246 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 
[Oct. 1, 1900. 
Malacca Rubbkr At KE\v.-Hpec'»iens ot 
gut'ii ami lubber.s from Malacca have b.:en veiy 
favorably reported upon at JCew, with prices 
rario-int.-'as bi-rh as 2^ lUd per lb (lor getah gree/j 
'lantaiV. Tiie ueKlected cliild of the Colony niay 
vet recover some of her prisiirie jirospenty wuh 
such favorable results. -Per«/.- I'lomer, Sept. o. 
A Ricii Russian Kubber Company.— The 
prolits of the Ra-siau-American Indi;. Hubber 
Companv, at St. Petersburg, for ihe last 
budneJyear are reported at 2,9U, 000 rubles 
ac^ainso 3,945,222 rubie,^ in the year lo ib 99, 
The dividend will be only 35 per cent., agamsC 
the customary yearly dividend on 50percent.- 
The India Lubber World, August 1st. 
The Susi'AiNiNd Power of Ban.vnas.— One 
of the most courageous marches ever tak^'U, was 
that of Colonel Willcocks to Kumasi. We hear 
that during the march from Kumasi the whole 
nartv lived on Bananas. On one occasion they 
even waded shoulder high throu^;h a river for two 
hours. Does anyone want a higher test ^)f en- 
durance on a vegetable diet than thWi— Journal 
of Horticulture, August 16th. 
Tea. Prospkcts at Home.— There have 
been orowls over the heavy London stocks 
of Ceylon tea at the end of August. But it is 
pointed out that, notwithstanding bip,- arrivals, 
theyarenofc heavierthan at theend ot Jnly,aiid 
that August's deliveries have, therefore, been 
very satisfactory. It is from the present date 
onwards that the stocks should gradually 
decline, and we hope to see a considerable 
difference at the end of September and of 
October. 
Timber Transport,— The Cochin Durbar liave 
secured the services of Mr. HaHield, an engineer, 
to ' prepare a scheme lor the construction of a 
tramway to convey timber from the SircaT forest 
to the backwater,' and for the deepening of canals 
to float the logs down expeditiously. At present 
it takes a little over a year for the timber to reach 
the Sircar Depot at Ernacolum, after considerable 
difficulty and expense ; but when the scheme is 
completed there will be a saving of money and 
' time. The scheme is estimated to cost two lakhs 
of rupees.— Pioneer. 
A New Fruit,— In this thirsty season the raiser 
of a new fruit is a public benefactor. " The 
MalKli" is not a pleasant name, but we do not 
doubt Messrs. Veitch's new hybrid of the rasp- 
berry and the corn lion blackberry is not the less 
sweet for it. Perhaps they will .send samples to 
the newspapers, as the Kentish gentleman rtid 
with the tobacco he had raisRd, which led to lively 
expectations of a new industry tor di.stressed 
agriculturists in Southern Englanc and Ireland. 
It is not the first time this hybrid has been 
heard of. In fact, it has been something of a 
aea-scroent in it s generous r.ppearances. But this 
time tiiere is no mistake about it. Its origin is 
known and it is duly certihcated. We hope it 
iiiav become as popular and as plentiful as black- 
berries Too little enterprise is shown in the 
cultivation of new fruits in England. Fhere is 
the Rocky jVLountairis berry (PMbus dehctosus), 
for histarlce, which well merits attention and 
would thiive in many soils. The worst of these 
delicate ^oft fruits is th"y must be lightly handled 
and quickly de..pal,ch.d And then the growers 
aB.sert that railway freights are exM.rbitant, if not 
prohibitive. -i!:i/.Vjoi'"''i (^azelte, Aug, 23. 
A Nkw Assam Lin Eon the metre gauge system 
has been propo-etl. It will run along the foot of 
the Kliasi Hills to Jlierria, thence westwards to 
Mao-ion<f, Jalab Tilah and Dwara Bazaar. In- 
elndi g sidings, the length of the line will be 
thirty miles, an i it is estimated that tlie cost will 
be iil5 lakhs. It is expected that the grossearn- 
ings will amount to Kl,50,000 a year, and the 
working expenses are estimated at 53 |)er cent i^o 
that the return on the capital outlay will be 4'67 
jjcr cent. — Plon'-er. 
Criticising Tea Companies. — We give 
elsewhere an extract from the latest In- 
vestors'" Review in which the Editor, Mr. 
Wilson, is engaged in tlie (to him) congenial 
occupation of pitching into the financial 
methods of the jiromoters of certain big 
Tea and Plantation Companies. There is, no 
doubt, another side to the picture which 
he presents if the Directors cared to come 
forward with it. 
The LateSir John Lawhs.-"I am afraid," writes 
a correspondent, " the Tea controversy jjroved too 
greac a shock for the veteran ricientisc of Kotham- 
Bted. It was bad enough to be niisunilerstood 
and misrepie.'-ented by iiis iieighbuur, ^i. A. 
Tali'Ot; but that his newsp.->per echo heie of 
manurial heresies, should ask whether the great 
student and advocate of scientihe agriculture h.ad 
ever seen a tea busli, must have been too much 
for the octogenarian. RI.P." 
The Trues of Mexico— the vegetation of the 
ticrra caliente has often been described and 
compared with that of Ceylon, says a coriespon- 
deut of the Speaker ; but upon the great Mexican 
plateau also the trees, wliere thej' exist, are 
sjdendid and always contrive to group them- 
selves well. Foremost, I think, comes the ash — 
a glorified ash, handsomer than our.s, graceful as 
well a.s massive and of the richest green ; but the 
characteristic tree is the pepper-tree, or, as it is 
commonly called, the Peru, for it is not indigen- 
cus to this country but was introduced years ago 
by a Viceroy from Peru. It is of a most brilliant 
green and covered with bunches of coral-like 
berries. At a distance this tree rather resembles 
our willow, while the willows, in protest as it 
were, have taken unto themstlves the shape of 
jioplars. No enumeration, however, v/ould be 
complete without special mention of a species 
of cypress which, though of no great height, 
attains a gigantic size. Its bulk must be measured 
by the ground it covers, for its branches spread 
■ out in all directions. The A luiete-huete, the 
finest specimen at Tule, has a trunk 40ft in dia- 
meter. The ubiquitous prickly pear and cactus 
hedges give our Mexican scenery a character 
essentially its own — the prickly pear has always 
been Mexican, it was the Aztec emblem and is 
still stamped upon the ponderous Mexican dollar. 
To complete and vary iny picture, Mexican land- 
scapes are blessed by the richest diversity of 
beautiful skies and the cloud etfeets are quite 
unrivalled in spite of the dry climate — or rather, 
perhaps, because of it : such extraordinary 
brilliance may be due to t!ie dryness of the air : — 
" Largior hie campos aether, ec niimine vestit 
Purpureo." 
The sky seems " larger" here than anywhere 
else. I mean that one seems to see more cloud- 
pictures all round, and not only towar.ls or away 
from the sun. Oar atmospheric brilliance, toOj 
seems to fit the Virgiliau " purple,'" 
