468 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
fJAN. ], 190L 
pany's South Borneo ports, to Singapore, 
Hongkong, Bombay, Madras, Calcntta, Suez 
and Loiidon, as well as large cargoes of 
Solar distillate for gas-making purposes and 
other petroleum products to London, 
The Company has Bulk Petroleum Tank 
Installations in full work, at Suez, Karachi, 
Bombay, Colombo, Madras, Calcutta, Penang, 
Singapore, Bangkok, Hongkong, Shanghai 
and other China jjorts, Nagasaki, Kobe, 
Yokohama, with liquid fuel storage tanks, 
as well at Suez, Bombay, Colombo, Madras, 
Calcutta, Singapore, and in process of erec- 
tion at Sydney, Melbourne and several other 
ports. Most of these rire very much larger 
than th^ Colombo Installations. 
* 
COFFEE AND TOBACCO. 
For the benefit of intending coffee and tobacco 
planters in Rhodesia or other parts of South 
Africa, Mr. Jackson, Keeper of Museums, Kew 
Gardens, has given the following list of books : 
— "The Coffee Planter of (Jeylon," by Sabonadiere 
(Spon) ; " Colfee Planting in Soutlieni India and 
Ceylon," by Hull (Spon) ; the artick on " Colfee " 
in Spon's Encyclopajdia : " Liberian Coffee in 
Ceylon." published at Colombo by Messr.s. 
Ferguson (1878); " All About robacco," Messrs. 
Ferguson, Colombo (Agents : John Haddon and 
Co., Bo\iverie-street, London, E.C.) the article on 
tobacco in S|)0n's Encychi\)iedi& — Gfobe, Nov. 9. 
— [Strangely enough Mr. Jackson omits the latest 
and most complete work on Coffee, namely "The 
Coffee Planters' Manual" compiled by J. 
Ferguson (1899 edition) with a special chapter on 
"Pulpers " and other machinery — co|iies of which 
are also to be got at Haddon's. — Ed. T.A.] 
GERMAN RUBBER ASSOCIATION. 
The German Kubber Goods Miicufacturers' Assc- 
ciatioii held its annual meeting at Frankfort re- 
cently. Forty factories are represented in the assc- 
ciaion, of which sixteen employ under 100 hands, 
sixteen employ between 100 and 500, and eiglh 
employ over 500. AU important German conceins 
are connected with the institution, which wieldj a 
powerful iutiueiice. The Association has been con- 
sulted by the Government about the new tariffs 
to be arranged this year. — Chemist and Druggist, 
Nov. 10, 
THF LINNEAN SOCIETY. 
"PATESAS" (?) IN AFRICA. 
The opening meeting of the session was held 
on Thursday evening, last week, at the Society's 
Booms, Burlington House, Piccadilly, W., Pro- 
fessor Sydney Howard Vines, f.r.s.. President, 
in the chair. 
The closing paper, Mr. J E S Moore, dealt with 
the ori(2;in and character of the "park lands" of 
Central Africa, and was illustrated by a series 
of lantern-slides. These park lands in the Tanj2;a- 
nyilca have quite the appearance of having been 
formed by the hand of man, but are really natural 
growths due to the fact that light sui-face soil 
has been laid down over what Mr. Moore takes 
to have been lake dcijosits. Any siven line of 
country will show hiiix^i jjljintations, with quite a 
homelike look, separated by grass lands; and, 
as Tanganvika is approached, they dwindle in 
size till they cotisist of a few shrubs, over- 
shadowed by giant euphorbias, cactus-like in 
appearance. Then come stretches of grass, dotted 
with euphorbias, and, last of all, the salt steppes 
by the I^ake, which is now held to have had at 
one time an outlet to the sea. Mr Moore's ex- 
planation is that, at first, only the eupliorbias 
would grow on the salt steppes ; but as these 
sprang up they afforded a shade and shelter to 
self-sown shrubs, each of which, as it established 
a footing, contributed to the natural planting; of 
the area by the distribution of its seeds, till this 
process reached its highest development in the 
large plantations where the shrub.-j overtopped 
the euphorbias to which thev owe their growth. — 
Brifi.s/i and Colonial Druyyist, Nov. 9. 

tongaland sugarcane. 
Mr. B Colenbrander, Magistrate, Ingwavuma, 
in his district report to the Agri*uUural Jour- 
nal, writes: During the summer of 1898, I 
planted ac this Magistracy, whicii is almost 
3,000 It. above sea level, a small portion of ground 
with what appeared to me an unknown species 
of sugar-cane, obtained from Tongaland, as I 
had never observed the same cane growing 
amongst the many plantations on the coasc. The 
cane whi'di is very juicy, does not grow to any 
great thickness, and has a light yellow surface, 
turning into a deep brown whenever exposed to the 
sun. It has thrived very well, especially under 
the uiisatisfactory circumstances and iii the un- 
suitatde locality in which I planted it, and ap- 
pears very prolific. 1 have counted as many as 
6.3 Slicks to one stooe. —iVci^a^ Mercury. 
THE GO'VERNMENT DAIRY. 
The Government Dairy is now in its seventh 
year. The Dairy herd was free from any form of 
contagious disease in 1899, and there were but six 
deaths for the twelve moiiths, three among the 
cows and three among the calves. This is an ex- 
cellent recoi'd considering the size of the herd. 
Thirty cows and three bulls were purchased at a 
cost of R4,50i'86, while twenty-nine cows and two 
bulls and fifty-six young animals bred on the farm 
were sold for R4,"337-26. Milk to tlie value of 
R21,895-61 was supplied, of which E4,823 07 worth 
had to be purchased to meet the demand from the 
hospitals, which at ditferent periods required more 
milk than the Dairy was able to supply. The 
necessity for the purchase of milk remains a 
serious defect in the management, and the only 
way of avoiding it seems by the Dairy arranging; 
with the Medical Department to supply only as 
much milk as it (the Dairy) produces. It should 
be possible to make a monthly forecast of the milk 
that the Dairy can supply under normal condi- 
tions, so as to ijermit the hospitals to arrange 
beforehand for the supply of milk in excess of the 
estima;ted quantity. 
■* 
"VENESTA "'TEA CHESTS. 
" Venesta, Limited," London, are anxious that 
it should be known among Ceylon tea planters, 
buyers, exporters, etc., that a circular recently 
issued by some large home buyers declining to 
purchase tea packed in certain "veneer " chests, 
did not refer to the " Venesta Tea Chest " which 
is an entirely different package to the chest re- 
ferred to, an(i does not resemble it either in lining 
or construction, 
