June  i,  1893.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
765 
Yes,  Assam  beat  us  in  price  in  1892  ; but  I also 
know,  some  of  those  interested,  regret  they  W6nt  for 
quality  instead  of  quantity. 
Some  one  ridiculed  my  figures  a few  months  ago 
when  I said  2-7ths  of  our  labour  might  be  saved 
by  using  patent  dippers,  instead  of  Coropy’s  deft  and 
agile  fingers. 
Since  then  I have  been  looking  closely  into  the 
matter,  and  have  seen  many  times,  the  fields  on 
which  the  maohines  have  been  used,  in  the  Dikoya 
district,  as  well  as  tried  them  myself.  Throwing 
out  weeding  which  is  almost  roughly  done  by  con. 
traots,  I find  that  of  22,000  coolies  working  in  6 
months  14,000  were  plucking. 
Taking  151b.  as  the  average  by  hand  plucking 
Bnd  30  lb.  by  machine  (much  under  what  is  really 
the  case)  I would  have  saved  half  my  plucking 
force,  or  7,000  coolies — or  rather  more  than  2-7ths 
-Q.  E.  D. 
The  “dippers”  ia  use  are  about  as  clumsy, 
flimsy  and  expensive  as  patents  generally  are  at 
first.  But  the  principle  once  established,  a cheap, 
handy,  well-made  tool  will  follow,  Already  women 
work  them  as  well  as  men,  and  a large  wide-mouthed 
basket  hanging  at  its  side,  has  displaced  its 
awkward  and  troublesome  cradle  whioh  was  attaohed 
to  the  cooly’s  back. 
TROUT  ACCLIMATISATION  IN  THE 
EAST. 
We  are  indebted  to  the  courtesy  of  the  Honorary 
Secretary  of  the  Nilgiri  Game  Association  tor  some 
interesting  information  relating  to  the  latest  attempt 
to  imrodnee  treat  into  the  rivers  and  lakes  of  the 
Blue  Mountains.  It  will  be  remembered  that  last 
Df-cember  the  Association  had  the  bad  luck  to  lose 
a batch  of  ova  imported  in  the  “Golcooda”  owing  to 
their  being  frozen  to  death  in  theice  bouse.  Undeterred 
b>  this  misfortune,  as  by  many  previous  pieces  of  ill 
luck — evidently  in  the  lexicon  of  N.  G.  A.  there  is  no 
such  word  as  fail,  and  if  continued  effort  in  the  face 
of  frequent  disappointments  merit  success,  then  the 
Association  certainly  deserves  it — a telegram  was 
despatched  to  Mr.  Silk,  the  Superintr ndent  of  tbe 
Marquis  of  Exeter’s  Fish  Hatcheries  at  Burgleigh 
Park,  Stamford,  to  despatch  immediately  20,000  more 
ova  on  the  24th  December.  U<  fortunately  Mr  Silk  de- 
layed despatching  the  ova  till  tbe  27th  January,  when  a 
ca  e was  shipped  by  the  ‘‘Manora.”  To  meet  her,  the 
Honorary  Secretary  went  ’o  Madras,  cleere.i  the  case  of 
ova  on  2nd  March,  and  arrived  with  it  at  Ootacamund  on 
4th.  When  the  case  was  unpacked  the  ova  were  found  to 
be  in  splendid  order,  the  percentage  of  dead  ova  being 
very  snail.  Unfortunately  the  temperature  of  the 
water  in  the  hatching  boxes  hod  risen  to  67  d grees 
aud  ice  had  to  be  put  in  to  reduce  it,  but  it  was  not 
found  practicable  to  keep  the  temperature  below  60 
degrees  even  with  ice.  The  daily  loss  of  ova  ftom 
this  cause  amounted  to  about  200  till  the  24th  March 
when  they  began  to  batch  out.  Previous  to  hatching 
out  the  temperature  ot  the  water  fell  for  several  days 
to  55  degrees  on  an  average,  owiDg  to  thunderstorms 
wh  ch  brought  down  a considerable  amount  of  silt. 
A sudden  rise  of  temperature  on  the  24th  and  25ih 
March  was  most  prejudicial,  and  the  loss  of  ova  great. 
A large  number  of  the  fry  hatched  out  died  imme- 
diately, some  when  only  halt  out  of  the  eggs.  Oo 
the  2nd  April  only  293  fry  were  left  and  some  70  ova. 
The  number  of  Iry  cud  ova  gradually  decreased  till  oo 
the  8th  April  only  201  healthy  fry  had  survived. 
These  to  far  appear  to  he  getting  on  well,  though  the 
ova  sacs  have  not  yet  been  completely  absorbed. 
A few  particulars  regarding  the  packing  of  the  ova, 
their  transport,  and  subsequent  treatment  may  ho 
of  interest  to  others  engaged  in  similar  enterprises, 
such  as  our  Ceylon  friends  and  the  Debra  Dun 
Fishing  Association,  which  has  been  somewhat  unsuc- 
cessful of  late  in  its  expen  ive  experiments  dealing 
with  the  “ Golconda  first — the  ova  sent  out  in  that 
I 
vessel  were  packed  in  a case  so  large  that  it  could 
not  be  go  out  of  the  ice  bouse  without  first  un- 
screwing t and  lifting  it  out  sideways.  The  ova 
wpre  packed  in  cloth  with  ootton  wool  above  them. 
When  the  case  was  taken  into  the  ioe  house  and  out 
of  it  sideways,  the  ova  all  collected  in  a mass  on  the 
lower  side  of  the  trays,  where  they  were  subsequently 
frozen.  When  these  ova  were  removed  from  the  trays 
it  was  found  necessary  to  thaw  the  frozen  cotton  and 
ova  by  pouring  cold  water  over  them,  and  when  the 
ova  were  put  into  the  hatching  boxes,  the  tempera- 
ture of  the  water  of  which  wns  then  46  degrees,  they 
all  immediately  turned  opaque,  due  to  their  being 
thawed. 
To  avoid  any  such  misfortune  with  the  shipment  by 
the  “Manora”  Mr.  Silk  was  given  clear  instructions 
to  pack  the  ova  in  a box  which  could  be  conveniently 
removed  out  of  tbe  cool  house  upright,  and  instead 
of  the  ice  tray  being  screwed  on  to  tbe  ova  box  it 
wes  arranged  to  fix  it  on  with  hooks.  The  ova  were 
to  be  packed  in  Irish  water  moss  and  the  case  slung 
m the  cool  room.  The  result  was  that  these  direc- 
tions having  been  carefully  attended  to,  and  the 
butcher  of  the  ship  having  daily  filled  tbe  ice  tray 
with  fresh  ioe  the  ova,  as  already  mentioned  arrived 
in  excellent  condition.  Tbe  exact  dimensions  of  the 
ova  box  beiDg  previously  known,  the  Honorary 
Secretary  was  provided  with  a deal  box  exactly 
three  inches  wider  every  way.  The  ova  case  was  plaoed 
in  the  deal  box,  crushed  ice  filled  in  all  round  it  and 
the  whole  covered  up  with  blankets,  it  was  slung  up 
and  removed  to  the  deck  and  then  ashore  The  box 
was  then  kept  in  a hotel,  the  temperature  being  taken 
every  half  hour,  and  kept  at  38  degrees.  At  5 pm 
the  case  was  removed  to  the  Railway  station,  and 
s'ung  to  the  roof  of  a third  class  compartment,  two 
attendants  being  employed  the  whole  nieht  in  renew- 
ing the  ice,  of  which  a supply  0f  400  lb.  was  taken. 
From  Mettapollium  the  oase  was  carried  by  relays  of 
coolies  to  Coonoor  where  it  arrived  at  7 p.m.  The 
next  morning  the  case  was  carried  into  Ootacamund 
and  the  ova  placed  in  the  hatching  boxes. 
Next  year  it  is  proposed  to  import  Rainbow  trout 
ova,  aca  Loch  Leven  trout  ova  in  November  eo  as  to 
obviate  allchaucesof  failure. — Asian. 
NOTES  ON  PRODUCE  AND  FINANCE. 
Indian  Tea  at  Chicago  —Mr,  Blechynden  and 
those  who  have  charge  of  Indian  tea  interests  at 
Chicago  are  not  to  be  outdone  by  their  Ceylon  rivals 
From  an  American  paper  just  received  we  find  that 
there  are  the  usual  sensational  headlines  to  a notice 
oi  the  Indian  tea  exhibits  at  tho  “ World's  Fair  ” 
Then  follows  an  account  of  the  tea  industry.  It  will 
not  be  the  fault  of  Indian  and  Ceylon  tea  planters 
and  their  representatives  in  the  United  States  if 
the  reproach  once  urged  against  Americans  that 
they  drank  the  worst  tea  in  the  world  is  not  wined 
out  altogether.  The  following  are  some  of  the 
headlines  referred  to  “ From  Old  Bombay  ” 
Indian  Merchants  Prepare  an  Exhibit  of  Tea  ” 
“Lqokmgfor  New  Markets.”  “They  wish  to  Es- 
tablish Trade  with  America.”  “ A Structure  of 
Oriental  Architecture  to  be  Erected  at  Jackson 
r .ark'  Queen  Victoria’s  Asiatic  domain,  the  Em- 
pire of  India,  will  be  represented  at  the  fair  with 
a comprehensive  exhibit,  which  will  be  housed  in  a 
special  bunding  of  distinctively  Eastern  architecture.” 
Coffee  fob  Membebs  op  Pabliament.— On  Thur- 
day  afternoon  the  Port  Office  authorities  at  the  House 
of  Commons  were  alarmed,  the  Daily  News  says,  by 
the  arrival  of  an  uopreot  dentedly  large  connitiim-  n't  of 
parcel-.  They  Iroked  like  fine  of  dynamite,  and  were 
tound  to  exceed  700  in  Dumber.  Each  cf  the  670 
members  oi  tLe  House  had  a packet  addressed  to 
him  bj  Lime  and  style,  an  additional  half-hundred 
b- n.-g  on  ect-d  to  officials  aDd  others  connected  with 
the  House  On  h ver  ligation  it  appeared  that  this 
access  nf  business  "as  dne  to  the  enterprise  of  a 
firm  in  the  City  who,  as  they  wrote,  “in  view  of  the 
debate  of  tomorrow,  beg  your  bind  acceptance 
ol  a half-pound  tin  of  our  freshly-roasted  pure  oolfee  ” 
. and  C.  Mail , April  4. 
