Feb.  i,  1893.]  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
A Cacao,  Tea  and  Liberian  Coffee  Company. 
—We  should  be  glad  to  see  the  Ukuwella  Com- 
pany, from  whose  prospectus  we  quote  freely 
(see  page  527)  liberally  supported,  because_  it  _ is 
to  promote  the  culture  of  Cacao  and  Liberian 
Coffee  as  well  as  Tea.  The  prospects,  too,  are 
very  good  with  an  assurance  of  10  per  cent 
dividend  in  1896  and  property  then  worth  a great 
deal  more  than  the  paid-up  capital.  To  have 
several  strings  to  its  bow  should  be  a distinot 
recommendation  for  a Ceylon  Planting  Company 
in  the  present  day. 
“ Cocoa  : All  About  It  ” — is  the  title  of  a 
popular  work  by  “ Historicus  ” and  published  by 
Sampson  Low,  whioh  affords  some  odd,  out  of-the 
way  information  respecting  this  product,  accom- 
panied by  engravings,  some  of  whioh  are  decidedly 
curiosities.  These  are  reproductions  of  plates  from 
old  books  (1630  is  the  date  of  one  of  them  ) on 
chooolate  ; but  again  there  are  interspersed  a good 
many  modern  plates,  some  of  them  coloured,  of 
the  trees  and  pods.  We  have  a history  of  the 
cultivation,  use,  analyses,  and  manufacture  of 
cocoa  (extracts  ieepeoting  Ceylon  being  made  from 
our  Handbook).  There  is  also  a chapter  and 
appendix  on  vanilla  with  useful  information.  But 
the  great  feature  of  the  volume  undoubtedly  is 
the  chapter  on  manufacture,  devoted  with  coloured 
plates  to  an  account  of  Messrs.  Cadbury's  estab- 
lishment at  Bournville,  the  “ Worcestershire  Eden  ” 
which  makes  it  If  ok  as  if  the  book  were  got  out 
in  the  interests  of  this  firm — no  doubt  one  of  the 
very  important  manufacturing  houses  of  cocoa  and 
chocolate  ; but  by  no  means  the  sole  representative 
of  British  manufactures  by  a long  way.  However, 
the  little  book  before  us  affords  a great  deal  of 
useful  information  in  a popular  interesting  way 
about  coooa  and  should  help  to  promote  the  con- 
sumption of  this  food  produot  considerably, 
Chinese  Labor  in  Brazil. — The  Rio  Nexus 
of  Oct.  11  says: — 
Now  that  it  has  been  decided  that  the  Chinese 
may  be  imported,  Congress  should  lose  no  time  in 
passing  two  necessary  measures— one  providing  for 
their  proper  transportation  to  and  from  this  country, 
and  the  other  protecting  them  while  here.  The  great 
distance  at  which  they  must  be  procured  renders  it 
necessary  that  stringent  laws  should  be  provided  to 
prevent  over-crowding  and  bad  treatment  during  the 
voyage.  If  this  is  not  done  it  is  certain  that  we 
shall  have  to  again  record  abuses  and  atrocities  which 
will  raise  a storm  of  indignation  throughout  the 
civilized  world.  As  for  the  second  measure,  it  must 
be  evident  to  every  well-informed  person  that  present 
labor  laws  will  not  protect  the  Chinese  laborer  in 
this  country,  and  also  that  a very  large  proportion 
of  employers  will  take  advantage  of  their  helplessness 
to  rob  them  of  the  petty  wages  they  may  earn.  The 
recent  experiences  of  immigrant  laborers  here  is  a 
roof  of  this  assertion,  and  if  this  is  not  enough  we 
ave  only  to  call  attention  to  the  treatment  which 
the  freedmen  received  after  emancipation.  Of  course, 
there  are  many  planters  who  treat  their  laborers 
justly  and  humanely  ; of  these  we  do  not  speak. 
But  it  is  against  the  hundreds  who  are  hard,  cruel 
and  unjust,  that  these  helpless  laborers  must  be  pro- 
tected. The  government  can  now  make  the  necessary 
provisions,  for  the  traffic  has  not  yet  begun.  Will 
it  do  so,  or  must  we  see  slavery  re-established  in 
Brazil,  with  all  its  abuses  and  unrestrained  oppression? 
A Coffee  Association  in  Brazil. — The  Rio 
Nexus  of  Sept.  27  says  :— 
The  scheme  now  under  consideration  for  the  or- 
ganization of  a central  association  of  all  classes 
interested  in  the  coffee  trade,  is  so  decidedly  good 
that  it  needs  no  advocacy.  For  a branch  of  pro- 
duction and  commerce  representing  so  much  money 
and  such  vast  economic  interests,  an  association  of 
this  character  is  a necessity,  and  it  reflects  very 
little  credit  on  those  interested  that  such  an  organi- 
zation was  not  long  ago  effected.  The  questions 
constantly  arising  as  to  production,  transportation, 
grading  and  shipping  are  so  important  that  they  re- 
quire the  best  study  and  solution  that  the  whole 
trade  can  give  them,  and  these  alone  demand  co- 
operation. Such  an  association  could  easily  undertake 
to  secure  information  in  details  of  planting  and  to 
encourage  experiments  tending  to  an  improvement 
of  the  product,  all  of  which  would  be  of  direct  benefit 
to  the  country  and  to  the  reputation  of  its  principal 
product.  No  such  effort  has  ever  been  made,  although 
its  advantages  are  clearly  apparent.  In  questions 
of  transportation  it  could  not  help  being  of  incalcu- 
lable benefit,  particularly  at  the  present  time.  The 
costs  of  marketing  the  product  and  the  obstacles 
met  in  handling  it  in  this  port,  are  also  questions 
of  pressing  importance,  and  which  will  never  be 
solved  until  all  the  classes  interested  are  brought 
more  closely  together  and  are  made  to  see  that  their 
interests  are  dependent  upon  each  other,  and  not 
antagonistic.  By  all  means  let  the  association  be 
formed  and  then  let  us  have  concerted  action  in 
carrying  out  improvements  which  all  must  admit  are 
most  necessary. 
Pobtugueee  Sulphate  of  Quinine. — It  may  be 
remembered  that  about  two  years  ago,  when  the 
relations  between  this  oountry  and  Portugal  became 
unpleasantly  strained  over  the  now  almost  forgotten 
Manioa  dispute,  public  opinion  in  Portugal  ran 
strongly  in  favour  of  the  emancipation  of  the  king, 
dom  from  dependence  upon  British  goods.  We 
mentioned  at  that  time  that  among  the  projeots 
that  were  planned  was  one  for  the  establishment 
of  a faotory  in  Lisbon,  in  whioh  the  Portuguese- 
grown  oinchona  from  the  Island  of  San  Thomd 
should  be  converted  into  quinine.  Since  that  time 
the  imports  of  San -Thome  bark  into  London  have 
considerably  increased  but  it  would  seem,  neverthe- 
less, that  quinine  making  in  Portugal  has  beoome  an 
established  fact,  for  Mr.  David,  in  the  course  of  a 
speech  at  a social  gathering  mentioned  elsewhere, 
stated  that  he  had  recently  had  occasion  to  examine 
a sample  of  quinine  manufactured  in  that  oountry. 
Mr.  Howard’s  opinion  of  the  product  was  not 
flattering,  for  he  considered  the  speoimen  absolutely 
the  worst  he  had  ever  come  across  in  his  experience. 
— Chemist  and  Druggist. 
The  Java  Cinchona  Plantations. — The  quarterly 
report  of  the  Java  Government  cinohona  planta- 
tions for  the  three  months  July — September,  whioh 
has  just  been  published,  states  that  the  abnormal 
weather  of  the  period  described  has  oaused  a great 
deal  of  disease,  not  only  among  the  young  trees, 
but  particularly  among  the  nine  and  fifteen  year 
old  plantations.  The  disease  manifested  itself  in 
the  reddening  of  the  leaves  upon  the  young  shoota 
and  in  root-cancer.  The  seed  did  not  ripen  tb.ie 
season,  and  no  seed  auctions  have  been  held. 
Scarcity  of  labour  accounted  for  the  smallness 
of  the  bark  output  during  the  quarter  under  re- 
view, and  had  it  not  been  for  the  employment  of 
the  regular  bands  upon  the  work  of  harvesting, 
that  branch  would  have  come  to  a standstill  al- 
together^ The  new  mode  of  harvesting,  first 
adopted  in  1891  and  continued  this  year,  consists 
in  the  scraping  of  the  stems  and  branobes  of  the 
smallest  trees  in  the  plantations,  in  order  to  limit 
their  growth,  and  thereby  to  afford  more  room 
for  development  for  the  heavier  trees,  the  bark  of 
which  is  at  present  left  intact.  It  is  possible  that 
the  Ecaroity  of  labour  referred  to  in  this  report 
may  have  made  itself  felt  at  the  private  under- 
takings in  an  acuter  form  even  than  at  the  Govern- 
ment plantations,  and  that  therein,  rather  than 
in  approaching  exhaustion,  lies  the  reason  of  the 
marked  diminution  in  the  Java  cinchona  exports 
which  has  been  observed  this  season.— C/icimt  and 
Druggist. 
