April  i,  1893.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
639 
similarly  situated,  or  even  more  favourably  so  as 
regards  means  of  communication,  it  will  be  easy 
to  oooclude  that  the  Siamesa  Governmant  does 
not  as  yet  see  its  way  to  giving  encouragement 
to  capitalists  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits, 
The  terms  offered  are  these  : — the  payment  of 
a premium  and  an  annual  tax  over  the  whole 
area  taken  up  at  one  and-a-half  “ salungs  ” per 
“ rai,”  and  an  export  duty — on  the  produce— at 
present  undefined,  but  whioh  may  amount  to  12 
per  oent  ad  valorem.  Taking  the  1J  “ salung  ” 
as  24  cents  of  a dollar  with  2J  11  rai  " to  the 
aore,  we  got  the  60  cents  of  a dollar  as  the  annual 
rent  per  acre  or  say  El  35.  This,  of  course,  is  not 
a rent  on  the  acreage  under  cultivation  only,  but 
on  the  acreage  of  the  whole  concession,  whatever 
it3  size  may  be. 
Here  then  we  have  the  land  lying  idle,  as  it  has 
done  from  time  immemorial — and  likely  to  remain 
so  for  an  indefinite  period  in  the  future— of  no 
use  whatever  to  any  single  mortal,  and  at  present 
far  distant  from  any  port  where  the  produce  could 
find  transport,  and  yet,  before  the  capitalist  is 
allowed  to  oommenoe  operations,  he  is  bound  to  pay 
a considerable  annual  rent  in  advance,  a rent  of 
Rl-35  an  aore.  In  Sumatra  we  learn  that  the 
area  of  estates  is  computed  by  the  bouw  or  the 
equivalent  of  1TV  acre  English  measurement, 
and  on  this  a tax  of  4 penoe  per  bouw  is  levied  by 
the  Dutch  Government  to  begin  with,  and  rising 
by  successive  annual  increments  for  five  years 
until  it  totals  a guilder,  or  Is  8d  sterling,  and  at  this 
rate  it  remains  permanently.  In  addition  to  this  an 
export  duty  of  one  oent  (of  a guilder)  per  lb.  of  tobacco 
is  levied ; coffee  and  all  other  produce  being  free.  In 
New  Guinea  the  annual  tax  is  equivalent  to  6d  per 
aore.  In  Perak  you  may  purohase  your  land  outright 
at  $3  per  acre  without  any  levy  of  annual  rent  or  tax, 
or  you  may  rent  it  for  30,dollar  oents  per  annum, 
payable  after  two  years  from  commencement  of 
cultivation.  In  Johore,  planters  may  get  their  land 
rent  free,  and  in  Borneo  free  for  several  years. 
In  pursuing  the  oourse  it  has  adopted  in  this 
instance,  it  is  difficult  to  understand  why  the 
Siamese  Government  is  so  reluctant  to  make  the 
concession.  It  seems  to  us  that  it  is  a 
case  with  the  Government  of  “ heads  I win, 
tails  you  lose”  ; for  every  oent  of  the  money 
spent  by  the  concessionaire  is  paid  away  in  the 
country,  and  if  the  venture  prove  a success,  the 
revenue  and  the  people  profit  accordingly  ; while  if 
it  proved  a failure  the  Government  and  the  country 
are  none  the  worse  for  it,  unless  by  a certain 
degree  of  exhaustion  of  soil  in  the  experiment. 
We  need  hardly  add  that  after  becoming  acquainted 
with  the  decision  of  the  Siamese  Government,  the 
applicant  for  the  land  dropped  the  matter  without 
further  parley.  This  must  bs  considered  very 
unfortunate,  as  discrediting  Siapa  as  a field 
for  agricultural  investment  at  a time  when 
that  country  is  brought  rather  prominently  for- 
ward in  its  political  as  well  as  its  commercial 
relations. 
The  commencement  of  the  long-talked-of  Rail- 
way system  marks  an  era  of  advance  whioh 
must  be  very  gratifying  to  the  friends  of 
Siam,  and  one  whioh  is  regarded  very  jeal- 
ously by  her  neighbours  in  Annam  and  Ton- 
quin.  There  seems  every  prospeot,  too,  of  the  various 
gold  and  gemming  companies  making  a new  be- 
ginning with  more  reasonable  proapeots  of  suocess. 
It  is  true  that  the  formation  of  a Tobacco  Com- 
pany has  resulted  in  anything  but  success,  but  we 
are  not  aware  that  the  Government  have  lost  any- 
thing by  it,  unless  indeed  it  was  foolish  enough  to 
subsidize  it  ; and  this — we  may  as  well  state — was 
not  proposed  for  his  undertaking  by  the  applicant 
to  whom  we  refer  above.  We  oannot  see  that 
the  cifoulation  of  money  in  the  country  can  do 
it  any  harm — and  there  being  practically  an  un- 
limited supply  of  uncultivated  land — the  clearing 
of  a few  aores  of  it  may  be  looked  upon  as  a 
matter  of  no  importance  whatever. 
We  may  add  that  one  great  advantage  possessed 
by  the  Western  States  over  the  greater  portion  of 
Siam  is  the  perennial  rainfall  with  which  it  is 
favored  in  common  with  the  whole  of  the  Malayan 
Peninsula.  The  high  lands  of  Keddah  and  the 
Jenna  Hills  attract  a great  quantity  of  rain  from 
the  westward,  whilst  the  mountain  ranges  lying 
between  l'enasserim  and  Siam  proper,  intercept 
the  moisture  brought  by  the  monsoon  from  the 
Bay  of  Bengal,  and  the  wind  desoends  to  the 
plain  as  a dry  and  soorching  blast.  Nothing  much 
is  as  yet  known  about  the  rainfall  and  general 
meteorological  condition  of  the  country  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Korat,  nor  will  much  information 
under  that  heading  be  obtainable  until  the  line 
has  been  completed,  but  in  the  meantime  agricultural 
enterprise  will  apparently  remain  in  abeyance. 

AN  EX-CEYLON  PLANTER  IN  AUSTRALIA. 
MALLEE  AND  WHEAT  GROWING. 
The  Barrier,  N.  S.  W.,  Feb.  11,  1893. 
I wonder  if  the  plan  adopted  for  clearing  the  malLee- 
country  for  wheat-growing  would  be  any  good  in. 
Ceylon  for  clearing  lantana  and  small  jungle  on 
easy  land.  They  have  a huge  stone  roller  and  yoke 
a number  of  oxen  to  this  and  simply  roll  down 
the  rnallee,  knocking  it  out  by  the  roots.  The  mallee 
is  like  a gum  tree.  It  is  a species  of  eucalyptus  and 
grows  sometimes  into  a good-sized  tree.  The  mallee. 
country  down  at  Warrack-ma-bealhas  become  a great 
wheat  country.  Having  cleared  a great  space  of 
ground  by  rolling  down  the  mallee  and  burning  it 
off,  they  plough  the  ground  by  stump-jumping  ploughs 
drawn  by  horses  and  sow  the  land  also  by  machinery, 
and  finally  reap  the  harvest  by  that  wonderful 
machine,  the  American  reaper  and  binder.  An- 
other method  is  to  use  a machine,  also  American, 
which  catches  all  the  heads  of  the  wheat  and  winnows 
and  cleans  the  seeds  and  bags  it  all  in  the  field. 
Machinery  has  been  brought  to.  a great  height  of 
scientific  invention.  I see  you  in  Ceylon  are  begin- 
ning to  pluck  by  machinery.  Ceylon  will  be  soon  in 
the  van  of  tea-growing. 
I fear  the  influence  of  the  working- white-man  will 
prevent  due  justice  being  done  to  the  fine  tropical 
lands  in  the  north  of  Australia.  Abbrdonensis. 
4- 
NOTES  ON  PERAK.. 
The  pontoon  bridge  “ Gertak  Khasanah  Shah  ” 
at  Enggor,  1,500  feet  in  length,  is  a very  successful 
engineering  work,  and  has  lately  withstood  a rise 
of  15  feet  in  the  Perak  river,  when  the  protecting 
chain  was  broken  by  the  floating  timber  brought 
down  by  the  flood. 
The  Kamuning  Estate,  about  300  acres  of  Liberian 
coffee  and  pepper,  looks  exceedingly  well,  and  has 
a heavy  crop. — Perak  Government  Gaette,  March  3. 

FRAUDS  IN  PEPPER  AND  GINGER. 
As  so-called  ground  Black  Pepper  is  still  being 
extensively  sold,  at  prices  which  are  simply  impos- 
sible, except  at  a heavy  loss,  or  unless  the  com- 
modity is  not  what  it  professes  to  be,  it  is  well  for 
the  grocers  to  be  on  their  guard.  The  lowest  market 
cost  price  of  whole  light  dusty  Penang,  which  is  the 
poorest  quality  that  can  be  ground,  is  2§d.  per  lb. 
The  lowest  cost  of  grinding  with  loss  on  warrant 
weights  and  putting  into  barrels,  is  Jd.  per  lb.  The 
lowest  ground  Pepper  must  thus  actually  cost  the 
wholesale  dealer  3£d.  per  lb.  Allowing  £d.  per  lb.  for 
