326 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Nov.  i,  1892. 
Bad  ja.k  trees  keep  the  coffee  about  them  in  check 
till  they  are  killed.  Clearings  are  fometimes  planted 
under  forest  shade,  but  better  kinds  of  shade  are  also 
added,  the  object  being  to  gradually  eliminate  the 
forest  treeB.  The  coffee  under  some  do  so  badly  that 
these  are  killed  first.  Nundi  is  said  to  be  a very  bad 
tree  for  coffee,  but  I have  seen  a very  good  sheet 
of  coffee  under  it.  It  appears  to  do  no  harm  wLeu 
grown  up  with  the  ooffee.  The  fact  seems  to  be  that  all 
old  forest  trees  that  have  got  a good  hold  of  the  ground 
are  more  or  less  detrimental  to  coffee.  Thinning  out 
shade  excessively,  especially  in  old  places,  results  in  in- 
crease of  borer  owing  probably  to  the  sudden  rais- 
ing of  the  temperature  caused  bv  letting  in  so  much 
sunlight.  The  lute,  tree  is  par  excellence  the  best  forest 
shade  for  coffee,  as  is  evidenced  by  the  trees  under  it 
being  always  full  of  large,  glossy,  dark  green  leaves. 
The  benefit  results  from  its  beiug  of  the  leguminous 
order.  As  the  palwan.  which  wit  made  use  of  very 
largely  as  temporary  shade,  belongs  to  the  same  order 
it  is  now  being  planted  out  on  some  places  under  the 
more  durable  kinds.  Different  varieties  of  trees  of  the 
leguminous  order,  which  are  not  surface  feeders  cau 
be”  obtained  at  the  Madras  Agri-Horticultural  Gardens. 
Fortunately  *he  list  of  trees  suitable  tor  coffee  is  a 
long  one.  The  jak  was  prime  favourite  at  one  time 
but  it  has  lost  that  high  place.  It  has  not,  I believe, 
been  found  to  answer  quite  as  well  when  it  has  grown 
old.  The  noya  has  come  into  general  favour  for  some 
years,  owiog  chiefly  I fanoy  to  its  rapid  growth.  After 
a certain  age  it  is  subject  to  attacks  from  a parasite 
to  which  it  eventually  succumbs.  It  lasts  long  enough 
however,  to  make  fine  timber ; and  as  one  of  the 
objects  of  shade  planting  now-a-days  is  to  get  up  a 
variety  of  shade  and  have  continual  relajs  of 
young  growing  trees  successively  takiug  the 
places  of  the  older  ones  as  they  are  eliminated 
to  prevent  the  land  becoming  sick,  it  lasts  long 
enough  to  be  very  useful.  The  attie,  or  jungle 
fig,  will  probably  never  go  out  of  favour.  In  some 
former  notes  I said  that  an  unfailing  way  of 
growing  large  numbers  of  these  plants  from 
seed  was  to  pass  the  fruit  through  cattle,  dry 
and  pulverise  the  dang  and  broadcast  ever  pre- 
pared nursery  beds.  I was  made  to  say  that 
the  seed  should  be  passed  through  oattle  dung. 
I meant  that  the  cattle  should  be  fed  on  the 
fruit.  Another  good  way  is  to  plant  attie  twigs 
along  the  road  sides,  where  they  would  be  con- 
stantly under  the  eyes  of  the  Superintendent,  and 
come  to  no  harm  during  the  monsoon.  A good  per- 
centage of  plants  can  be  obtained  in  this  way  for 
planting  out  the  following  season. 
I am  very  sensible  of  the  great  honour  a 
planter  of  Mr.  Graham  Anderson’s  ability  and 
experience  does  me  in  holding  such  a flattering 
opinion  of  «my  writings  as  to  consider  them  of 
service  to  the  planting  community;  and  much  regret 
having  misrepresented  his  statement  about  burying  in 
weede.  But  I cannot  help  thinking  the  mistake 
was  well  worth  making,  since  it  was  the  means  of 
eliciting  the  able  letter  from  him  which  he  sent  yon 
on  “ The  Weeding  of  Coflee  Estates.”  He  appears 
to  have  hit  on  the  right  explanation  as  to  why  borer 
is  severer  in  some  soils  than  in  others,  and  all  p anters 
would  do  well  to  take  note  of  it.  Temperature  must 
have  a great  deal  to  do  with  it,  and  the  teachings  of 
agricultural  science  go  to  show  that  this  is  influenced 
by  the  manner  in  which  the  soil  is  worked  and  its 
colour.  In  the  latter  case  the  application  of  marl 
(being  white)  tends  to  keep  places  cool.  Carbonate 
of  lime  would  answer  the  purpose  equally  well  be- 
sides being  usefu'  in  neutralising  the  formation  of 
injurious  aoids  in  the  soil. 
During  August  we  had  some  very  fine  weather 
whioh  was  doiDg  all  the  good  in  the  world.  Sunshine 
with  intermissions  of  rain  was  the  rule-  Sick  patche  s 
were  beginning  to  make  marked  improvement  under 
these  genial  conditions.  Towards  the  early  part  of 
this  month  we  thought  that  the  monsoon  had  been 
played  nut;  it  appeared,  however,  to  set  in  airesh  on 
the  17th  instm'  and  wet  w.alher  continned  till  the 
22nd.  yesterday  was  a deliciously  fine  day,  and  today 
promises  to  be  the  same*  Leaf  disease  has  appeared 
badly  in  some  patches,  and  is,  I hear,  very  baa  in  the 
Bamboo.  Excessive  wet  weather  has  been  the  cause 
of  it.  Digging  is  being  pushed  on  and  supplies  are 
beginning  10  look  up — Jf.  Mail,  Sept.  27. 
CEYLON  TEA  IN  AUSTRALIA. 
The  Melbourne  Argus  of  I4th  Sept,  has  the 
following : — 
Auction  sales  of  Indian  and  Ceylon  tea  were  held 
this  afternoon.  The  Indian  teas  consisted  of  2,503 
chests  and  601  half-chests  ex  “ Clitus,”  out  of  which 
1,924  chests  and  402  half-chests  were  sold.  Bidding 
throughout  was  rather  slow,  and  prices  realised  were 
generally  easier,  the  lower  grades  showing  a decline 
of  Old  per  lb.  Fine  teas,  however,  fetched  full  prices. 
* * * Pekoe  fetched  6jd  to  lid,  orange  pekoe  7jd 
to  Is  2d,  flowery  pekoe  and  flowery  orange  pekoe 
Is  2d  to  Is  5d ; broken  pekoe  and  pekoe  fannings 
5d  to  7^d,  pekoe  souchong  5Jd  to  8Jd,  (and  for  a 
small  line  5d),  broken  pekoe  souchong  5d  to  6Jd, 
and  souchong  5d  to  5Jd.  The  Ceylon  teas  consisted 
of  245  packages  ex  ‘'Austral”  and  “Parramatta,” 
all  of  which  were  sold  at  5§d  to  6d  for  pekoe  sou- 
chong, 6|d  to  S+d  for  pekoe  and  orange  pekoe,  and 
lid  to  Is  ljd  for  broken  pekoe.  * * * Ceylon  fancy 
teas  (in  loz.  packets  and  boxes),  grown  on  Nuwara 
Eliya,  were  sold  as  follows : - 77  packets  golden  tip 
at  Is  8d  per  oz.  d.p.,  13  packets  and  15  boxes  silver 
tip  at  Is  9d  and  2s  4d  per  oz.  d.p.  respectively. 
Privately  a considerable  business  has  been  done  in 
medium  Ceylon  at,  say,  74d  to  9d.  Our  compilation 
of  tea  statistics  for  the  week  ended  Saturday  last, 
10th  inst.,  is  as  follows: — 
Entered  for  bond 
Duty  paid 
( Ex  ship 
1"  ' ' 
Lb. 
769,965 
401 
103,638 
152,357 
Correspond- 
ing Week 
Last  Year. 
Lb. 
362,426 
2.130 
192,089 
165,646 
, Ex  bond 
f Ex  bond 
Exportation  ■{  Under  draw- 
( back  27,843  65,440 
The  Custom-house  statement  of  receipts  and  deli- 
veries of  tea  at  the  bonds  for  the  last  week,  together 
with  the  stocks  in  bond  at  the  close  of  the  week, 
is  as  follows: — 
Deliveries. 
Receipts 
For 
Stock 
into 
Home 
For 
Export. 
on 
Bond. 
Con- 
sump- 
tion. 
Sept.  10 
Lb. 
Lb. 
Lb. 
Lb. 
China 
14,230 
89,754 
124,145 
2,797,083 
India 
258,152 
7,089 
445 
*410,482 
Ceylon 
20,296 
5,562 
14,496 
1 164,163 
Totals  ..  292,678  102,405  139,086  3,371,728 
* Not  including  shipments  ex  “ Bliundara.” 
f Not  including  shipments  ex  “ Austral.” 
The  Melbourne  Age  of  Sept  17th  says  : — 
Teas  have  large  sales;  200  half-chests  of  Ceylon 
sold  from  5|d. 
The  Sydney  Daily  Telegraph  of  Sept.  17th  says 
Some  little  business  was  done  in  tea,  sales  of  140 
packages  Ceylon  ex  “Austral”  being  mentioned  at 
from  5Jd  to  12d,  and  50  at  5$d.  A cable  from 
Colombo  received  yesterday  advised  an  advance  of 
|d  on  common  teas  and  of  Id  on  mediums. 
THE  AMSTERDAM  MARKET. 
Amsterdam,  Sept.  9. 
The  cinchona  hark  auctions  to  ho  held  in  Amsterdam 
on  September  29th  will  consist  of  459  cases  and 
5.108  bales,  about  445  tons,  divided  a8  fo'lows  ; — 
From  Government  plantations,  63  cases  ami  502  biles 
snout  47  Ions;  from  private  plantations,  396  oases  and 
4,606  bales,  about  398  tons.  This  quantity  contains 
of  druggist’s  bark ; Succiruhra  quills  TJi  cases  ; broken 
