392 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Dec.  i,  1892. 
Tea  in  Perak.— From  tbs  Kuala  Kangsar 
Monthly  Report  for  September,  in  the  Perak 
Government  Gazette,  we  quote  the  following 
aragraph  : — 
On  the  16th  I visited  the  Cicely  Tea  Estate  with 
the  Acting  Superintendent  of  Government  Planta- 
tions. The  lessees  ask  that  their  lease  of  this  and 
the  Hermitage  Estate  may  be  cancelled  on  the  ground 
that  they  have  been  working  them  at  a loss,  there  being 
no  demand  for  the  tea  they  have  manufactured. 
The  Oice'y  Estate  is  in  better  order  now  than 
when  it  was  first  taken  over  by  them,  and  if  they 
manufactured  only  rough  cheap  tea,  for  which  they 
would  obtain  a ready  sale  amongst  the  Chinese 
miners,  they  would  probably  make  it  pay.  They  have, 
therefore,  being  allowed  to  give  up  the  lease  of  the 
Hermitage  Estate  only,  which  was  of  very  little  use 
to  them. 
Agricultural  Chemists  for  India. — Among 
the.  passengers  by  the  P.  & 0.  steamer  “ Kaiser-i- 
Hind  ” which  left  London  on  the  14th  October,  are, 
as  we  have  already  announced,  Dr.  Leather  and 
Mr.  8.  H.  Collins,  who  are  coming  out  as  agricultural 
ohemists  to  make  analyses  for  the  Agricultural 
Department  of  India.  One  of  these  gentlemen  will 
reside  at  Simla  and  one  at  Dehra  ; and  we  have 
learned  that  they  have  both  had  special  experience 
in  agricultural  analysis,  having  spent  some  years 
as  assistants  in  the  laboratory  cf  the  Royal 
Agricultural  Society  of  England  under  Dr.  John 
A.  Voelcker.  Among  the  inquiries  intended  to  be 
oarried  out  will  be  a full  and  exhaustive  analysis 
of  the  various  Indian  crops,  cereals,  pulse  and 
straw  and  hay  usod  a3  fodders  ; also  the  soils 
producing  these  orops,  with  a view  of  preparing 
a more  just  and  reliable  classification  upon  which 
the  various  land  taxes  shall  be  assessed.  We 
believe  this  new  department  of  agricultural 
investigation  is  one  of  the  results  of  Dr.  Voeloker’s, 
recent  visit  to  India  ; and  we  should  like  to  see 
something  of  the  same  kind  established  in  Ceylon. 
The  British  North  Borneo  Development  Cor- 
poration (Limited)  have  issued  a oiroular  to  their 
shareholders  enclosing  a report  by  their  manager  in 
North  Borneo  (Mr.  Pryer)  detailing  the  work  accom. 
plished  to  June  30.  They  say  that  Mr.  Pryet’s  sub- 
sequent advioes  lead  them  to  hope  that  by  the  end 
of  the  year  he  will  have  nearly  1,000  acres  in  all 
under  cultivation — viz.,  about  300  aores  in  Liberian 
ooffee,  200  acres  in  Manila  hemp,  and  the  rest 
spread  amongst  the  various  other  products  he  is 
essaying  the  planting  of,  in  order  to  find  out  what 
plant  will  best  suit  settlers  to  grow.  A Bmall 
sugar  mill  promises  to  be  standing  by  that  time, 
with  an  acreage  of  sufficient  well-grown  oane  at 
hand  to  keep  it  at  work  ; a large  number  (many 
thousands)  of  coco-nut  and  sago  tree3  coming 
up,  and  a good  many  self-providing  and  rent 
(in  kind  or  money)  paying  tenants  seeking  their 
own  livelihood  settled  on  the  estate,  whose  number 
can  be  indefinitely  increased  if  they  can  earn  a 
living,  of  which  Mr.  Pryer  has  little  doubt.  There 
will  also  be  the  estate  houses  finished  and  furnished, 
roads  made,  planks  sawn,  growing  plants  of  all 
kinds,  &o.  ; in  fact,  as  he  says,  “ a rentable 
country  and  not  merely  a plantation  of  odq  or  two 
particular  things.”  The  unsatifaotory  results  so  far 
attending  tobacco  planting  in  North  Borneo  have 
reaoted  on  the  prosperity  of  Sandakan,  and  given 
so  great  a ohcck  to  the  value  of  the  corporation’s 
town  concessions  that  they  have  had  to  devote 
tboir  entire  attention  to  planting.  Manila  hemp 
will  be  the  first  produot  to  come  in,  and  Mr.  Pryer 
hopes  to  show  a satisfactory  profit  on  this  culti- 
vation in  due  course.  Coffee  in  the  fourth  year 
should  be  giving  good  returns.-London  limes, 
9<jt.  15. 
Brazil  Wood,  although  associated  with  the 
country  of  Brazil,  grows  quite  extensively  in 
Jamaica,  as  well  as  in  other  parts  of  tropical 
America  (says  Allan  Eric  in  the  Drug  Reporter). 
As  is  well  known,  it  is  used  to  produce  reds  and 
brownp,  and  decoctions  of  it  are  very  extensively 
used  in  printing  calicoes.  While  Brazil  wood  is 
very  abundant  in  Brazil,  and  is  an  important 
article  of  export  from  that  country,  most  of  that 
used  in  the  United  States  comes  from  the  West 
Indies.  Whenever  I saw  the  tree  it  was  growing 
in  mountainous  or  rocky  localities,  in  dry  places. 
It  scarcely,  if  ever,  grows  to  bo  more  than  twenty-five 
feet  ‘high.  The  leaves  are  bi-pinnate  with  many 
smooth,  obtuse,  oblong  leaflets.  The  flowers  are 
in  panicles  and  have  downy  stalks.  Like  logwood 
and  fustic,  the  heartwood  alone  is  valuable.  There 
is  another  wood,  called  Brazilletto,  which  is  found 
in  Jamaica,  but  it  is  inferior  to  Casalpinia  brazi- 
liensis  as  a dyewood.  Pernambuco  wood  is  from 
another  tree  of  the  same  species.  This  tree  has 
a prickly  trunk,  with  prickly  pods  and  the  flowers, 
which  are  red  and  yellow,  possess  a delicious 
perfume.  Tho  sap  wood  of  this  tree  is  extremely 
thick  and  the  heart  wood  from  whioh  the  d yeis 
extracted  composes  only  about  one-third  of  the 
entire  diameter  of  the  trunk. 
Tea  in  Tibet.— A correspondent  writes  from 
Torchsndo  to  the  N.-G.  Herald  on  11th  Sept  : — 
The  tea  crop  is  coming  in  and  as  many  as  500  por- 
ters have  arrived  in  a single  day,  each  laden  with 
loads  of  brick  tea  from  Yachow,  weighing  from  one 
to  two  ewis.,  accorling  t)  the  ega  and  strength  of 
the  coolie,  man  or  woman.  It  is  marvellous  how  they 
struggle  over  our  mountain  paths  ; — many  are  childien 
of  8 to  10  years,  who  begin  by  carrying  4U  to  50 
oatties.  The  journey  takes  about  25  days.  From 
here  on  it  is  conveyed  on  the  baoks  of  yaks,  and 
droves  of  these  queer,  short-legged,  bushy-tailed  oxen 
are  now  constantly  arriving  from  ths  interior  and 
helping  to  block  up  our  already  overcrowded  town 
more  hopelessly  than  ever  But,  at  last,  it  is  a 
satisfaction  to  find  that  bevond  the  frontier  human 
muscle  ceases  to  be  cheaper  thin  that  of  beasts  of 
burden,  wilh  which  it  so  painfully  competes  in  China. 
The  Arrowroot  grown  and  produced  in 
Jamaica  is  almost,  if  not  quite,  equal  to  that  of 
Bermuda,  says  a writer  in  an  American  paper. 
. The  arrowroot  starch,  as  we  know  it  here,  comes 
from  the  tuberous  rootB  or  more  correctly, 
root  stalks  of  the  Maranta  arundinacea.  Tne 
plant  grows  about  2 feet  high  has  branobiDg  stems, 
ovate-lanceolate  haiiy  leaves  and  panicles  of  white 
flowers.  It  bears  a globular  fruit  about  the  size 
of  a currant.  The  roots  are  often  more  than  a 
foot  long  and  are  about  as  thick  as  a man’s 
finger.  They  are  jointed  almost  white,  and  are 
covered  with  large  paper-like  scales.  These  roots 
sometimes  curve  so  that  the  points  come  up  out 
of  the  earth,  and  thus  form  new  plants.  The 
roots  are  dug  up  when  a year  old,  washed, 
carefully  peeled,  and  reduced  to  a milky  pulp. 
Mills  for  this  purpose  are  used  in  some  places, 
but  in  Jamaica  the  roots  are  usually  reduced  by 
beating  in  deep  wooden  troughs.  The  pulp  is 
then  mixed  with  much  water,  oleared  of  fibre  by 
means  of  a sieve  of  coarse  cloth  or  hair,  and 
the  staroh  is  allowed  to  settle  to  the  bottom.  The 
water  dissolves  and  so  removes  the  greater  part 
of  the  albumen  and  salts,  while  the  staroh  quickly 
settles  down  as  an  insoluble  powder.  Successive 
washings  are  employed  for  further  purification. 
The  arrowroot  is  finally  dried  in  the  sun,  great 
oare  being  taken  to  exolude  dust  and  inaeots. 
The  oareful  peeling  of  the  roots  is  of  the  greatest 
importance  as  the  skin  contains  a resinous  matter, 
which  imparts  a disagreeable  flavour  to  arrowroot 
with  whioh  it  is  allowed  to  mix. 
