88 
THE TROPICA]. AGRICULTURIST. 
[Aug. ], 1900. 
MUTTON 
be the theme of my following remarks. 
Last iUitumn the price of breeding ewe.s, 
for some leason or another, went u]) 
very considerably, and at the same time 
a drop of several shillings per head took 
I)lace in the price of feeding sheep. In this 
district evei'y one began phinging on the 
former class, while the latter kind -were 
practically unsaleable and as is my usual cus- 
tom 1 at once pioceeded to do wliat my 
neighbours weie not doing aTid rushed all 
my breeding ewes into the market, where I 
got extravagant prices for them, filling their 
places at home by the purchase of feeders. 
1 had remarked that owing to drought in 
Australia the statistics of that country siiowed 
a reduction in the niuiiber of sheep there of 
20 millions, which in my opinion meant a 
shortage in the supply of frozen mutton to 
this country. The war in South Africa, 
which had just broken out, I knew would be 
the means of diverting transport vessels from 
their reguUir beat between this and America, 
and so the supply of cattle and sheep from 
the West would undoubtedly be curtailed. 
Putting therefore two and two together I 
felt convinced that fat sheep would be boom- 
ing In the near future, so I plunged to a cer- 
tain extent, and bought a few hundred more 
than I usually do at that season. Things 
turned out exactly as I had hoped they 
would, and mutton has been throughout the 
past six months higher in price than for 18 
years and the sheej) which I bought in 
autumn, I have resold at from two to three 
times the price 'I paid for them. Nothing 
surprises me more than the indifference 
paid by my brother farmers to 
THE PRICES QUOTED IN FOREIGN MARKETS 
when, if they would only take the troul)le 
to think for a moment, it must be patent to 
them that it is the foreign market which 
rules the home one and not vice versa. The 
grain merchant who purchases my oats asked 
me once, how it happened that I always sold 
to him just before a big drop took place in 
the price of corn. My answer seemed to 
surprise him. I told him tliat in my foreign 
papers I noted when a number of ships laden 
with oats cleared for this country and calcu- 
lating as to the time when they might be 
due here, I sold the week in advance— before 
the importation had brought down the price. 
He seemed to think that I exhibited a vast 
amount of cleverness in so doing, but I my- 
self fail to see it in that light, merely con- 
sidering my action as tiiaL of one of ordi- 
nary common-sense. There are some who 
might object to doing as I did with regard 
to the purchase of feeding sheep as being of 
tot) speculative a nature ; but speculation 
enters into every action that one does, even 
to going to church. How often does not put 
a i-u[)ee into the plate at the door of the Kirk, 
f(indly hoping to hear in return a sermon 
wortli more than that siun, and yet finds that 
the discouise which he is favoured with can- 
not be valued l)y the most liberal of valuators 
at moi'(^ than two annas! In anothei' 
case, however, my foresight was at fault. 
I read, in my New Zealand papers, that owing 
to the war 
THE PRICE OF OATS 
in that country had gone up with a bound 
from 8s to 16.3 per fjuarter, and naturally 
I concluded that we home farmers would 
benefit also, so I held my crop for a rise. 
Alas ! however, the rise never came, and 
ratlier than sell at the price offered by the 
grain merchants, I fed my sheep on Oats, 
and refused to buy feeding stuffs from the 
dealers ; so that they, l)y refusing to give us 
the rise which we were justly entitled, to 
lost two commissions, one oji the purch.ase 
of grain, and one on the sale of feeding 
condiments. I speak in the plural because 
I succeeded in persuading many of my neigh- 
bours to do as I myself was doing, .-md so 
this has not been a very successful year 
for the grain merchants, who, no doubt, 
will bear tliis in mind wiien we liave an- 
other little war on our hands, and when, 
I ho]>e, they will give us poor down-trod- 
den farmers, the lise in the price of our 
grain to which we may be considered justly 
entitled. 
PLANTING IN SUMATRA. 
NOTK FROM SKRDANG : EAST COAST OF SUMATRA.. 
Thp COFFKK Dkalkks a) 6 having a lonj; in- 
ning's this tinie at the expense of the unlucky 
prou\icei'. Four j-ears or so ago, Liljeiiaii Coffte 
was quoted for a considerable time in Singapoie 
at $45 per pieul of 13.3^ lb, the top price tom bed, 
if I remember ri<;bt, being §57'.5t'. 'J lien without 
a word of warniiifr, it went '• juisC pluiik," as ihcy 
say in Drumlochty, to $16 and slowly recovering to 
about $2) has remained there or thereabouts for 
a weary enough time. For a f'?w days last 
Januaiy and February it leceived to about $2.'> 
and many of us were then ho|)eful that the cycle 
of low prices was at end, and better dfiys were in 
view : but it appears that we were mistaken 
and the last Singapore quotation is .fl9 only. 
Verily pride goetli befoie a fall, and a haughty 
spirit is brought low by over-proiluc.tion. It has 
however been proved that a stand-out lot will 
always conunand its own f];j;ure in Europe, and 
the secret of a good sample of Libeiian Coffee is 
quick drying. 
Our stand-by in Serdang as I have written 
befoie is 
CROPS. 
These continue abundant, and low prices are not 
suc!i a serious matter as ihey would be in less 
favoured parts. Pests are fortunatelj' almost un- 
known. The foe H V is like the poor in that it is 
always with us. But, thanks be, our poor are 
few and far between ; and no one's rest is as 3'et 
disturbed by dreams of leafless estates. The con- 
ditions are niucii in our favor. The soil is, as I 
have often remarked, first class, and there is no 
overcrowding. The total area under coffee 
in not I.T.OjO acres, and all this is interspersed 
with jungle, big and small, and lalang. 
It is worth noting tliat a bad tree is invari- 
ably bad 
FROM THE ROOTS. 
Be it bail with liaf-disease, canker, or even 
attacked by caterpillars, pull it up and you will 
find the roots either tlouble fanged, cork-screwed, 
bunible toed, or club-footed. To me the mo t 
remarkable thing is the avoidanc? of Iieahliy 
trees by caterpillars. We have no Egyptian 
plague of these, as in ttie Native States a yeaf 
