190 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTUKIST. [Sept. 1, 1902. 
during the day shift on Sunday. The plant of the 
mines has been considerably augmented duiing the 
year, and hand labour for raisiog plumbago, debris, 
or water entirely superseded by steam machinery. 
Winding plants are working at Kokkumbura and 
Nakaulketiya ; a new winding engine is in course of 
erection at Hombuluwa, and the mines are kept free 
of water by five powerful steam pumping engines. A 
light tramway has been laid down at Kokkumbura 
and another at the Nakaulketiya mine for the re- 
moval of debris. The timber for the workings is 
obtained locally, alubo and hora having been decided 
on as the most suitable woods. A dynamite store has 
been constructed in accordance with the published 
regulations, new cooly lines put up, and a good bun- 
galow erected at Kokkumbura. A freedom from 
accidents of a serious nature has been enjoyed, and the 
labour force of about 200 men resident on the mines 
is contented and fairly stationary. The speed at 
which the mining operations are carried out is 
steadily increasing, and considerable new develop- 
ments are projected for the immediate future. 

INDIARUBBER IN NEW GUINEA. 
Melbourne, July 18. — A discovery; which may 
lead to the mote rapid development of British New 
Guinea, has been reported to the Acting Prime 
Minister. The British Ambassador at Berlin has 
advertised Rp, Dealdn, through the Colonial Office, 
that guttapercha and Indiarubber have been 
found near to Stephensort, in German New Guinea, 
by Capt, Schlecter, who has just returned from 
an exploring expedition. It has long been 
thought that guttapercha is to be found in Briiish 
territory, and now that the Germans have dis- 
covered its presence on their division of the island, 
more attention is likely to be given to the establish- 
ment ot an export trade of the commodities 
named by the English settlers. — Adelaide Observer, 
A EUBBER SUBSTITUTE. 
New York, July 19. — As the results of a 
series of tests which have been made for 
several months, it has been found possible to 
manufacture from Beaumont oil a perfect substi- 
tute for high grade rubber. A company has been 
formed with a capital of £200,000 to use the dis- 
coTcry commercially. — Laffan. 
TEA : THE WORLD'S PRODUCTION 
AND CONSUMPTION. 
The two special points which strike us in the 
diagram circular of Messrs. Gow, Wilson & 
Stanton, which we issued with our last issue of 
the T.A., are the clanger pointed out of China 
common teas coming back into competition 
with British-grown teas ; and the advantage 
of and necessity for making as much of 
f reeu tea as is possible both in Ceylon and 
ndia. The diagrams and letterpress are 
otherwise both interesting and instructive. 
We send them to all who get our blue tea 
circular. Another striking fact as shown in 
the diagram on the last page of the circular 
is how tea con-'^umption in the United 
States has gone back from a total of 117 
million lb. in 189,5 to only 108 millions in 
1900 ; while Russia and Germany have ad- 
yanced in the same period from 98 to 132 
millions. Clearly the latter, which still take 
112 million lb. of China against only 20 of 
British grown tea, are the countries to be 
epecially exploited for the ousting of China, 
progi-eas made in the United States 
with British-grown tea in the five years 
ooks poor, compared with similar progress 
in Australasia, for instance ; and the field 
for superseding Chinas and Japans" 
is here also very considerable. Indeed 
the fact that China, Japan and Java 
should, in 1900, make no less than 
253,605,914 lb. of the world's consumption, 
against 313,147,698 lb for India and Ceylon, 
shows that the " Far East " tea trade is 
by no means extinct and that not Over- 
production but /S'itper.semon must be the order 
of the day. To that end, the cheapness of 
British grown teas at this time may be a 
blessing in disguise ; for it ought snrely to 
secure an increased demand for such teas 
on the Continent of Europe and North and 
South America. The last is not to be des- 
pised, for it takes over 4 millions of China 
tea ; while Australasia still has 7 million 
of the same description. South Africa \\ 
million and " Other Countries " 5| million 
lb. Altogether there is plenty of room to 
ii'ght the battle with China and Japan. 
BOERS AND CEYLONESE IN EAST 
AFRICA. 
A number of Boer families have been introduced 
into German East Africa, to pursue stock raising 
and Agriculture on the high plateaux. Tlie " Ber- 
liner Tageblatt" states that about .30 Ceylonese 
families have also been introduced for rice-grows 
ing in the low-lying regions, while great elfort- 
are being made to extend the area of coffee- 
planting. Coffee, too, is making headway and 
there are about 50 miles of railway open.— Gfio&e, 
July 25. 
The " Prickly Peak " Cactus— makes a good 
fence, and was formerly used for the purpose by 
the mis.sion fathers of California. Rabbits and 
other burrowing animals also seek their protection 
for warrens. Many birds build in the same refuge 
from their enemies. The giant " candle cactus ", 
resembling a huge candelabra and covered with 
spines, is perforated by the Gila woodpecker, which, 
after making a hollow in the piih from 12 to 30 
feet above the ground, builds its nest there. — Globe, 
July 25. 
African Coffee.— The cofTee, known as 
the Highland Coffee of Sierra Leone, was in- 
troduced to the West Indies about six years 
ago, through the instrumentality of the Royal 
Gardens, Kew. It is quite distinct from either 
Arabian or Liberian coffee, and is admirably suited 
for cultivation from sea-level up to an eleva- 
tion of about 800 feet. The botanical name 
{Coffea stenopJiylla), that is "narrowed-leaved 
coffee," is a good name, as by this character 
and its small, dark-purple berries, it is readily 
distinguished from all other coffee. "Stenophylla" 
coffee has nowhere been more successful than under 
Mr Hart's care at the Royal Botanic Gardens at 
Trinidad. It has grown there into tall, handsome 
bushes, ten to twelve feet high, loaded with berries. 
It is singular that it has shown a marked tendency 
to be cross-fertilised by Liberian coffee, so that 
in the second or third generation its original 
characters have almost entirely disappeared. If 
this coffee is desired to be kept distinct it must 
therefore be cultivated away from other coffee 
plants.— Barbados Agricultural Natvs, July I, 
