IDec. 1, 1900.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
425 
Thh Garton Lectcees on Colonial and 
Indian Agriculturr in Edinburgh Univer- 
sity — is the heading < f a paper by Robert Wallace, 
Professor of Agriculture and Rur;(l Economy 
in the Asiatic Quarterly Review from which we 
learn : — 
The expiring century seems an auspicious oceaaion 
for the new departure which has been made by the 
•stablishxnent and liberal endowment by Mr. Robert 
and Mr. John Garton, of JNewtoa-le- Willows, Lanca- 
shire, of a course of al. out fifty lectures on " Colonial 
and Indian Agriculture " which are to be initiated 
in the current month in connection with the chair 
of Agriculture and Rural Economy in Bdiuburgh 
University. The first half of the course, which will 
be delivered by the Professor of Agriculture before 
the end of December, will be inaugurated ou October 
18 by an address on "Famine in India," a subject 
likely to prove of peculiar interest at what, let us 
hope, may be the closing epoch of the most prolonged, 
if not the most disastrous, of the recurring trials of 
physical endurance from starvation to which our 
Indian peoples have been periodically subjected. The 
ordiuary work of the class will begin with a general 
view of the agricirltnre of India, including the main 
features of the Pi-esidencies and other great political 
divisions, with special r«ference to g»ology, soil, 
•limate, peoples, and chief products. 
f'tirther on we are told : — 
The smaller Crown Colonies will not be neglected, 
and the second section of the course will close with 
a discnssion of such miscellaneous eubjeots as exports 
of agricultural produce from the Colonies and India, 
«nd the relations of the agricultur* of the Colonies 
and India to that of the Mother Country. 
The Truth about Ramie.— We were 
always more or le.ss suspicious about the 
glowing accounts given of the fortunes in 
"ramie" or "rhea" fibre, and we regret, 
in the interests of producers, and especially 
of plucky pioneers, both in Ceylon and 
elsewhere, that the following discouraging 
bit of news comes to us from a Bradford 
correspondent of Sell's Commercial Intelli- 
gencer, who writes in the latest issue as 
follows :— 
For tbe sake of planters in our colonies and in- 
vestors at home a few words in review of the history 
and possibilities of ramie may not be out of place. 
From the manufacturer's point of view the business 
career of ramie can only be regarded as catastrophic. 
No single English firm has yet succeeded in dealing 
profitably with the material, and it is quite within the 
truth to say that a quarter of a million sterling has 
been irretrievably lost in the attempt. To put the 
comparison with cotton in a nut-shell: raw cotton can 
be made into yarn for some 2Jd per pound ; ramie coats 
in process at least Is per pound. To compare the 
possibilities of ramie with wool and with silk betrays 
a complete ignorance of the nature of these two 
materials. Ramie is harsh and wiry, with none of 
the warmth and softness of wool or the beauty and 
pliability of silk. Ramie is much dearer than fliX, 
and has the unfortunate faculty of shrinking when 
wet ; its lustre is metallic in appearance, and ramie 
cannot be dyed to a good black. Seven English firms 
to the writer's own intima'e knowledge have ruined 
themselves in ramie. Indeed the seven may be ex- 
tended to ten, if change of hands be calculated. Two 
concerns iii Germany are moderately successful with 
the material, the process employed being the familiar 
one of carding in lieu of combing the " filasse." The 
Teutonic quasi success ts attributable to cheap power, 
cheap labour, and to the fashion in yarn and fabrics 
differing from English canons. Ramie booming is a 
perennial event, anS it is as well to let the seamy side 
see light once in a while. Chapter and verse can be 
given in substantiation of the statements above- 
samples, prices, and all particulars. 
Chinese Hemp, or Ramie Grass.— Ramie grass, 
ro hemp, as it is called in the Customs returns, 
has increased steadily, says a consular report 
from Kiukiaiig (Ghiii-0, during the past fevv years, 
It is cultivated largely in the adjoining province 
of Hupei, and shipped from Kiukiaiig to the 
Shanghai market, whence it finds its way to 
Japan, Canton, Chinkiang, and other Chinese 
ports, where it is turned into the grass cloth so 
much worn by natives during the hot weather. 
Three crops are gathered during the year; the 
first, which is planted in the previous autumn, 
comes to perfection about the middle oi June, 
the second in July, and the third about October, 
The second crop is inferior to both the others, 
as it only remains in the ground about a month 
and the exces.sive heat stunts its growth. The 
first is generally tlie best, and in good seasons 
attains a height of 70 inches. It is made up in 
bales according to length of the stalks, and 
fetches from 12 to 13 taels per pi'^ul of 133 lb., the 
price depending upon the market in Japan, whither 
about 60 [ler cent ' f the total out-turn is exported. 
The second and third crops average about II to 
8 taels per pieui. The Consul adds, " I have 
only heard of one consignment having been made 
to the London market. German merchants are 
said to be purchasing it in Shanghai, and one 
trial shipment has been made to Hamburg direct 
from this by a native hong, which practically 
monopolises, the trade here. Account sales, have 
not yet been received, so it is not yet known 
how the venture has turned out." The quantity 
shipped in 1895 was 37,009 piculs ; in 1896, 46,668 
piculs ; in 1897, 48,923 piculs ; in 1898, 57,400 
piculs ; and in 1899, 70,156 piculs. — Chamber of 
Commerce Journal for October. 
Mangoes fob England — The London corre- 
spondent of the Bombay Gazette, writing on 
October I2th, says a conference between Mr. Tata 
and the Peninsular and Oriental Company on the 
question of establishing the export of mangoes 
from Bombay on a commercial basis which, in the 
course of the summer, was mentioned as likely to 
be held this autumn, duly came off this week. 
There were present Sir Tliomas Sutherland, Sir 
Owen Burne, and other Directors of the P. and O. 
Company, as well as Mr. Tata and Sir George 
Birdwood. Nothing can be formally decided in 
the matter until it has been brought before a 
meeting of the Board, which will probably be 
held today, but I understand that the basis of the 
arrangement come to is that Mr. Tata and those 
associated with him will guarantee a shipment of 
500 tons of mangoes and other mercliantable 
Bombay fruits, the P. and O. Company during 
the next mango season, say April 25th to June 5th, 
providing for one or two of their refrigerator 
steamers engaged in the Australian meat, butter, 
and fruit trade calling on their homeward voyage 
at Bombay, Mr. Tata is now engaged in coming 
to an agreement with some of the London fruit- 
importers, but it is hoped he may be able to do 
better than that by establi.shing reciprocally ad- 
vantageous relations with one of the great co-opera- 
tive stores in the Metropolis. It would prob- 
a! ly be easy to dispose of 500 tons of good 
mangoes in the West End alone in a single day 
at one shilling each. A few mangoes sent to a 
Bond Street shop last summer were almost 
instantaneously sold off at five shillings each, and 
stringy turpentiny Madeira mangoes now on sale 
in various London shons are selling at one to two 
shillings a pjec^, — Pioneer, 
