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THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Jan.  2,  1893. 
Cotton  Culture  in  South  Russia,  which  was 
initiated  some  time  ago  by  the  Minister  of  Im- 
perial Domains  is  now  giving  promising  results. 
The  earlier  attempts  failed  through  the  ignorance 
of  the  cultivators,  but  since  the  Kerson  School  of 
Agriculture  took  the  matter  up  the  propagation  of 
American  cotton  seed  has  proved  entirely  suc- 
cessful. Specimen  parcels  of  South  Russia  cotton 
have  been  sent  to  Mr.  Howard  manager  of  the  St. 
Petersburg  Cotton  Spinning  Mil1,  who  declares 
that  the  Russian  product  is  quite  equal  in  quality 
to  the  American, — Pidduou 
Quinine  Manufacture  in  Java. — Mr.  David 
Howard,  to  whom  we  showed  a copy  of  the  pam- 
phlet, reoenty  printed  in  Java,  advocating  the 
establishment  of  a quinine  faotory  in  the  island, 
writes  us: -“I  have  examined,  with  much  in- 
terest, the  Dutch  pamphlet  whioh  your  represen- 
tative kindly  gave  me  yesterday  to  read.  It  is 
evident  that  the  writer  has  no  praotioal  experience 
of  manufacturing  quinine,  but  derives  his  inform- 
ation from  laboratory  experience,  and  from  incorreot 
information  whioh  he  has  pioked  up.  The  in- 
aocuraoies  would  be  too  many  to  point  out,  but 
we  oan  only  say  that  if  quinine  is  to  be  made 
at  a profit  in  Java,  it  will  require  a knowledge  of 
the  real  difficulties  of  whioh  the  writer  of  the 
pamphlet  has  no  idea.”—  Chemist  and  Druggist, 
Nov.  19. 
Punting  in  Travancore  : Coffee  There 
and  in  Dumbaba. — Mr.  Valentine  of  Central  Travan- 
core is  at  present  on  a visit  to  Ceylon,  and  speaks 
so  well  of  tea  there  that  he  doubts  if  we  have 
any  fields  finer  than  he  oan  show  in  Travanoore  at 
from  703  to  1,500  feet  above  sea-level.— In  coffee, 
Mr.  Valentine  a short  time  ago  made  a careful 
experiment  in  a clearing  surrounded  by  forest, 
quite  away  from  any  other  coffee,  while  the  seed 
(Nalkanaad)  was  most  carefully  selected  and  every 
justice  done  ; and  yet  when  the  young  plants  came 
over,  they  were  just  as  muoh  covered  with  leaf 
disease  as  in  ordinary  fields  in  the  days  of  old. 
We  were  sorry  to  hear,  too,  the  other  day  from 
Mr;  Vollar  that  the  experience  of  the  past  three 
years  in  the  Dumbara  Valley  has  not  been  very 
favourable  in  respeot  of  coffee  cultivation,  though 
we  believe  there  are  still  young  fields  in  Konde- 
salle. 
The  American  Tea  Company.  — Nothing 
is  easier  than  to  cast  ridioule,  and  to  shout 
“Did  I not  tell  you  so?"  after  the  fashion 
adopted  by  our  contemporary  of  the  “ Times  ” 
in  reference  to  this  Company.  But  never  were 
critics  less  entjtled  to  exult  over  failure— if  failure 
it  be— than  in  this  case.  For  if  the  planters 
and  others  who  chose  to  support  Mr.  Elwood 
May  and  Messrs.  Wattson  & Farr  in  their  cam- 
paign  some  years  ago,  had  chosen  rather  to 
follow  our  contemporary’s  advioe,  there  can  be 
no  doubt,  that  the  demand  for  Ceylon  tea  in 
America  today — the  day  of  small  things  though 
it  be — would  be  very  different  from  what  it  even  now 
is.  Look  at  the  export  figures  :— 
Ceylon  Tea  shipped  to  lb. 
America  from  Colombo  in  1889  ...  ...  42,252 
in  1890  201,223 
in  1891  163,137 
Up  to  Nov in  1892  100,868 
We  have  no  hesitation  in  affirming  that 
the  continued  demand  is  very  largely,  if  not 
almost  entirely  due  to  the  stir  made  by  the 
Amerioan  Tea  Company  as  represented  by  Mr. 
May  and  Messrs.  Wattson  & Farr,  aud  that  there- 
fore, they  deserve  the  best  thanks,  rather  than 
the  'ridicule  (and  abuse)  of  the  tea  planters  and 
press  of  Ceylon. 
Tea  in  America. — We  had  no  idea  in  penning 
the  paragraph  on  the  Tea  Company  that  the  figures 
for  our  export  in  1892  so  far,  would  show  a compara- 
tive decrease  in  place  of  inorease.  This  is  un- 
fortunate: that  the  demand  for  Ceylon  tea  should 
be  less,  according  to  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 
returns  in  1892  than  in  1891  and  specially  in  1890; 
but  it  must  be  remembered  that  these  figures  re- 
present only  the  direct  shipments.  From  England 
the  shipments  across  the  Atlantio  of  our  staple, 
more  than  make  up,  we  feel  sure,  for  the  deficiency 
in  the  direct  exports;  and  this  is  due  to  the 
eiertions  of  the  American-Ceylon  Tea  Company, 
Mr.  May  and  Messrs.  Wattson  & Farr.  Oan  there 
be  baser  ingratitude,  at  this  juncture  in  the  his- 
tory of  Ceylon  tea,  than  to  flout  and  jibe  and 
sneer  at  the  men  who  have  managed  to  place  our 
teas  in  the  stores  of  so  many  New  York  grocers 
and  outside  State  Agencies  as  detailed  in  a para- 
graph elsewhere  today  ? Whatever  be  the  fate  of 
•the  Company,  no  one  can  deny  that  Ceylon  tea 
has  a position  in  America  today,  very  different 
to  what  it  occupied  a few  years  ago,  through  the 
exertions  of  the  gentlemen  referred  to,  and  that 
the  work  for  tea,  whioh  we  all  hope  to  see  aohieved 
through  the  Chicago  Exhibition,  must  be  rendered 
all  the  easier  through  the  splendid  advertising  of 
our  staple  by  this  Tea  Company.  Messrs.  Gow, 
Wilson  & Co.  reported  in  May  last,  that  in  1891, 
the  United  States  had  taken  744,000  lb.  of  Ceylon 
tea  against  600,000  lb.  in  1890.  For  1892,  the 
figures,  we  feel  certain,  will  show  a further  con- 
siderable increase. 
Planting  in  East  and  Central  Africa. — 
Special  attention  should  have  been  called  in  our 
last  issue  to  the  extremely  interesting  letter  from 
our  correspondent  “H.  B” — an  old  Matale  planter 
— dated  from  the  Blantyre  district,  1st  Oot.  It 
will  be  found  on  page  467,  and  is  well  worth  the 
perusal  of  every  planter  in  Ceylon — at  any  rate 
of  all  who  are  interested  in  the  rapid  development 
of  what  will  soon  be  the  great  planting  districts 
of  East-Central  Africa.  It  will  be  observed  that  in 
our  own  letter  to  the  London  Times,  written  at 
Genoa  (see  page  472)  we  depreoated  the  sugges- 
tion of  Capt.  Lugard  and  other  authorities  that 
attention  should  be  given  in  Africa  to  tea,  any  more 
than  to  spices  or  cinchona;  but  we  showed  onoe  again 
that  in  coffee  there  was  a product  ready  to  the  hands 
of  Uganda,  as  of  oiher  Eest-African,  planters  which 
offered  the  greatest  possible  encouragement,  in 
present  high  prices  and  limited  supply  more  espe- 
cially from  British  dependencies.  It  is  evident  that 
coffee  planting  in  Blantyre  is  to  be  a great  eucoess  : 
“ H.  B.”  speaks  of  a “6-cwt.  blossom”  and  no 
appearance  of  leaf-disease  or  bug,  although  grub  (as 
often  in  new  clearings)  is  troublesome.  Our  cor- 
respondent’s offer  to  exchange  seeds  of  rubber,  fruits, 
trees,  flowers,  <fcc.,  will  no  doubt  be  readily  responded 
to.  We  hope  we  were  not  wrong  in  stating  (in  the 
London  Times)  that  if  the  British  Government 
decided  to  retain  Uganda,  and  to  encourage  its 
development  as  a planting  colony,  Ceylon  could 
provide  the  planters  to  pioDeer  with  ooffee,  cacao 
and  other  suitable  products,  and  to  oollect  rubber 
from 'the  primeval  forests.  Seeing  that  only  very 
lately  enterprising  Ceylon  planters  have  been  taking 
up  land  for  coffee  in  Java,  under  the  Dutch 
Government,  we  feel  sure  that  no  less  readily  will 
men  of  experience,  and  perhaps  some  oapital,  be 
ready  to  try  their' fortunes,  and  establish  a “new 
Ceylon  ” in  Uganda,  so  soon  as  the  news  oomes 
that  the  British  flag  is  to  be  permanently  estab- 
lished there,  and  the  oountry  to  be  opened  up  by 
roads  and  railway  or  lake  and  river  steamers. 
