Fee,  i,  1893.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
539 
vironment.’  They  will  have  ample  opportunity  to 
quit  themselves  like  men  and  gentlemen,  and  need  not 
think  that  they  demean  themselves  by  being  kind  and 
chivalrous  to  the  weaker  sex,  though  not  clad  in  silks 
and  satins.”  If  only  we  could  manage  to  let  our 
false  pride  keep  company  with  a few  golden  sovereigns 
in  our  pockets  at  home,  how  much  better  it  would  be 
for  all  of  us. 
There  is  the  same  manly  respect  for  work,  and 
the  same  manly  contempt  either  for  idleness  or 
grumbling  with  the  country  and  the  times,  when  the 
fault  is  the  want  of  energy  or  wit  in  the  grumbler. 
Mr.  G.  E.  Church  writes  from  the  North-West 
Territory: — “I  see  in  ‘ Colonia  ’ in  talking  about 
Colonial  education  they  leave  out  one  thing  neees- 
sarry,  that  is  common  sense,  which  is  equal  to  every- 
thing else  put  together.  Lots  of  people  out 
here  never  think,  they  just  go  along  anyhow ; they 
have  no  aim  beyond  living.  In  breeding,  for  instance, 
they  exercise  no  discretion,  and  it  is  the  same  with 
other  things.  They  take  the  same  crop  off  the  same 
land  year  after  year,  and  talk  against  the  country 
when  their  crop  fails.”  Contentment  and  hard  work 
seem  to  be  written  on  every  page  of  this  letter. 
Mr.  H.  P.  Earnshaw  writes  from  West  Virginia:  — 
‘ My  brother  and  I arrived  here  two  years  ago  today. 
We  bought  a farm  of  530  acres  this  spring,  and  we 
are  very  well  contented  with  our  life  and  pros- 
pects.” Mr.  Macnoughton  writes  from  Tasmania: — 
“ I have  now  been  five  months  in  .this  country, 
and  think  it  is  a splendid  place  for  any  one  with  a 
little  capital,  but  not  less  than  £50  a year  and  a couple 
of  hundreds  to  fall  back  upon.  To  anyone  with  no 
capital  I should  certainly  advise  New  Zealand 
in  preference,  as  I think  he  would  have  a better 
chance  with  pure  farming.”  There  is,  he  adds,  cer- 
tainly no  poverty,  if  not  much  wealth.  Mr.  J.  W. 
Reid,  of  British  Bechusnaland,  tells  us  that  he  is  not 
doing  badly  ; he  has  been  Bble  to  make  a oomfortnble 
living  ever  since  I have  been  out  here.  But  Mr.  Reid’s 
idea  of  a oomfortable  living  is  widely  different  to  that 
entertained  at  home.  The  comfort  is  only  purchased 
by  real  hard  work. 
“ Things  seem  to  bo  looking  up  a bit  up  country. 
There  is  plenty  of  work  for  men  willing  to  put  their 
shoulders  to  the  wheel,  bnt  it  is  work.  I don’t  know 
how  some  of  the  Colonials  would  like  to  work  all  day 
with  piok  and  shovel,  and  then  sit  down  to  a meal  of 
lung-siok  ox  and  mealies  (Indian  eorn).  But  a man 
must  not  mind  little  trifles  like  that  if  he  wants  to 
get  on. 
‘‘I  often  think  when  I have  been  sitting  down  to  a meal 
of  bully  beef  and  mealies,  of  the  grub  we  got  at  Hol- 
lesley,  and  bow  some  men  used  to  grumble  at  it.  How 
would  they  like  to  live  on  suoh  tack  for  weeks,  and 
nothing  else,  not  even  a pinch  of  salt  to  be  had  for  love 
or  money,  for  hundreds  of  miles  round.  I am  not 
speaking  of  “Colonials”  in  particular,  but  of  home- 
born  fellows  in  geneial.  who  when  they  come  out  expeot 
to  find  fortunes  ready-made,  and  seem  disappointed 
that  they  are  only  to  be  attained  by  ha,rd  work,  energy, 
perseverance  and  steadiness.” 
Everyone  out  there  has  to  turn  his  hand  to  manual 
labour,  be  he  peer  or  peasant  in  the  old  country. 
Mr.  Reid  wishes  one  of  his  old  College  mates  was 
with  him,  as  anyone  “ who  can  shoe  a horse 
properly  aud  has  a slight  knowledge  of  carpentry 
oould  knock  out  £4  or  £5  a day  anywhere  between 
the  Crocodile  and  the  Zanzibar  rivers.” 
It  is  worth  noticing  the  great  attention  that  is 
heiog  paid  to  fruit-growing  by  many  of  these  young 
colonists.  Alike  in  Australia  and  America,  the  writers 
allude  to  their  own  fruit  plantations,  or  those  of  their 
neighbours.  It,  is  the  English  market  most  of  them 
are  catering  for  ; would  uot  the  same  care  make  the 
acres  of  apples  or  plums  a profitable  adjuuot  to  a farm 
at  home  P There  is  a bint,  too,  for  tho  agricultural 
labourer.  Mr.  Seth  Smith  writes  from  Oamaru,  New 
Zealand,  that  a man  who  lives  on  the  farm  gets  his 
board  aud  lodgings,  and  botween  3s  and  5s  a day — in 
some  parts  even  more-  Is  it  not  a love  of  home  car- 
ried to  exoess  which  alone  prevents  the  English  pea- 
sant from  greatly  betteriug  his  condition  ? — Fast 
Anglian  Daily  Times,  Dec.  16,  1892. 
CHARACTERISTICS  OF  A GOOD  MILKER. 
At  a recent  saie  of  farming  stock  in  Gloucester- 
shire, England,  the  auctioneer  says  the  Farming  World, 
gave  the  following  extempore  description  of  a good 
milk  cow  : 
Long  in  her  sides,  bright  in  her  eyes, 
Short  in  her  legs,  thin  in  her  thighs, 
Big  in  her  rib,  wide  in  her  pins, 
Full  in  he'  bosom,  small  in  her  f-hins, 
Long  in  her  face,  fine  in  her  tail. 
She’s  never  deficient  in  filling  the  pail. 
A New  York  dairy  farmer  used  the  following  ration 
in  a herd  of  cows  which  produced  320  pounds  per 
cow:  Meadow  hay,  12  pounds;  corn  meal,  3 pounds; 
wheat  bran,  3 pounds  ; linseed  meal,  3 pounds ; 
oat  meal,  3 pounds-  In  commenting  on  this  ratioD, 
Prof.  Henry  says  in  Breeders'  Gazette : “In  this  ration, 
there  would  be  of  digestible  albuminoids  2'03  pounds; 
carbohydrates  10'3  pounds;  fat  “63  pounds;  the  nu- 
tritive ratio  being  1:5  7.  This  is  a good  ration,  but  it 
might  be  profitable  to  use  the  different  foods  in 
varying  quantities.  Corn  will  probably  be  the  cheapest 
food,  dropping  the  oats  if  they  are  high,  as  the  light 
crop  seems  to  indioate  they  will  be.” — Southern 
Planter. 
O 
RICE  CROPS  IN  BURMAH. 
With  the  gloomy  season  prospects  in  most  of 
the  districts  in  this  Presidency,  and  loss  of  orops 
owing  to  failure  of  rain  it  is  gratifying  to  learn 
that  the  prospects  in  Burma  are  good,  and  that 
Lower  Burma  will  be  able  to  export  rice  to  a 
very  large  extent  to  supplement  the  food  supply 
of  India.  Crop  prospeots  are  everywhere  good ; 
seven  districts  estimate  far  more  than  a full 
average  crop,  while  only  the  Prome  district  esti- 
mates less  than  a full  average  crop.  It  is  esti- 
mated that  there  will  be  available  for  export 
1,600,000  tons  of  cargo  rice,  equivalent  to 
27,118,645  owts.  of  cleaned  rice,  including  what  is 
required  for  Upper  Burma. —M.  Times,  JaD.  11, 
$> 
NOTES  ON  PRODUCE  AND  FINANCE. 
Green  Wood  and  Tea  Chests. — The  condition  of 
the  wood  from  which  tea  chests  are  made  is  the 
subject  of  a warning  note  in  tho  Grocer,  which  says  : 
— “Our  readers  cannot  fail  to  have  noticed  that  tea 
in  the  present  day  deteriorates,  through  keeping,  with 
greater  rapidity  than  formerly  ; and  this  is  parti- 
cularly the  case  with  that  imported  from  India  and 
Ceylon.  But  unfortunately  an  additional  drawback 
has  now  been  prominently  brought  forward,  and 
consists  in  an  objectionable  flavour  which  some 
teas  possess,  and,  from  the  evidence  of  experts 
who  have  had  considerable  experience  in  tea 
gardens,  it  appears  that  saw  mills  often  form 
part  of  the  plant  of  a garden.  When  the 
wood  for  the  paukages  is  used  in  too  green  a state 
the  juices  produce,  in  contact  with  the  metal,  an  acid, 
which  perforates  through  minute  punctures  into  tho 
tea  itself,  and  creates  what  is  commonly  known  as 
a ‘ oheesiness,’  whereby  the  tea  is  seriously  damaged. 
If  the  effect  is  not  immediately  developed,  the  buyer 
may  not  disoover  it  until  too  late,  and  may  be 
landed  with  a tea  which  is  not  only  undesirable,  but 
may  lead  to  a whole  blend  being  vastly  effected. 
Under  these  circumstances  it  is  evidently  necessary 
that  great  care  should  be  exercised  in  seeing  that 
only  properly  seasoned  wood  is  used,  and  we  hope 
representations  will  be  made  to  all  growers  of  tea 
to  secure  this  muoh-needed  result.” 
A Tea  Proprietor’s  View  of  the  Rupee  Ques- 
tion.— The  following  quotation  from  a private  letter 
gives  the  views  on  this  subject  of  a gentleman  who 
direots  the  affairs  of  one  of  the  largest  Indian  tea  con- 
cerns, and  will  be  read  with  some  interest. — “Mr. 
Christie,  and  no  doubt  Mr.  Rutherford,  see  clearly 
the  injury  whieh  would  be  inflicted  on  our  producers 
