J24 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[May  x,  1893. 
ready  market  in  the  future.  Yams  and  other  native 
food  can  be  bought  at  the  rate  of  ten  pounds  for 
one  penny,  or  its  equivalent  in  tobacco.  Of  wild 
animals  there  are  none  but  pigs.  The  few  tree 
snakes  are  all  of  the  non-venomous  kind.  There 
is  an  abundance  of  wild  pigeons  and  jungle  fowl,  and 
also  brush  turkeys  (megapodiae).  There  are  no 
cockatoos,  and  only  one  or  two  kinds  of  parrots. 
The  flying  fox  is  found,  but  not  in  such;  numbers 
as  in  the  northern  parts  of  Australia  or  New  Guinea. 
We  oonfess  the  New  Hebrides  would  seem  to  ue 
to  be  more  favourable  for  the  practical  Ceylon  coff*  e 
planter-oapitalist  than  either  East  Africa  or  Java. 
The  Australasian  market  with  a good  demand  for 
coffee  is  near  at  hand,  and  as  yet  apparently  only 
one  coffee  plantation  worthy  of  tbs  name  (that 
of  Messrs.  Roche  Brothers ; Rathmoy  estate  on 
the  island  of  Efate)  has  been  established. 
In  concluding  our  notice  we  have  to  acknowledge 
the  oourtesy  of  the  Australasian  Geographical 
Society  in  nominating  both  our  late  senior  and 
ourselves  Hon.  Corresponding  Member ; the  death 
of  the  former  as  well  as  of  Sir  James  MoBain  is 
noted  in  this  number.  We  must  endeavour  by-and- 
bye,  to  give  the  Society  a paper  on  the  dose 
connection  (trading,  business,  social  &o .,)  whioh 
ought  to  be  established  between  Ceylon  and 
Australasia:  our  tea,  cocoa,  cinnamon  Ac.  supply- 
ing their  market  and  their  frozen  meat,  wines, 
fruit  and  potatoes  bejDg  welcome  to  C dombo. 
POTTERY  IN  EGYPT. 
In  the  early  part  of  the  year  we  mentioned  that 
the  Government  had  lent  its  sanction  and  support  to 
a project  for  the  investigation  of  the  question  as  to 
whether  it  was  possible  to  revive  in  this  country  the 
manufacture  of  pottery  as  it  existed  iu  years  gone 
by.  Mr.  de  Morgan,  an  English  gentleman  connected 
with  the  Staffordshire  potteries,  has  been  for  some 
weeks  making  experiments  with  clays  collected  from 
different  parts  of  Egypt,  for  the  above  purpose.  A 
report  is  now  being  drawn  up  by  him  embodying  the 
results  of  his  work  and  the  opinion  that  he  has 
formed  as  to  the  chance  of  the  success  of  the  scheme. 
Until  the  report  is  submitted  to  the  Government  we 
are  unable  to  publish  Mr.  de  Morgan's  decision. 
Generally  speaking,  however,  he  is  of  opinion  that  a 
development  of  the  pottery  industry  can  be  brought 
about,  especially  in  the  ruder  articles  of  manufacture, 
where  a high  degree  of  skill  is  not  required  in  the 
finish,  and  in  the  heavier  goods,  such  as  large  jars 
and  open  vessels,  the  freight  of  which  from  Europe 
adds  greatly  to  their  cost  in  Egypt.  In  the  case  of 
highly  finished  and  lighter  ware  the  competition  of 
the  Italian  supply  renders  the  success  of  its  manu- 
facture in  this  country  very  problematical.  What  is 
chiefly  needed  is  a series  of  further  experiments  with 
native  clays  baked  in  native  kilns  under  proper  super- 
vision and  direction,  and  for  thi9  purpose  a further 
expenditure  of  time  and  money  will  be  necessary. 
Mr.  de  Morgan  leaves  Cairo  to  return  to  England  at 
the  end  of  the  week.  He  will  take  with  him  a col- 
lection of  clays  brought  from  different  parts  of  the 
country,  with  which  he  will  make  further  experi- 
ments in  England. — Egyptian  Gazette , March  28. 
BADULLA  PLANTING  REPORT, 
Badclla,  April  11. 
Mabch  has  been  an  exceedingly  wet  month,  no 
less  than  14-35  inches  cf  rain  in  18  days  having 
fallen  in  what  is  usually  one  ol  our  driest  months. 
This  has  been  very  favou  -able  for  tea,  but  it  has 
entirely  ruined  all  chance  of  the  b g crops  of 
coffee  on  low  places,  that  at  one  time  seemed 
probable.  A very  fine  coffee  blossom  buist  on  the 
6th  of  March,  and  proepeots  were  *heD  excellent, 
but  we  have  had  no  regular  blossom  since  and  the 
spike  has  mostly  gone  to  wood,  while  now  it  is 
too  late  to  expect  any.  with  the  little  monsoon 
fully  on.  What  an  outcry  these  March  rains  would 
have  oaused  a few  years  back  I 
Tea  however  was  very  glad  to  get  them,  and 
since  they  set  in,  has  done  very  well  indeed  : 
some  fields;  especially  fields  pruied  within  the 
twelve  months,  have  had  tome  extraordinary  flushes, 
and  I have  heard  of  as  much  as  ore  hundred 
pounds  made  tea  per  acre  being  plucked  in  the 
month  off  a considerable  acreage.  The  weather  is  now 
quite  perfection  for  tea, — warm,  very  hot  mornings 
with  plenty  of  rain  and  Ehowers  in  the  afternoons. 
A good  deal  of  supplying  and  planting  has  been  done 
in  the  past  month  ; and  if  the  rains  last  well 
into  May  as  they  usually  do.  olearings  planted 
last  season  will  not  be  as  irregular  as  they 
promised  in  many  instances  to  be.  The  tea  market 
is  not  very  encouraging,  but  the  Uva  teas  have 
sold  well,— the  factories  in  the  district  being  all 
well  up  in  the  list  of  averages. 
TOBACCO  IN  SOUTHERN  INDIA. 
We  have  bad  a call  today  from  Mr.  G.  J«hn- 
Mongel  of  Dindigul,  who  has  had  a g"od  many 
years  of  experience  now  as  a tohaoco-grower  in 
Southern  India  and  who  was  over  here  some  years 
ago.  He  is  surprised  to  learn  of  the  failure  of 
the  European  Company’s  experiment  in  Ceylon, 
but  is  to  call  on  Mr.  Ingleten  to  learn  all  about 
it.  Mr.  Mengel  has  been  lately  making  an  in- 
teresting experiment  with  seed  from  different  parts 
of  the  world,  and  has  found  soma  from  Pennsylvania 
th6  best,  some  samples  of  the  leaf  being  very  fine. 
Mr.  Mengel  may  visit  the  tobaeoo  distriots  of  the 
Central  Province. 
THE  RATWATTA  COCOA  COMPANY, 
LIMITED. 
The  above  is  the  latest  addition  to  local  Plantation 
Companies.  It  ir  established  primari  y to  purobase  or 
otherwise  acquire  the  Ratwatta  Estate,  situate  at 
Mita'e,  containing  in  extent  three  hundred  and 
twenty  (320)  acres  or  thereabouts. 
The  nomin  l capital  of  the  I’ompany  is  one  hundred 
thousand  rupees  (100,000)  divided  into  two  hundred 
shares  of  rupees  five  huudred  (R500)  each,  with  power 
to  incr  ase  or  reduce  the  capital.  The  signatories  are 
F.M.  MackwooJ, Colombo,  George  J.  Jameson, C dombo, 
H.  Druramon  1 Deane,  James  B.  Fiirweather,  E Imund 
Jiffies,  Gangaruwa,  Kandy,  T.  O.  Huxley,  Ptradeniya, 
and  A.  Oollingwood  Smail,  Galaha,  Kandy. 
OIL  OF  CINNAMON. 
The  chemistry  of  this  oil  has  not  been  touched  for 
some  time,  the  latest  investigator  being  J.  Weber, 
who  reports  in  Arch.  Pharm.  that  the  oil  from  Sey- 
chelles Iel-.nds  has  the  colour  and  odour  of  oil  of 
cloves  and  a burning  taste  (sp.  gr.  1-0552  at  18'5°), 
and  consists  of  eugeuol  principally,  with  small  quan- 
tities of  cinnamaldehyde  and  of  terpenes.  Attempt* 
to  identify  pinene  and  cineole  amonrthe  latter  weio 
unsuccessful.  BeDzoio  acid,  also,  oould  not  be  detected. 
The  root-oil  procured  from  Schimmel  bad  the  colour 
and  odour  of  oil- of  cloves,  (sp.  gr.  at  19°  1 0411).  and 
consisted  mainly  of  eugenol,  but  contained  also  safrole, 
small  quantities  of  benzaldehyde,  and  a considerably 
larger  amount  of  terpenes  than  the  bark-oil  first 
mentioned.  But  Schimmel  suspeots  that  this  second 
sample  was  really  a leaf-oil. — Chemist  and  Druggist 
March  25. 
