114 
THE TROPICAL 
AG-RICULTCjRIST. 
[Aug. 1, 1900, 
PLANTING NOTES, 
Te V Planting: Guatemala and India Con- 
TRAS: TED — Tea planting in llie ( 'u.-ileniRla, we 
arfl a wai-e, coiilil never iiecume a f.'r i'.'!t. iiulii'^try, 
Ivib \vr iiiet-el-.' mention fclief.i>-t/ <»f tue de.'ire "f the 
Goi'eriiinenb of that iiUU> to i!eve'<->|-i Hi-; le- 
sonrc?! of the country, whei'ea^ in tliid highly 
civiliseil land it la the othsr way ahuiit. livery 
possible check is put to the progress and growth 
of private enterprise by Europeans, wlwni llie 
jealous olficials still appear ro reg inSin tlieilKlit 
more or less of interlopers.- -A G., July 14. 
GR15EX Teas.— We hear of considei'able 
activity in a number of factories towards 
beginning the manufacture of green teas; 
and it is quite expected that half a million 
lb. will be exported by the end of this 
year and not less than two uiillions of 
"greens" next year. If India gives a fair 
trial (and its offer of about nine cents a lb. 
should be an inducemeiit) and makes three 
or four millions lb., by the end of 1901, the 
American market should be fully tested so 
far as British-made "greens" .are con- 
cerned. 
Empire of India and Ceylon Tka Company 
(Limited) — The report for )89;} states that fur the 
greater part of the year there was goo-l seaso'is to 
expect satisfactory result'', but at-, the height, of the 
selling .season the' market value of mediuni and fine 
teas fell heavily, and the fall in price from the 
bcinninsr of November represents a loss of fnlly 
£10,000. Tiie excess of the Indian crop over the 
outturn of tb.e previous year nfrected general prices 
unfavourably, except those of low grades which 
were n; untiiined liy exceptional causes. The mis- 
managemant r^pori;ed to the shareholders last year 
necessitated lieavy expenditure on some of the 
gardens in order tio bring them up to a high state 
of efliciency. The not profin for 1899 is £19.853, to 
which must be added £l4'J bronglit ff.rward. 
togethpr £19,899 After providing for the dividend 
on the pieference caiiital tiiere will remain a 
balance of £9,019. i he directors recommend a 
final dividend of 3-. 6d, per share, making, with 
the interim dividend already paid, a total distri- 
bution of 4^ per cent, per annum on the ordinary 
capital, carrying forward £G0 —London Times, 
June 25 
Anglo-Ceylon and General PJstate. 
Co.— We publish on another page today the 
annual report of this Company in which the 
directors recommend a dividend of 4 per cent 
on the consolidated stock. There was a 
large increase in the crop obtained from the tea 
estates in Ceylon and the quality had been 
well maintaiiied, bat there was a falling-ofi 
in price owing to the s'ate of the market. 
The year had also been more favourable than 
the previous one for the production of cocoa 
and the price had advanced. Owing to wet 
weather there had been a diminution in tne 
sugar crop in jMauritiiis. Interesting statistics 
are given as to the acreage in different pro- 
ducts. On the Ceylon properties there are 
SOOfS acres of tea in bearing, 28.5 in carda- 
inoms and 001 in cacao in bearing interplanted 
with cocoiiuts not in bearing. In Helangor 
there are 10 i acres of coiTee not in bearing 
inter|)l.-int(-d witli cofonnts and rubber and 9.5 
in coeoimts and rubber; while in Mauritius 
the Comi)any owns 4,270 acres (principally pf 
course in siigar) besides being interested in 
other estates. 
ToriAcco at Jaffna,— This 'staple product of 
this Peninsula is now .sold here at a fancy price. 
The aver.Tge price of a Paroni of tobacco is K250 
as against ln.5'1 in picvious years. This rise in 
theprici^ is uwni^' to tlie heavy damage caused to 
lli'^ crop by the fli,)-jd.i ot April la.si. i'l.e quaiiiity 
01 ,';irif(';i usually exported fiorn here tofravancore 
and C 'ciiin «ns between £0,0C( and (iO,(.00 b-iles. 
ft i.s e.'-tiiiiated I hat only about 35,000 bales «iil be 
fivail.tb'e for expoic ihi.s year. The inerciiants 
have already jiurchased more thijn half the (jiian- 
tity giowii !ii-retiiis year atid the remaining (|nan- 
tiiy also will be in the hands of merchants in 
another foi'tni;,bt. 'I he tobaceo iise:l in the manu- 
facture of cigars also connjiands unusually liigh 
pi ice. .lafl'na is not, ilK'refure, a l-iser by the 
ciost! uelivH rtood-i of April last. — " Hindu Organ," 
June 2/1 h. 
The Rubber Indl^stky in I.vdia. -The 
Pioneer of the 5th .Inly gives the following 
concise suininary of what has been d(me by 
the Indian Government to foster a rubber- 
producing industry : — 
Th" deman-l for indiarubb;r in the Buropein 
and American maikjt-, due in g>e~t measure to the 
bicycle-craze a;id to tbp use of rubber-tyres on caba 
p.n;i Ci.rri iges, "shoul 1 b.! car.:fuily noted iii this 
country. Mr. Ribtj^'i L: up. iu liis recent p.;mpblet on 
Forestrf, gives siio r. history of tbs rubber industry 
iu Assaiii, which is instructive in its way. lu lH73 
Mr. Gusti'.v Mtvou, foreseeing that the nituial rubber- 
resources of the Px'ovince w'>uld dry up sooner or 
later, started the Charduar p'.autation, and by tlie end 
of 1884 Eorae 890 acres ha i bsen stocked with Ficus 
lastica, Bit iM-iina wisbed to add at lA.i=.t 200 acres 
annually for an indefinite period and the Govei n:]ient 
of India favoured this proposal, but the Local Govern- 
ment, having no spare ci;-b, took buc a languid 
iuteresfc in the operations and in 18.3:) ilie plantation 
only covered l,Oi;! acres. Then the luipector-Gcueraj 
of Foresis took up the matter and in tire next four 
years 860 a"ve^ were added, or slightly more than 
the an-dual increase advocated by Mr. Mann. In 
8194 the Loc?d Government again ihrew cold water 
ou the scbeme : a calculation was m,ide showing 
that the net profit realised amounted to only R60 
per mSiUnd, and this was not sutiicient to ]''_:stify 
further expenditure. The fact was that the planting 
had been badly done. The establishment of new 
nnrseries had been neglected, and, " instead of pro- 
viding a proper ' Ontinuity of healthy young nursery 
plants, the undersized and suppressed specimens from 
the old nurseries were used, which accounted for the 
comparative want of success in the final planting! 
of .1893." Matters re-ted until 1898 when Mr, Hill, 
then officiating as In.=pector-Geueral of Forests, 
visited the plantaiiou and recommended that the work 
should vigorously be taken in hand again. New 
nurseries were estatiliahed a.nd better results were 
obtained. In 1898 99 experimental tapping of the 
trees was tried, and when the lubber was put on the 
market the net profit realised was RhS or 50 per cent 
more than that earned iu 1893. It has now been 
temporarily settled to extend the plantation by another 
1,000 acres in the next five years. The moral of the 
story ii that unless new nurseries are formed every 
year, good planting material will not be forthcoming 
and the industry will lap?e into its old state. There 
is no financial difficulty connected with these nnr- 
series if pr ipeily managed; p.ud, moresver, it should 
be noted that the tea-planters Irtely have begun to 
grow Ficus elasfica on their -WAste lands, seeing 
a possiole source of extra income from the rubber- 
tree. In this adventure they should receive every 
encouragcm Jilt and the surp us saplings from the 
nurseries might well ba made over to them fi-ee of 
charge as suggested by .Mr. Ribbentrop. T.i^' Assam 
rubber-industry is well worth fostering, particularly 
just now when the profits from many tea-gardeij? 
are «o smgill, 
