July 1, 1900.] THE TEOPICAL 
AGRICULTURISt. 
23 
PLANTING NOTEy. 
New Areas of CoLTrv^ATiON.— 913 acres were 
opened in tea, 49 in cacao, 358 in plantains, 92 
in rubber, and 116 in cardamoms in the course 
of tlie year. The total acreage planted was 
2,433. A much larger extent of land was sold in 
1899 than in the previous year, when 328 acres 
only found purchasers. — Mr. Hill. 
Rubber. — J lie United States Government hoped 
to save some +;6,000,000 worth of imported rubber 
annually by btarcing a new source of supply in 
their recently acquired Hawaii. It is said that 
the agents ot the Agricultural Department will 
collect some 100,000 lui.ber-trees from Brazil, 
Mexico, and Central America, and begin planting 
in the island — The Planter, June 2. 
Camphor-trees ix Ceylox.— Mr. Owen, 
of Lindula, ha.s been making another experi- 
ment with camphoi'-tree primings and has 
got about one per cent, camphor,— that is 
7-lb. pi'unings from a 5-year old tree (from 
Hakgala) yielded about one ounce of solid 
camphor, besides oil. This indicates a paying 
industry, if an appreciable clearing and 
supply of pruuings could be assiu^ed. Crude 
camphor realizes up to 200s per cwt. 
Effects OF Salt Watkr ON the Soil. — A re- 
cent paper read before an English society deals 
with the chemical effect of a high tide on 30,000 
acres of Essex soil. The last water injury lasts, 
according to various authorities, from five to 
twenty years. After tlie water had run off it was 
found that there was 2 per cent of the salt in the 
.soil tweniy times the normal amount, but not 
directly injurious. The damage seems to be 
chiefly due (says " Engineering") to the entire 
destruction of the earth-worms. The 1898 crop 
was very poor, and the following spring the state 
of the soil was also very unsatisfactory ; still 
earth-worms began to appear, and nine-tentiis of 
the salt has been washed out by rain. Apparently 
the soil has beeouie gelatinous, owing to the action 
of the chloride on the silicates, the silicate of 
alumina remaining behind, while the other silicates 
are greatly reduced in percentage. The proper 
treatment seems to he to plough in green crops, 
dressing with lime and potash, and manuring. — 
Exchaiige. 
Python-brkeding at the Calcutta Zoo.— It 
is not often that one has the opportunity of seeing 
a pythoness hatching its eggs, and those who 
were lucky enough to visit the Zoological Gar. 
dens last week might have witnessed the unique 
sight. The eggs are about twice tlie size of ducks' 
eggs, and exhibit a leathery crumpled up ap- 
pearance, as if they were small bladders not pro- 
perly distended with air ; their colour, however, 
is a dn'ty white, and their covering might be 
compared to the skin of a mnshroou). The pytho- 
ness which appears to be about thirteen feet in 
length, and whose body in its thickest part must 
be nearly two feet in diameter, is nursing her 
eggs in a curious manner. She has coiled herself 
up in a symmetrical heap till she resembles a 
basket of which the sides and the lid are her coils; 
and within this arrangement she has piled up tlie 
egiis, which she is so assiduously hatching. It 
will be interestinsf to see the little pythons when 
they make their entrance into the world, for, to 
judge from the size of the eggs, they should be 
quite six inches in length. The poor mother was 
so stared at by sightseers that authorities took 
pity upon her and covered up the glass face of 
the cage with a screen. — Statesman, Ma.y 24. 
Tkavajjcore Te\.— Heavy yields are e.x- 
pected trom various tea estates in Travanccre, 
and in some quarters it is thought that quality 
as Well as quanri;y will show improvement. We 
note that the North i'ravancore Land, Planting 
and Agriculttual Society, Ld., has now been 
fornjally " absorbed by the Kanan Devau Hills 
Produce Co., Ld. We are by no means snre that 
the planting industry in Travancore v.'ill gain by 
the steady aggrandisement of a company that has 
now acquired such a preponderating influence; 
but at least it is well that capital should be 
forthcoming for the development ot work. — 
Planting Opinion, M«yl9. 
Rkpresentative to Para. — A suggestion has 
been made that the ti.ue has come tor Milaya to 
semi over a piaccical planter to Para to inquire 
into the condition of rubber cultivation in that 
country, methods of tapping in vogue, etc., and 
the Chairman of the Cnited Planters' Associa- 
tion undertook to address a letter to the papers 
on the subject. This has been done and without 
exception the criticism evoked has been favour- 
able, but the Committee of the Association think 
sufficient time has scaicely elapsed for them to give 
any farther expression of opinion. — Straits Times. 
A RuBBfiR Plant for TkmperatI'] CLiMiis.— 
In a recent lecture at the Paris Academie des 
Sciences, says Das Hanclelsmuseum,. Messrs, 
I. Uybowski and G. Frou introduced a new rubber 
furnishing plant, a native of Northern China, 
which is at present cultivate<l with great suc- 
cess at the Jardin des Plantes, the Paris 
Horticultural Gardens. Up to the present time 
rubber has been extracted from trees only, and 
effurrs have been made to acclimatise thot-e from 
the Netherland East Indies in the French cislo- 
nies, but, unfortunately, without any result what- 
ever. This new plant, called Encomia illi- 
noides, whose fruits, contain over twenty-seven 
per cent of indiarubber, has great econom- 
ical advantage. It can easily be acclimatised and 
cultivated in countries of even a moderate climate. 
The New Customs Order in regard to 
Tea. — Last month there came into opei-ation 
a new London Customs order intrijducing 
the weighment of tea with a half-pound 
weight in conformity with tire agreement 
arrived at last year, the result of which 
will be a little gain to producers and buyers, 
we believe. On August 4th last, Messrs. 
Gow, Wilson & Stanton, commenting upon 
the agreement, said :— 
The dispute concerning the overweight which 
growers of Indian and Ceylon Tea have formerly 
allowed buyers has been settled subject to the 
conditions being confirmed by a general meeting 
of importers to be held today, and the proposed 
method of weighing receiving the sanction of 
H.M. Customs. The main points of the agree- 
ment are as follows :— The 1-lb. trade draft to be 
allowed as heretofore. All Teas are to be 
weighed gross as formerly, odd ounces being 
disregarded and consequently given in buyers 
favour. The empty package is to be w^eighed to 
the i-lb. (o) Should it weigh the exact even 
pound it is to be entered as such. {b) If it 
weighs the even J-lb. or over it is to be entered 
as the next pound above, ic) If it weighs bolow 
the 5-lb. it is to be entered as the 1-lb. below. 
These regulations to come into force on the 2nd 
October, 1899. This agreement is generally con- 
sidered, under all the circumstances, a reason- 
able compromise and one that growers can 
benefit by, if they exercise care in weighing 
gross and tare. 
