242 
THE TROPICAL AGRIOULTUEIST. 
[Oct. 1, 1900. 
gA(?ed ill their ordinary farm work. It it proposed to 
erect a Factory c:ipal)lo of running 450 looms pro- 
ducing about 100,000 rolls per annum, of which it ia 
estimated, at tha prices recently obtained in the 
United States for the iVIatting sent there for sale, 
there would be a net profit of a least per roll, 
or say $150,000. In courae of time further experience 
and economies vviil undoubtedly ioipvove upon these 
figures. Tlie promoters of this Company have, as 
before stated, rxperimented with 50 looms and 
having acquired from the Kobe manufacturing 
Company all the rights to the invention 
will transfer tiie same to the new company 
together with fifty looms and other machi- 
nery, stock in trade, good will, etc., for 
$350,000 (Hongkong currency), which amount will ba 
taken by the Kobe Manufacturing Company and the 
promoters in shares. The capital of the company, 
as far as can be roughly estimated, will be laid out 
in tlio following manner : — Laud, buildings and 
machinery, !!?i70,000 ; working capital, 180,000; Kobe 
Manufacturing Company and promoters for rights, 
good-will and sundrv machinery, including engine t'jid 
50 looms, S350,000 taken in shares.— Total, §1,000,000. 
— ilariila Times Aug. 16. 
ADDITIONS TO THE ZOO. 
At the monthly meeting yesterday of the Zoological 
Society of London at the offices in Hanover Square, 
Dr. Henry Woodward, P.R.S., vice president, in the 
ohalr, it was reported that there had been 137 addi- 
tions to the society's menaf<erie during July. Among 
them special attention was directed to a fine pair of 
tigers (Felis Tigris) from Mysore, India, presented 
by H.H. the Maharaui Regent of Mysore ; to a sharp- 
nosed badger (Meles leptoi hynchus), from China, re- 
presenting a species which had not been in the 
society's collections since 1873; and to a young 
female brindled gnu (Connochcetes taurina), born in 
the society's gardens, being the first instance of this 
species breeding in the society's menagerie. It was 
also announced that the Right Hon. Cecil J Rhodes 
had presented to the menagerie a lioness which had 
arrived on the 11th last, in the steamer Saxyn, of the 
Union Cas'le Company, and that the company had 
kindly brought it from the Cape freight free.— 
Glohe, Aug, 17. 
GOLD CRAZE IN MADAGASCAR. 
Paris, Ang. 17. — The discovery of gold in the 
Malagasy provinces of Iine"''ina and Anibositra 
has generated a veritable craze in all sections of 
the popnlation, irrespective of race or cokmr. All 
ties of business, family, and long residence in the 
capital and oilier centres are being uprooted, and 
there i.^ a universal insli for the new El Dorado. 
The fever of sneculation has already been pro- 
ductive of iiiucli misery. There is no doubt that 
there are gold deposits, but most of those found 
hitherto prove to have been almost exiiausted 
by natives before the French Conquest. The 
gold region extends about 100 miles south of 
Antananarivo. — Daily Express. 
CAPRIFICATION OF FIGS. 
The process of caprification or oross-polleni.'=ation 
of Smyrna Figs is performed chiefly by women and 
children ; it con;;isl in calliering the Profichi, and 
RU=pcndinK them ir. ili" luMnchcs of the Smyrna tree, 
says Cd.lifornia l<'r:i:! (■>•(, inr. In the Meander 
orchnrdn it i« cur-tom;' ry Id siring tlic hard Profichi 
on end-i of rmdics, wiiich are pu died liorizontally 
throutli the sides of tho Fig; if the Prcliehi are 
plentiinl two are strung on each end of the rush, Vvihieh 
ju tb'.u thrown up into tho Smyrna tree and caught 
among the branches. The fig wasp, on emerging from 
the Profichi, enters the Figs nearest to hand, not 
discerning any external difference betwebn the 
young Si.oyrua Figs and the young Mammoni, which 
it would enter if still in ihe caprifig tree. But once 
inside the fig wasp discovers that Eomethicg is wrong, 
for, instead of finding short-styled gall flowers in which 
it could lay its eggs, there are only female flowers 
with long styles, which are entirely unfitted to 
receive tho eggs : insect is unable to escape, and in 
darting about in vain efforts to find some gall flowers, 
the pollen with which it was so freely dusted in 
emer;nn_- from the Profichi is rubbed into the re- 
ceptive stigmas of the female flowers. The little wasp 
finally dies in the Fig without having been able to 
provide for tlie production of its kind, and on cutting 
open a Smyrna Fig siiortly after caprification one can 
usually find the dead insect. 
The quantity of caprifigs needed to caprificate a Fig 
tree varies with the size of the tree. In Smyrna some 
thirty Figs are required to caprificate a large full- 
grown, edible Fig tree. 
^ 
TRADE IN BORNEO. 
The report of Mr. Consul Keyser on the trade in 
Borneo has just been received. AVith regard to 
Brunei, it appears that there is a good opening 
for the collection and cultivation of rubber and 
gutta-percha, but the Chinese have practically 
killed the trade and driven the natives out of their 
country. 
Sarawak, which is governed by Rajah Sir 
Charles Brooke, is, however, progressing rapidly, 
and the exports of rubber and gutta-percha from 
this district are increasing every year, as the fol- 
lowing figures show 
The reports being as follows :— 
1898 1899 
Gutta-percha ... 51.3,2001b. 1,362,2671b. 
India-rubber ... 515,333 1b. 601,133 ib. 
These, with rattans, form the chief articles of 
of Qx^ovi.—Incliarubhcr Journal, Aug. 20. 
4> 
LINSEED OIL-CAKE. 
This product has long been known to gardeners ia 
the country as a valuable manure for fruit trees, 
especially for vines and peaches ; but its use has not 
been as general as its valuable properties warrant. 
Mixed with lime it has a wonderful efiect on fruit 
trees. Judging from the reports on experiments 
carried out on the several Government experi- 
mental farms by the application of Imseed cake to 
certain cereal crops, the conclusion to be drawn is that 
it is one of the best fertilising agents we have. As a 
cattle food and even for horses, its value is fully re- 
cognised in England and Scotland and hundreds of 
tons of it are imported annually from India by 
Scotch fp.rmers, who are better acquainted with its 
valuable properties than the Indian 'ryots. As with 
bone-meal so with linseed oil-cake. Those out of 
India think more of it than the Indians, with the 
result that, instead of being utilised in this country 
for the manuring and fertilisation of crops, these 
valuable substances are being sent out of the country. 
It is a striking commentary on the peculiar conditions 
obtaining ia Indisi, that the people do not recognise 
the value of their own indigenous products, and allow 
foreigners to exploit them to their own advantage, 
Blessrs. Barry and Co., Calcutta, are the Managing 
Agents of the Gourepore Co , Ld., and will be glad to 
furnish particulars as to tho linseed oil-cake manu- 
factured by the latter. — Indian Gardening ami 
rUmiln(j, Aug. 30. 
