were  quite  ripe,  we  think  that  the  present  market 
value  of  such  a quality  would  not  he  worth  more 
than  2 d.  per  lb.  we,  in  fact,  bought  70  barrels  of 
about  the  same  quality  at  \\d  per  pound.  The  value 
is,  of  course,  regulated  by  the  quality  and  the  quantity 
in  the  market.  The  highest  price  obtained  in  the  Lon- 
don market  last  year  was  ’id.  per  pound,  but  when  there 
Yi&s  a scarcity  ip  previous  years  they  have  realised 
as  much  as  6 d per  pound.  We  think  that  before 
they  send  the  seeds  to  London  for  sale  they  should 
send  a sample  first,  and  ascertain  the  market  value, 
which  we  shall  at  all  times  be  pleased  to  obtain 
for  them.  The  Ceylon  people  made  a great  mistake 
in  1888  in  sending  one  consignment  of  150  barrels; 
the  consequence  of  so  large  a quantity  being  thrown 
on  the  market  was  that  they  were  sold  for  less  than 
cost  of  freight,  dock  charges,  &c. — ICew  Bulletin. 
- <? 
THE  CINCHONA  SYNDICATE. 
Baron  J.  von  RoEenberg  writes  as  follows  from 
Manald,  Devikulam,  Madras,  to  the  Chemist  and 
Druggist : — 
Some  weeks  ago  I read  in  your  columns  a notice 
and  prospectus  of  a proposed  cinchona  “ Associa- 
tion,” It  was  not  the  first  I had  heard  of  it,  but 
the  details  were  interesting— the  more  so  as  I was 
the  first,  some  years  ago,  to  propose  a union  of 
planters  and  merohants,  with  a view  to  giving  a 
“fillip”  to  the  bark  market.  As  to  the  attitude 
of  the  planters  towards  the  scheme,  I need  only 
refer  you  to  my  former  letter.  At  the  present 
prices  these  gentlemen  oannot  live,  much  less  keep 
up  their  estates.  My  figures  have  been  confirmed 
by  those  issued  by  the  Java  Government.  An 
output  of  2C0  lb.  per  acre,  with  4|  per  cent.,  average 
analysis  and  Id  unit,  means  starvation  to  a pro- 
prietor or  “ no  dividends  ” to  a company.  It  must 
be  further  noted  that  this  item  of  260  lb.  per 
acre  includes  a considerable  vanishing-point  in 
the  future,  and  for  this  reason  a very  consider- 
able portion  of  the  bark  exported  from  Java 
has  been  root-bark,  and  no  root-bark  can  be 
taken  unless  trees  are  uprooted.  But  in  order 
to  emphasise  yet  further  the  present  untenable 
position  of  the  oinchona-produoer  and  his  ul- 
timate supply  of  bark,  I venture  to  give  you 
a few  figures  with  regard  to  our  own  small 
District.  Out  of,  say,  1,700  seres  planted  with 
cinohona,  373  acres  (nearly  20  per  cent.)  are  being, 
or  have  during  last  season  been,  coppiced  ; and  this 
in  spite  of  the  faot  of  our  average  analysis  being 
higher  than  that  of  the  Java  planters,  and  the 
mark  of  our  Distriot  being  the  well-known  “ Ele- 
phant ” brand.  Then,  again,  our  outturn  per  aore 
is  above  that  of  our  Java  confreres,  an  average  of 
500  lb.,  of  shaving  per  acre  being  not  uncommon, 
and  800  lb.  per  acre  having  just  been  realised  on 
this  and  an  adjoining  estate.  Jt  will  be  apparent 
to  you  that  if,  with  all  these  circumstances  in  our 
favour,  estates  here  are  sold  for  a song,  and  a very 
old  one  at  that,  or  coppiced,  the  cinchona-planter 
is  reduced  to  his  last  legs.  Only  the  capitalist  oan 
hold  out,  and  even  he  will  prefer  to  put  his  “ eggs 
into  rther  baskets,”  if  some  remedy  is  not  shortly 
found  to  give  a “quinine”  tonic  to  the  market. 
And  I believe  that  the  planter  has  at  last  awakened 
to  the  neoessity  of  co-operation  with  merohants  and 
others,  subject  to  an  equitable  arrangement  with  the 
merchant  being  arrived  at.  And,  with  regard  to  this 
latter  question,  it  will  be  necessary  for  the  founders 
and  merchants  to  issue  an  estimate  of  the  “office  and 
general  costs”  of  working  the  Association,  and  they 
should  sign  an  agreement  to  keep  within  these  esti- 
mated costs,  subject  to  heavy  damages,  just  as  the 
planters  sign,  agreeing  to  sell  their  produoe  on  the 
stated  agreement,  with  the  penalty  of  beiDg  heavily 
mulcted  if  they  don’t  adhere  to  their  word,  It  will 
be  evident  to  rpy  brother  planters  that,  with  800 
lb.  per  aore  of  well-known  “Elephant”  bark,  I 
have  not  advised  them  selfishly.  It  would  certainly 
have  paid  me  better  to  say,  “Those  who  oannot 
do  as  I do,  let  them  go  to  the  deuoe  with  a 
low  unit;  my  time  will  come  the  sooner  and  the 
stronger.”  But  sinoe  I have  never  said  this,  I hope 
and  believe  that  my  letters  will  have  the  mof^ 
