713 
THfc  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[May  i,  1893. 
offices  in  Jewry  Street  special  machinery,  driven  by 
gas  power,  has  been  set  up  for  roasting  and  grinding 
the  berries,  and  this  machinery  is  kept  for  the  con. 
venience  of  customers  who  may  not  have  mills  of  their 
own,  and  who  are  guaranteed  to  be  supplied  with  an 
unadulterated  article.  After  the  coffee  has  been 
properly  roasted  (a  prooess  taking  from  20  to  30 
minutes)  it  is  placed  in  bins,  and  goes  downstairs  to 
be  packed.  In  the  basement  is  the  packing  department 
and  as  we  passed  through  it  we  noticed  several  cases 
were  being  prepared  for  shipment  to  Adelaide,  and 
busy  hands  in  another  part  of  the  building  were 
engaged  in  weighing  and  packing  in  air-tight  tins 
smaller  packages  for  ordinary  consumption. 
Having  therefore  investigated  for  ourselves  the 
system  upon  which  the  Whole  Berry  Coffee  is  supplied 
and  further  submitted  samples  to  a practical  test,  all 
we  can  say  is  that  if  the  general  publio  wishes  to 
procure  the  best  and  purest  coffee  there  is  no  difficulty 
in  finding  out  where  it  is  to  be  obtained—  Money  and 
Trade, 
4. 
VARIOUS  AGRICULTURAL  NOTES. 
Central  Asian  Cotton. — The  export  of  cotton 
from  Central  Asia  during  1892,  the  Odessa  corre- 
spondent of  the  Daily  Chronicle  says,  reached  nearly 
60,000  tonB.  During  1891  it  was  a trifle  over  42,000 
tons,  and  in  1888,  when  the  Transcaspian  line 
was  first  opened  to  Samarkand,  only  18,800  tons. 
This  ootton  is  almost  entirely  consumed  in  Russia, 
being  shipped  from  the  eastern  Caspian  po  ts  to 
Astrakhan,  and  thence  up  the  Volga.  Amerioan  long 
staple  ootton  is  gradually  taking  the  place  of  native 
ootton  all  over  the  Central  Asian  provinces. — 
Indian  Engineer. 
Long  Lived  Trees. — How  vast  are  the  periods  of 
life  allotted  to  the  long-lived  trees  may  be  judged 
from  the  following  list  of  ages  known  to  have 
been  reached  by  patriarohs  of  the  respective 
kinds 
Elm 
300 
years 
Walnut 
..  900 
yearst 
Ivy 
335 
do 
Oriental  Plane  1000 
do 
Maple  . . 
516 
do 
Lime 
..  1100 
do 
Laroh  . . 
676 
do 
Spruce 
..  1200 
do 
Orange. . 
630 
do 
Oak 
. . 1500 
do 
CypresB 
800 
do 
Cedar 
. . 2000 
do 
Olive  . . 
800 
do 
Yew 
. . 3200 
do 
— Nilgiri  News,  March  22. 
Progress  in  New  Guinea. — Says  the  Aus- 
tralasian : — 
It  is  stated  in  the  last  annual  report  on  British 
New  Guinea  by  the  Administrator,  Sir  W.  Mac- 
Gregor, that  the  yield  of  gold  has  fallen  off  for  last 
year.  The  output  was  l,235oz.,  as  against  2,426oz. 
in  1891.  The  alluvial  washing  is  now  apparently 
at  an  end.  The  beche-de-mer  fishery  has  also  de- 
creased in  value,  the  exports  for  1892  being  49  tons, 
as  against  64  tons  in  the  preceding  year.  Copra 
will  undoubtedly  now  become  the  principal  export.  At 
present  this  industry  is  in  its  infancy,  but  in  a 
few  years  it  will  be  of  great  importance,  and  Sir 
W.  MacGregor  points  out  that  it  will  have  the  ad- 
vantage over  gold,  pearl-shell,  and  beche-de-mer  of 
giving  a perennial  yield  which  will  increase  with 
time.  Last  year  340  tons  were  exported,  as  against 
198  in  1891.  In  a number  of  districts  the  natives 
are  now  settling  down  to  more  systematic  work  in 
preparing  exports  for  the  trader.  In  some  districts 
they  have  planted  out  very  considerable  quantities 
of  coconuts  for  their  own  use  and  profit.  During 
the  year  a greater  tendency  has  been  manifested 
on  the  part  of  the  few  European  residents  in  the 
possession  to  form  plantations  of  coconut  trees,  &c. 
Every  possible  facility  is  given  to  them  to  plant. 
There  is,  however,  a great  want  of  men  with  some 
capital  and  a sufficient  knowledge  of  the  different 
branches  of  tropical  agriculture  to  introduce  new 
industries,  and  to  show  the  natives  the  beneficial 
results  of  steady  Application. 
Foochow  Flower?  Tea. — Reports  reach  ns  from 
the  country  that  the  scented  flower  plants  suffered 
severely  ia  the  late  frost,  and  that  the  flower 
this  year  will  be  very  scarce  id  oonsequenoe. — 
H.  D.  Press. 
The  Following  Wrinkle  may  be  of  use  to  planters 
who  have  jungles  adjoining  their  coffee.  Apiece  of 
jungle  is  out  down  and  leaves  are  allowed  to  decay  ; in 
a few  months  the  stumps  of  the  trees  grow  vigorously 
again.  The  jungle  is  ent  down  agaiD,  and  after  it  has 
decayed  somewhat,  coolies  are  allowed  to  help  themselves 
to  the  twigs  for  firewood  and  tbea  afttr  the  whole  sur- 
face had  been  strewn  over  with  lime,  put  to  e>fll“Ct  the 
leaves  and  top  soil  into  heap*.  These  heaps  after  a 
time  are  mixed  with  lime  and  fiih  and  applied  to  the 
coffee,  and  the  effeot  it  is  said  lasts  for  3 years.  A 
pieceof  jungle  treated  in  this  way,  will  yield  manure 
perio  lioally. — Nilgiri  News. 
Quinine  Factory  on  the  Nilgiris. — An  ac- 
count of  a visit  to  this  factory  will  be  found  in 
the  Tropical  Agriculturist  : it  will  be  observed  that 
Mr.  Hooper  supplies  quinine  to  the  Bombay  as  well 
as  Madras  Governments,  and  that  he  has  greatly 
improved  the  manufacture.  Has  the  Oeylon  Go- 
vernment tried  to  get  a oheap  supply  of  quinine 
from  the  Nilgiris,  we  would  ask  ? O .e  interesting 
fact  mentioned  is  that  the  initial  cost  of  the  Fac- 
tory was  only  between  R15,000  and  Rlfi.000. 
Surely  it  would  pay  Uva  planters  with  appreciable 
clearings  of  cinchona  trees  (if  such  still  exist)  to 
form  a Company,  start  a factory  and  turn  their  bark 
into  quinine,  saving  transport,  commissions  freight, 
&o.,  and  perhaps  getting  a profitable  local,  sale  ! 
A New  Rilt  Preventive.— It  is  reported  that  a 
new  compound,  which  is  said  to  be  an  excellent 
preventive  of  rus , on  bright  iron  and  steel  articles, 
was  accidentally  discovered  some  time  8go  by 
Messrs.  Edmund  Mueller  & Mann,  Charlottenburg, 
Germany.  The  oompound,  which  consists  of  a 
mixture  of  the  essential  oils  and  grease,  is  now 
being  largely  made  use  of  in  several  of  the  German 
Government  departments,  and  has  been  called 
“ Mannocitin,’’  The  composition  is  a thin  fluid, 
which  may  be  readily  applied  by  means  of  a brush. 
In  a short  time  after  application  the  oils  evaporate 
and  the  grease  remains  behind,  forming  a coating 
wbioh  proteots  the  metal  against  atmospheric  in- 
fluences and  sea  water.  The  absence  of  aoid  in  the 
composition  is  alluded  to  as  an  important  feature. 
It  is  claimed  that  the  composition  does  not  turn 
ranoid,  and  that  it  oan  be  readily  removed  by 
rubbing  with  coLon  waste  saturated  with  turpen- 
tine.— Electrical  Trades  Journal.  Maroh  8. 
Cotton  Mills  and  the  Cotton  Seed  Trade. — 
Last  yrar  there  were  at  work  in  India  127  cotton 
mills  containing  24,670  looms  and  3,272,988 
spindles,  employing  a daily  average  of  681,330 
men,  and  48,500  women  and  children.  Eighty  seven 
of  the  mi  Is  are  in  the  Bombay  Presidency,  65  being 
in  (he  City  of  Bombay.  There  are  8 in  Bengal  and 
10  in  Madras,  and  in  the  North-West  Provinces. 
These  figures  must  be  taken  into  account  in  con- 
nection  with  the  continuous  falling-off  in  our  ex- 
ports of  cotton  yarns  and  cloth  ; for  how  is  it  to  be 
expeoted  that  our  exports  will  keep  up  to  their  former 
normal  condition,  when  we  are  Bending  countries  that 
used  10  buy  largely  of  our  productions  such  quantities 
of  machinery  to  enable  them  to  make  the  same 
articles  themselves.  The  wonder  is  that  we  have 
not  lost  much  more  ground.  Australia  opened  her 
first  co  ton  mi'l  near  Brisbane  at  the  beginning  of 
the  year  and  Japan  is  manufacturing  la'g'dy  ; but 
notwithstanding  this,  she  has  imported  from  India 
and  England  manufactured  ootton  goods  of  an  average 
value  of  nearly  £1,000,000  per  annum  during  the  last 
three  years.  In  the  face  of  these  faots,  it  cannot 
be  said  that  the  world’s  consumption  of  cotton  goods 
ia  decreasing,— Indian  Engineer,  April  8. 
