^66 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[June  i,  1893. 
VARIOUS  AGRICULTURAL  NOTES. 
Electric  Light  in  Tea  Factories. — The  nth' r lay 
— writes  a correspondent — I was  shown  over  Mr.  T.  N. 
Chiistie’s  factory,  which  was  brilliantly  illuminated  by 
electrio  light  (five  acres  in  each  room;  the  whole  of 
which  was  put  up  by  Mr.  Ohristie  himself,  and  is 
a great  success.  Mr.  Christie  is  about  to  intro- 
duce it  into  his  bungalow,  which  has  already  eot 
electric  bells  in  every  room. — Local  “ Independent.” 
The  Agei-Horticultural  Society  cf  Madras. — 
From  the  Annual  Report  which  has  reached  us 
we  quote  as  follows  : — 
The  season  of  1892,  was  unfortunately  a continu- 
ance, more  or  less,  of  the  drought  of  the  preceding 
two  years,  only  42  inches  being  registered  at  the 
Madras  observatory.  The  season  however  commenced 
favourably  and  gave  ns  22  inches,  and  enabled  us  to 
finish  the  planting  out  ot  many  Palma  which  wire 
not  before  repre  ented  by  living  specimens  in  the 
garden  grounds;  many  other  kinds  of  trees,  shrubs, 
and  more  lowly  perennials  were  planted,  where  space 
existed,  or  where  it  was  found  desirable  to  throw  more 
colour  into  the  landscape,  tome  very  choice  and 
showy  varieties  of  Hibiscus  lending  themselves  ad- 
mirably to  the  purpose. 
Preparing  Bones  for  Manure. — The  fineness  to 
which  bones  are  ground  is  an  important  consider- 
ation as  to  their  value.  The  finer  the  meal  so  much 
the  more  readily  will  it  putrefy  and  dissolve  in  the 
soil  and  so  much  sooner  will  the  crops  be  fed. 
There  is  some  difficulty  in  grinding  fresh,  raw  bones. 
To  obviate  this  difficulty,  they  are  generally  steamed 
or  carried  through  some  prooess  whereby  the  fat 
is  extracted.  Steamed  or  desiccated  bones  if  not 
very  strongly  steamed,  are  better  for  fertilizers  than 
raw  bones.  This  is  contrary  to  the  general  belief 
but  raw  bones  contain  the  fat,  which  is  not  only 
useless  to  the  plant,  but  adds  weight  and  clogs  the 
meal,  and  hinders  decomposition  of  the  bone  in  the 
soil.  Of  course  the  steaming  process  must  not  be 
oarried  on  to  such  an  extent  as  to  extract  the  nitro- 
genous portions  of  the  bone. — Indian  Agriculturist. 
Erythroxylon  Coca  in  Fiji. — Mr.  Keppel  having 
handed  to  the  Agricultural  Society  for  distribution 
some  paobets  of  seeds  of  the  above  plant,  we  give 
somo  particulars  of  it  with  which  he  has  furnished 
us.  [Extracts  from  the  T.  A.  &c.  then  follow  and 
finally  the  editor  says: — After  this  it  is  to  be  hoped 
that  everyone  receiving  seed  will  do  his  very  best 
to  make  them  successful  plants,  for  it  is  a good 
commercial  crop,  as  will  be  Been  when  so  little 
preparation  is  neoesssry,  while  the  yield  is  over 
£50  ($300)  per  acre.  It  is  entirely  an  experiment 
in  bringing  it  here,  for  while  the  temperature  will 
suit  the  soil  and  climate  are  altogether  different 
to  that  it  meets  with  in  its  home;  ours  may  im 
prove  it  or  the  reverse  may  happen  ; intelligent  and 
painstaking  experiment  is  the  only  way  to  decide 
— Samoa  Times. 
Tea  from  Natal.— We  duly  chronicled  the  fact  at 
the  time  when  last  season.  South  African  tea  was 
offered  at  Mincing  Lane,  that  some  12,000  lb.  from 
Natal  had  found  purchasers  at  what  we  supposed  was 
a remunerative  price.  Whatever  the  nett  receipts 
by  the  producers,  it  has  given  encouragement  suffi- 
cient to  warrant  a more  heroic  effort  for  the  season 
now  coming  on,  for  we  learn,  on  the  highest  authority, 
that  over  half  a million— 590,000— pounds  of  tea  will 
be  offered  in  London  for  public  competition.  We 
do  not  hear  that  any  improvement  has  been  effected 
in  curing  the  leaf,  the  necessity  for  which  was 
pointed  out  at  the  time,  and  as  this  is  stated  to 
have  affected  the  price  paid  at  the  sale,  one  would 
have  thought  the  experience  paid  for  wou  d have 
had  a different  result.  They  are  easy-going  folks  in 
the  colony — whose  jubilee  will  he  celebrated  next 
year — but  things  might  be  made  even  more  easy 
than  they  are  if  just  a trifle  more  enterprise  were 
shown  in  these  early  days  of  tea  making. — 
Gardeners'  Chronicle. 
Lightning  Killing  Tea.— Such  is  the  re- 
port from  a Keiani  Valley  correspondent  we  gave 
yesterday  (April  26th)  • 60  bushes  of  tea  killed 
out  by  lightning  on  the  top  of  a hill ; a large 
rock  close  by,  being  also  split  up.  We  do  not 
remember  hearing  of  tea  or  coffee  being  killed  by 
lightning  in  Oeylon  before  this  ? 
Quinine  in  America.— Judging  from  a recent 
report  of  the  quinine  market,  it  seems  (says  the 
Gardeners'  Chronicle  of  April  22nd)  that  the  consump- 
tion of  this  sil-important  medicine,  though  still  rea- 
lising low  prioes,  is  on  the  increase.  Brunswick  manu- 
factured quinine  was  fetching  last  month  only  a 
trifle  over  8d  per  cz.  It  was  stated  bv  a New  York 
huuse  that  the  imports  of  quinine  (as  sulphate  a d 
in  the  bark)  into  the  United  States  in  1892  amounted 
at  least  to  4, 500, COO  cz.,  or  half  the  estimated  out- 
put of  all  the  factories  in  tbe  world.  As  it  is  said 
to  be  a well-known  fact  that  stocks  in  the  States 
are  lighter  than  usnal,  it  is  argued  that  the  oon- 
sumption  of  quinine  in  Ameiica  must  be  on  tbe 
increase  ; also  that  generally  all  over  »be  world  the 
consumption  is  ahead  of  the  production,  and  that 
the  deficiency  is  supplied  bj  the  surplus  stocks  of 
former  year?.  If  this  is  true,  it  is  good  news  far 
Cinchona  planters. 
Tea  Duties  in  China.— The  annual  discus- 
sion on  this  subject  has  commenced  in  the  China 
papers,  the  N.  C.  Herald  of  10th  March  leading 
off  with  two  li  tters  under  the  beading  of  “ The 
Ruinous  Imposts  on  Tea.”  The  writer  of  the  first 
letter  refers  to  the  great  falling-off  in  the  exports 
of  black  tea  from  China  to  the  United  Kingdom, 
equal  to  116i  millions  in  the  past  twelve  years  ; 
and  adds  that  “ at  this  rate  it  will  take  ODly 
four  years  more  to  entirely  extinguish  the  China 
trade  in  Blaok  Tea  to  England.”  This  enormous 
decrease  and  the  consequent  loss  and  distress  in 
China  he  attributes  to  the  crushing  taxation  of  the 
artiole,  amountingto  from30to80per  cent  on  thecoet; 
aDd  he  complains  bitterly  of  the  aotion  (or  rather 
inaotion)  of  the  authorities  in  the  matter.  He 
then  goes  on  to  show  that  in  the  oase  of  other 
markets,  such  as  Australia,  North  America,  and 
Russia,  the  state  of  affairs  is  very  little  better. 
He  concludes  by  saying  : — 
As  the  period  ut  wh'ch  we  are  entitled  to  Treaty 
Revision  does  i ot  recur  until  1898  I fear  that  Dothing 
can  be  done  as  regards  ihe  export  duty,  but  surely  the 
li l in  taxation  can  be  dealt  with,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped 
thfct  the  able  British  Minister  now  at  Pekin  will  grap- 
ple with  ibis  prtssing  ques  ion,  so  long  neglected. 
The  other  writer  supports  the  contentions  of  the 
first,  and  states  that  a petition  on  the  subject,  to 
the  Viceroy  Li,  is  being  drawn  up.  Ho  concludes 
his  letter  as  follows  ; — 
London  advices  for  a year  or  more  past  have  pointed  to 
a desire  on  the  [art  of  many  consumers  to  revert  to  tbe 
use  of  China  tea, and  there  are  evidences  that  if  cheap- 
ness and  quality  could  be  combined  aD  impetus  would 
be  given  to  the  ret  abilitation  of  China  congou,  but  at 
prt  sent,  in  spite  ot  the  unsatisfactory  result  to  grower,’, 
middlemen  a’  d exporters  alike,  there  is  no  doubt  that, 
quality  considered,  China  congou  is  about  the  dearest 
kind  of  tea  in  use  in  England.  With  the  exception  of 
the  nega.ive  quafiiy  of  possessing  less  tauuin  than 
Briiisb-growu  tea,  there  are  no  points  ot  fragrance, 
s' ran, vth,  or  palatable  ness  in  it  of  which  an  energetic 
grocer  could  brag  to  attract  customers.  The  London 
d<  alers  i equirs  a sounder,  better,  more  cleanly  article 
than  ti  e China  congou  of  today  presents  before  they 
can  take  hold  of  it  and  laud  its  excellences.  More  at- 
tention would  undoubtedly  be  given  to  these  points 
if  the  taxation  were  not  so  ruinously  exhaus'ive,  and  as 
the  Cbiuese  are  universally  acknowledged  to  have  by 
far  the  finr  si  raw  material  to  work  on  iu  the  leaf  of 
their  lea  plant,  we  still  hope  to  again  see  it  take  ihe 
front  rank  iu  the  Tea  Trade  for  its  manulactured 
article. 
