43° 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Dec.  i,  1892. 
waggonette  with  6 horses,  all  with  rifles  or  guns,  to 
shoot  the  kangaroo  or  turkey,  and  at  the  same 
time  visit  one  or  two  camps  on  the  run.  All  the 
hands  turned  out  to  see  the  start.  The  wool-presser 
came  past  and  said  to  me  : “Ah  that  looks  like  good 
times.  Grand  sight ! six  in  hand,  is  n’t  it?”  And 
so  it  was.  I wondered  when  I would  be  able  to 
drive  6 in  hand  20  miles  without  smashing  a gate. 
Shearing  differs  from  gathering  coffee-crop  in  this 
that  there  is  no  immediate  hurry.  If  rain  comes 
work  stops.  Of  course  the  longer  shearing  lasts 
the  longer  you  have  to  pay  the  rouseabout  at  25s 
a week,  and  that  is  important.  One  evening  some 
of  us  from  the  house  went  to  look  on  at  a “ Buck- 
Ball”  at  the  shed.  Huge  “ slush-lamps'  flared 
and  flickered,  lighting  up  the  shed  and  casting 
strange  shadows  behind  the  variously  grouped  men, 
sitting  on  wool  bales  or  lying  amongst  greasy 
“combings.”  At  one  time  there  would  be  a set-to 
with  the  gloves  between  one  from  the  house  and 
a shearer,  and  the  various  hits  provoked  applause. 
Then  they  would  start  songs  and  they  would  go 
round  for  a time  in  great  variety.  Then  clog- 
dances  or  step-dances  to  the  music  of  an  accordion 
would  take  up  the  attention  of  the  audience.  Then 
a great  contest  at  the  “ Straight-pull-up,”  or  what 
the  Scotch  call  the  “ Sweertree”  : some  good  hard 
tussles  took  place.  Then  the  accordion  began  dreamy 
languishing  strains,  and  huge  shearers  in  greasy 
soiled  moleskins  and  heavy  boots,  rough  boundary - 
riders,  and  smart  “pickers-up,”  all  waltzed  slowly 
round,  swaying  gently  and  revolving  in  the  same 
spot; — it  was  too  ridiculous.  We  came  away  having 
enjoyed  the  evening  on  the  whole.  What  a mixed 
crew  you  see  at  a station  during  shearing.  There 
was  a doctor  here  one  year  as  cook  to  the  shearers, 
and  I have  heard  of  an  ex-colonel  and  his  son  as 
boundary-riders.  They  are  a cheery  good-natured 
lot,  but  the  reverse  of  thrifty. 
We  had  some  races,  too,  on  the  fine  racecourse 
near,  and  great  was  the  betting  among  the  men.  A 
little  mare  “ Podge”  has  carried  everything  before 
her  and  great  things  are  prophesied  of  her.  After 
the  preliminary  canter  the  boss  asks  “Is  all  your 
stuff  up?”  (meaning  “Are  your  bets  made?") — and 
away  he  goes  with  the  horses  and  jockeys  round  to 
the  starting  point.  “Allying  start  1 They  Te  off  !”  “The 
gray 's  leading.”  “Wait  till  little  Podge  comes  to  the 
hill.”  And  afterwards  I have  to  pass  the  various  trans- 
fers of  small  sums  which  result  from  the  betting. 
Then  polo  was  a favourite  game.  We  generally 
played  it  on  Saturday  afternoons.  The  rapidly  chan- 
ging groups  of  keen  riders  and  smart  ponies  the  shouts, 
the  clouds  of  dust,  the  waving  of  clubs,  and  then  the 
breathing  time,  when  a huddled  group  of  men  and 
panting  ponies  formed  a contrast  to  the  dashing 
activity  seen  during  the  play.  Now  a club  is  broken, 
now  a rider  has  to  dismount  for  his  dropped  club, 
now  a scrimmage  forms,  now  a bold  rider  dashes 
away  taking  the  ball  with  him  right  from  goal  to 
goal.  These  are  all  born  riders  (I  don’t  include  my- 
self—a new  chum)  and  they  guide  their  steeds  better 
than  the  polo  players  at  Colombo  or  Bangalore.  It 
is  a fine  game,  and  the  better  the  riders  the  safer  the 
game.  A duffer  on  a hard-mouthed  brute  of  a pony 
will  make  sad  havoc  among  good  players.  My  own 
efforts  have  not  been  distinguished  for  much  brilliancy 
yet,  but  I suppose  that  will  come  in  time.  I begin  to 
see  what  the  horses  are  like  now,  and  it  is  really 
wonderful  how  well-bred  the  ordinary  station  horses 
are.  I raise  a hornets’  nest  about  my  ears  sometimes 
by  twitting  the  others  about  the  “ fiddle-heads”  Aus- 
tralians send  over  to  India  and  Ceylon.  Of  course 
there  are  many  well-bred  ones,  but  the  general  rule 
is  that  the  better  the  breeding  the  worse  the  break- 
ing in  of  the  nags  sent  to  Ceylon  and  India.  They 
are  better  off  in  India  than  in  Ceylon ; because  a 
Elanter  can  get  casts  from  military  remount  depots ; 
ut  in  Ceylon,  where  there  is  little  or  no  military 
demand,  the  horse-market  is  not  what  it  should  be 
I could  procure  very  suitable  nags  for  friends  in 
Ceylon ; but  the  buyers  must  take  the  risk  of  the 
journey.  You  can  buy  for  J.T8  what  would  fetch 
R400  to  R600  in  Colombo.  I don’t  mean  a big 
taking  weight-carrier  but  a nice  bit  of  blood,  young 
and  well-broken.  A lot  of  those  fiddle-headed  ewe- 
necked  “waters”  that  you  see  in  Ceylon  are  ugly 
outcasts  who  have  left  their  country  for  their 
country’s  good.  Aberdonensis. 
PLANTING  NOTES  FROM  PEERMAAD. 
(From  a Correspondent.) 
His  Excellency’s  visit  has  turned  the  eyes  of  the 
outside  world  to  this  little  State,  which  is  apt  to  ha 
rather  overlooked,  not  being  able  yet  to  keep  itself 
continually  before  the  world  as  do  some  of  the  o hers. 
This  probably  influences  the  tea  interests,  more  than 
anything  else,  in  the  matter  of  keeping  its  ligtit 
bidden  under  a bushel.  Let  us  hope  that  the  Chicago 
Exhibition  will  give  it  a good  help  forward.  The 
Peermaad  Plauters’  Association  are  pushing  forward 
the  matier  of  roads  very  strongly  before  the 
Government,  and  the  Southern  districts  are  pie- 
paring an  address  to  present  to  His  Excellency 
at  Trivandrum,  eettir.g  forth  their  waDt-.  It  was 
a matter  of  regret  to  all  the  plaDteis  in  this 
district  that  owiDg  to  the  uncertainty  of  the 
date  of  His  Excellency’s  arrival  from  the  shooting 
camp,  and  the  limited  space  of  time  of  his  stay  at  the 
Residency,  no  address  of  welcome  should  be  pre- 
sented before  be  descended  to  the  plains.  I believe 
that  this  is  the  first  time  in  history  that  a Governor 
of  Madras  has  honoured  this  district  by  a visit,  though 
Lord  Connemara  came  to  the  Periyar  Project  which, 
though  in  the  Periyar  Valley,  cannot  be  considered 
as  part  of  the  Periyar  planting  district.  This  afore- 
said Periyar  Project  is  not  an  unmixed  benefit  to  tue 
Peermaad  Planter,  as  coolies  under  advance  have 
a knack  of  getting  off  the  estates,  under  the  plea 
of  buying  provisions  at  the  huge  bazaar  there.  ADd 
unscrupulous  maistries  and  petty  contractors  persuade 
them  with  all  the  guile  of  a recruiting  sergent  to 
stay  there.  The  difficulty,  of  course.  in  getting  them 
back  is  very  great,  there  being  no  Civil  Court  within 
50  miles  or  so.  And  many  Estates,  especially  those 
near  these  works,  suffer  in  consequence  to  some 
extent.  It  lies  of  course  with  Travaucore  only  to  help 
Planters  in  that  way,  by  estab  ishiog  guard  houses  on 
the  routes  approaching  the  works,  and  by  Civil  Courts, 
which  would  bo  accessible,  and  I believe  then  that  the 
men  could  be  brought  to  hand  ; but  so  far,  nothing  has 
been  done. 
Considering  that  in  Travancore  planters  have  been 
to  a great  extent  self  taught,  the  result  shown  by  the 
sales  list  of  tea  is  very  creditable.  The  coffee  crop  is 
now  ripening  up  slowly,  but  surely  ; the  heavy  burst 
of  rain,  which  all  came  from  the  South-West  accom- 
panied by  mist  and  wind,  did  much  damage,  and 
knocked  off  (on  all  the  places  outside  the  Periyar  Val- 
ley) a great  deal  of  crop.  Probablythe  willy  coffee  tbief 
is  now  awakening  and  preparing  for  his  oampaign,  but 
the  law  as  to  theft  of  this  description  is  very  good  and 
clear,  and  a great  help  to  planters,  the  only  thing  being, 
that  Subordinate  Magistrates  do  rot  use  the  powers 
given  them  as  they  m;ght  do. — M.  Times,  Nov.  18. 
<*- 
A PRIVATE  QUININE  FACTORY. 
In  our  review  of  the  Administration  Report  of 
the  Government  Cinchona  Plantations  and  Quinine 
Factory  for  the  year  euaing  3lst  March  last,  we  re- 
marked that  it  was  our  belief  that  the  day  was  not 
far  distant  when  the  quinine  manufactory  operations 
carried  on  at  Naduvatnm  would  prove  of  real  benefit 
to  the  cinchona  industry  of  Southern  India.  The 
work  accomplished  at  that  factory  under  the  super- 
vision of  Mr.  M.  A.  Lawson  has  proved  a most  im- 
portant fact',  viz.,  that  quinine  can  be  made  in  this 
country  and  show'  a very  handsome  profit  on  the 
manufacture.  Much  of  course  depends  on  the  manner 
in  which  the  bark  treated;  but  under  scientific 
management  it  has  now  been  placed  beyond  a doubt 
that  there  is  ample  scope  for  a factory  to  be  started 
by  private  enterprise  whioh  would  repay  investors  a 
good  return  on  the  capital,  punk  in  it.  Five  thousand 
