318 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
[Nov. 1, 1900. 
rounds, performing animals and other forms 
of amusement. Elephant rides will, of cour.'^e, 
be .a iiroiiiinent source of fun. It will be 
the endeavour of Mr. Hagenleck, in designing 
the plan of the Zoo, to tdve as much space 
and freedom to the animals as possiUle. The 
cages for both birds and beasts will enclose as 
many trees as is necessary, and the surroundings 
will be as near nature as practicable- In all, the 
grounds will cover about 2U or more acres- 
THE MODE OF ADVERTISING. 
With regard to advertising the Colombo Zoo 
and making it as widely known as possible, 
large boards will be lixed in prominent positions 
at the jetty, tiotices will be placed in the hotels 
and at various points of vantage in our thorough- 
fares. Another mode of advertisement will be 
the distribution of small hand bills, or cards, to 
the passengers, the American style of advertising 
being followed as closely as possible. 
. The Zoo is to be opened each day of the week, 
including Sunday — on which day. of cour.se, 
concerts will not be held — and the time of closiug 
will be (J p.m. or 6-30 p.m. A good jiortiou of 
the revenue is expected to be derived from 
the charges for the elephant, dromedary and 
camel ride.s. Help has been proTuised from the 
Zoological Garden proprietors in India, who offer to 
send animals at cost price. All gifts of specimens 
to the Zoo will be acknowledged in the papers the 
same as they are in London. 
"We hope to make an actual start with the 
laying out of the grounds next month, and as soon 
as the buildings are ready we can very quickly get 
the animals housed, remarked Mr. Hagenbeck. The 
hsite has to be surveyed in order that the places for 
the ponds maybe fixed upon and that the necessary 
levelling niay be done. "It may be," said Mr. 
Hagenbeck "that the gardens will be ready by 
the time the troops come back fiom Ciiina." The 
directorate will be composed of about half-a-dozen 
well-known European and native residents of 
Colombo. 
Season and family tickets will be issued, but the 
charge for admission has not yet been settled. 
The idea is to incorporate a botanical section 
with the Zoo, and in tliis connection, it is hoped 
that some help may be given from those in autho- 
rity at Peradeniya Gardens- 
We have every belief that under tue experienced 
and able guidance of Mr. Hagenbeck the scheme 
will turn out a success in every sense. 
TKOPICAL AFRICAN RESOURCES, 
(Before flie Bi-itish Association.) 
Mr. Edward HeawoocI, in the ourae of a paper 
dealing with the commercial resources of tropical 
Africa, said that at least 70 per cent, of the total 
trade of Africa fell to the countries of the extreme 
north and south, leaving the whole of tropical Africa, 
with an area of .some nine mUlions of square miles, 
a total triide of at most £.30,000,000, of which nearly 
£7,000,000 belonged to the small islands of Mauri- 
tius and Reunion. Among historical reasons for 
the smalhiesa of the existing trade were the attrac- 
tion exercised during the age of great discoveries 
by America and the Bast and the consequent neglect 
of Africa, *ho political condition of the African 
peopleti, and the effects of the slave trade ; geo- 
graphical causes were found in the massive form 
of the continent and consequeut absence of natural 
means of communication aiad the unhoalthiness of 
the coait hinds. That many of thesa causes were 
not necessarily permanent was shown by a com- 
parison with Brazil, which afiorded a close parallel 
with tropical Africa in many rsepecte. This showed 
hat, given natural resources cap&ble of supporting 
an iucreaacd export trade, the comuiercial futnfe 
of tropical Africa need not b6 hopeless. The re- 
sources of a new country might be classed aa 
exhaustible, principally minerals, and permanent, 
chiefly animal and vegetable products, the 
second group being more important. They might be 
again subdivided into jungle prociuccg, which, though 
not necessarily exhaustible, were likely to suffer dimi- 
nution, and cultivated products. The former might, 
under cultivation, be transferred to the latter sub- 
group, which was the most important of all. In Brazil, 
for instance, the Viist preponderauco of the exports 
was made up by tlie four products coffee, sugar, to- 
bacco and cotton. Rubber and timber, at present 
jungle products, and cacao, made up the seven prin- 
cipal resourcses of Rnzil. In tiopical Africa, jungle 
products, principally rubber and palm-oil and kernels 
(total 'annual value over £l,000,UOOj. were at present 
those on which the export trade mainly depended. 
A period of development of plantation products had, 
however, set in, and coffee, cacao, cotton, tea, d'c, liad 
been grown with success in various parts. The chief 
difficulties to be encountered arose fiom the want of 
means of transport and the scarcity of labour ; but 
these were now iu a fair way to be overcome. The 
modern tendency for each country to depend for 
tropical produce largely on its own colonies mast 
favour the commercial development of Africa, while 
the comparatively lov/ polui itioa of Africa per square 
mile rendered it probiUjle that it would in the future 
play an important part in providing a food supply for 
the more thickly peopled continents. — London Times, 
Sept. 12. 
DEVELOPMENT OF CHINA. 
(Before the British Association. 
Mr. G. G. Chisholm had a very instriictive paper 
on " 8ome Consequences that may be Anticipated 
from the Development of the Resources of China by 
Modern Methods." He said that the subject, which 
was one of euoriiious magnitude and deserved a care- 
ful study, would engage the attention of the w. rid at 
Luge for a long time to come. He assumed that the 
development of China was about to begin. There were 
political and economical causes which must force on 
this development in spite of the opposition of some 
sections of the people. The chief political cause was 
that the Chinese bad themselves been compelled to 
resort to the methods of Europe and America in 
self-defence. One railway, at least, was constructed 
by them for purposes of defence, and they were also 
compelled to have arsenals in different parts of the 
country. There were economic causes. So long aa 
China desired to sell a pound of silk or of tea she 
must compete with otlier countries, and the 
competition of Japan had compelled the Chinese silk 
producers to adopt some of the modern methods. In 
the case of tea competition came not so much from 
Japan as from India and Ceylon. That competition, 
however, had also been continuous and progressive, 
and the Chinese had lately been compelled to make 
experiments with the leaf-rolling machinery used iu 
India and Ceylon. Having learnt their lesson from 
this competition, they had established cotton milla 
with the most modern machinery in several places, 
and these were kept working night and day, in- 
cluding even the most sacred Chinese holiday. At- 
tempts had also been made to establislr the iron 
indn-5try. All tUc-se causes tended to introduce modern 
methods of transport into China. In his belief the 
objection of the Chinese to these improvements had 
been much exaggerated. Although, no doubt, the 
governing classes were hosLile to them, the great 
bulk of the people were inclined to welcome them. 
What, then, would be the consequences of this deve- 
lopment when it came about ? First, there would be 
