Oct. 1, 1900.J THE TROPICAL AGRICULTUEIST. 
241 
boiling water, which, having lain in steep for some 
time, they sip off hot, without swallowing down any 
of the leave?, but only the quintebsence thereof ex- 
tracted. Others prepare it with milk and a little salt 
mingled with the water, which is not so well approved; 
but, however prepareJ, it is not only drunk in China 
and other parts of India but ia much used likev/ise in 
divers other ooantries, and the general consent of all 
people that they iiad much good by it enhances the 
price, and makes the same to be sold here at a very 
de:ir ra.te.—E^-tract from an Embassy from the 
East-India Company of the United Provinces to 
the Grand Tartar Cham, Emiierour of China, 
1669. . . . English . . by J Ogibbf, Esq., Master 
of his Majesties Revels in Londoyi."— Gardeners 
Chronicle. 
SHELLAC. 
There seems to be no reason why the Coccid, Tach- 
ardia lacca should not be artifically propagated. 
Wer^ plantations of the trees upon which lao is 
formed, among which are Butea frondosa, Ziz'jpTius 
Xijlopyra, Mimo.-<a sp., Erytkrina sp. and C'/vton lacci- 
fera, made in suitable localities, there is every likeli- 
hood that the artificial protection of the eggs and the 
careful distribution of the same would lead to the 
increased production and facility of collection of lac. 
Exactly as one of the wax insects, Ericerus pcla, 
which is closely allied to T. lacca, and has the same 
habits and transformations, is cultivated in China, so 
might this sp-cies be worked to advantage in India. 
More difficulty is indeed attached to the rearing of the 
wax insect in China than would be found in the case 
of the lac insect. The Chinese in the district of Kze- 
chuen, where the wax insect produces best, collect 
the eggs from what is supposed to be a more healthy 
district for their oviposition, viz., the region of Been- 
Chaug. The producers carry the eggs over mountain- 
ous country to the more suitable district for wax 
production, the distance between the places occupying 
about a fortnight to cover. The eggs are then tied 
up in small bags and suspended from the twigs of 
the evergreens, on to which the newly-latched larvae 
swarm and subsequently produce a coating of wax 
in the same manner that the lao insect produces Lie. 
Both the gum lac and the dye made by the insects 
are marketable products. — Indian Planters' Gazette, 
Aug. 25. 
AGRICULTURE AND CHINA MATTING. 
{From an ex Ceijlon resident.) 
Manila., Aug. 17. 
The CivilCommissioners take over power here 
from General Macavthur, the Military Gov- 
ernor, next month, and one of them will start 
an Agricultural Department, but I am afraid 
they will be long ui sttirting Experimental 
Garden.s. 
You will see by the paper I am sending 
that the Government have selected a site 
for a Sanitpvrium on the Ben;;uet hills. It 
Will be reached by i-ail from Manila to Dagu- 
pan (across Luzon) and a small hill railway is 
to be made from D:igupan up the hills. I am 
afraid it will be two years before this line is 
made, as everything is done very slowly, 
Manila is improved since the American occu- 
pation, but there is plenty of room for more 
improvements, especially in the roads. Bad 
road metal is put down and rollers are un- 
known. — 
A SANITAKIUM FOR LUZON. 
Luzon is to have a Siuitarium, It will be located 
np in the life giving mountains of Benguet at a 
place called Bogio, about 45 miles from Dagupan to 
which place it will be united by a mountain rail- 
road, and all this will be done as soon as possible 
pi,nd within a year, Messre, Wright p,ud Worcester 
of the Civil Commission journeyed north to locate a 
suitable site for a Sanitarium. These gentlemen I'e- 
turned to Manila last FriJay, filled full with praise 
for the Benguet countrj'. In selecting Bogio for the 
proposed sanitarium, the commission had three very 
important matters in view, the first of which was, 
of course, a health resort. A place where, during 
the most oppressive months of the Luzon year, 
Americans and Europeans could go and rest and 
recuperate. For this purpose the place chosen is 
adraii'ably situated. It is high in the mouutaina 
and contains an abundance of the purest, freshest 
water, the nights and days are cool, the scenery 
superb and inspiring. Besides the motives of health, 
the establishment of a summer resort here and the 
building of a railroad from Dagupan will be the 
means of opening uj a wonderfully rich region, and 
will in this way prove a good political move, while 
from a military point of view such a step would 
be invaluable. — Manila Times, August 16th. 
CHINA MATTING MANUFACTURING CO- 
PKOSPECTUS. 
Capital, |il,000,000 (Hongkong Currency) divided 
into 50,000 shares of |20 each, of which $5 
is payable on application and %5 on allot- 
ment. Head office Hongkong. This Company haa 
been formed for the purpose of makins; by power-looms 
straw matting of the same description as that now 
produced by hand-looms in the neighbourhood of 
Canton (China.) The export of Matting from China 
to the United States has of late years become a most 
important trade, having risen in the last 10 years aa 
follows :— from 179,472 rolls shipped in 1889-1890 to 
370,170 rolls shipped in 1898-1899 but, as usual, the qua- 
lity of the goods has fallen away with the increased 
demand, while prompt delivery to contract time has 
become increasingly difficult. 
Many attempts have been made to devise looms 
which could be worked by steam to take the place of 
the crude hand looms used by the Chinese and Japa- 
nese, but success has only been attained by a loom 
which became the property of the Kobe Manu- 
facturing Co., and which has since been brought 
to a high state of perfection by further inventions 
and improvements. 
The promoters of this company, having experi- 
mented with a small trial plant of 50 of these pov/er 
looms and introduced various further improvements 
suggested by their knowledge of the Matting trade 
and requirements of the market in the United States, 
are now satisfied that Matting made by such machi- 
nery must supersede that made by hand looms and 
have accordingly entered into an agreement with the 
Kobe Manufacturing Co, to acquire all the rights to 
the invention. 
While experimenting with 50 looms, some 10,000 rolls 
were made and shipped and the reports on the later 
and better made shipments were all of a highly favour- 
able and enccuraging nature, the evenness of the fabrio 
and the great improvement on the old hand-loom mat" 
ting, especially as regards the selvage or edge, being 
particularly praised ■ and commented on. One great 
difficulty was to get the machines to turn over the 
straw so as to produce a clean surface at the edges of 
the Matting. This difficulty was overcome some few 
months ago, and the looms can now, in the opinion of 
experts, turn out a perfect fabric. As each power 
loom can produce about 30 yards a day as against 6 
yards produced by hand-loom, the saving in the time is 
obvious, while the advantage of being able to 
rely upon punctual delivery will be a great boon 
to dealers at home who at present have to put 
up with much delay and loss of time in 
getting their goods. The advantage is still more obvious 
to-day iu view of the political unrest all over China 
and the great probability of the present troubles in 
the North spreading to the Uouth, in which case 
the matting industry in the districts around Canton ia 
likely to suffer to such an extent that it may take 
years to recover, matting being entirely dependent 
upon the labor pf ^be jpeasanlj class w'uem p^^ en< 
