324 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Nov. 1, 1902. 
A NEW VARIETY OF PEPPER. 
Pepper, being a comparatively high -priced com<. 
moclity owinp; to the fact that it grows only in 
a few countries:, is subject to much sdalteration. 
For tliis reason a report' recently made by Professor 
Moissan, of Paris, is of importance. This report 
states that a new variety of pepper has lately been 
imported from Kissi, in French West Africa, on 
the borders of Liberia, which has been called Piper 
Famechoni, heckel, after two investigators, one 
an Army Surgeon, the other a botanist. Dr. Barille, 
principal chemist to one of the Paris hospitals, has 
examined the seeds and found that they yield a 
highly aromatic reddish-brown powder, rich in 
essential oil, and with very peculiar characteristics. 
He considers this variety of pepper an acquisition 
among the usual plants.— ilf. Mail, Sept. 17. 
JAVA QUININE, 
The report on the Government cinchona planta- 
tions in Java during the first quarter of 1902, has 
been just issued. In the nurseries there was a large 
stock' of well developea plants, of which several 
thousands were sold to private planters. Con- 
trary to what had been the ca e in previous 
years, very little bark had been shipped at the 
ead of the quarter, owing to lack of labour. This 
scarcity of labour is a very grave question, and 
if the conditions do not improve within a short 
time it may have a serious effect on the harvesting 
and the preparation of the soil, which again will 
injuriously react upon the crops of the next few 
years. Analyses made with hybrid-grafts during 
the quarter under review confirm previous observa- 
tions, that the inciease of the alkaloids content 
is greater in the second year's growth. The 
analyses showed a content of sulphate of quinine 
in the first year of 2'74 and 2-60 per cent ; second 
year, 6 and 5 60 per cent; and third year, 7"73 
and 8 04 per cent. A large number of grafts were 
taken during the quarter from Cinchona robusta. 
These could be removed from the nursery and 
planted in less than three months' time. Ledgeriana 
and hybrid grafts, on the other hand, require 
from four to five months. The total number of 
plants at the Government plantations at end of 
the quarter was as follows ; in the nurseries, 1,245 
Ledgeriana, 300,700 Succirubra, and 30,000 hybrid 
in the open ground, 1,943,500 Ledgeriana, 402,900 
hybrid, 343,800 Succirubra, and 45,000 officinalis. — 
Planting Opinion, Sept. 13. 
RUBBER ACCORDING TO THE CONSULS, 
SENEGAL.— Exports of rubber during the years 
1900-1 were as follows : — 
1900. 1901. 
Countries 
•^aantity 
Value. 
Quantity 
Value. 
exported to 
tons. 
£ 
tons. 
& 
France 
380 
74,621 
318 • 
38,748 
8 
U. Kingclom 
32 
6,476 
Germany 
21 
4,365 
38* 
5,509 
Belgium 
Other countr 
es 
"50 
LIBERIA. — As regardsVubber, the Liberiau Eubber 
Syndicate have the whole of its export from the Re- 
public. They pay at present (1902) Is Ijd ca^h per 
lb. in the country. Ttie export duty is 3d par lb. 
FRENCH-GUINEA. -Having been a rubber- 
country for many y«ar8, the vines, owin^ to wasteful 
producing methods of tapping them, had become com- 
paratively scarce, ani in order to increase the quantity 
of rubber for sale, the natives adulterated it in various 
w;iys. Tlie merchants anxious to profit by the high 
market accepted the biiles without examination, with the 
result that; the rubber bought fro^n the natives 
diiiiDg the season 1899-1900 contained as much as 
25 per cent cf impuriies. The home ma-kets, who 
could obtiiia rubber of a much higher quality from 
other souvcsf, refused to buy the Guinea rubber which 
thus remained on the hauda of the merchants, who, in 
many cases, were compelled to sell at'a loss. The Go- 
vernment has adopted several measures which, it 
hopes, will remedy this state of affurs, — So us to 
improve the quality of Guinea rubber, a Decree was 
issued in iM[ay 1900, forbidding the sale of rubber in 
unopened bales. This has already had a good effect 
as the natives finding ' they were certain of detection 
ceased adding foreign matter, but as the method of 
coagulating the rubber in calabashes ordinarily em- 
ployed by the natives made it difficult to detect adnl- 
teration with resins, a further Decree was issued to the 
effect that, dating from the wet season of 1901, the 
only rubber allowed to be exported would be that 
prepared by the Foulah method, in red filaments which 
was found to be the only one which permitted the 
detection of resinons adul ter^tion. 
Exports and destination of rubber in 1899 w(»a as 
follows : — To France and Colonies £15 943, United 
Kingdom and Sierra Leone £213,746, Germany £43,622, 
other countries ^6,432, total £279,743. la 1900 it was 
to France and Colonies £31,521, United Kingdom and 
Sierra Leone £137,641, Germany £67,384, other coon- 
tries £16,319, total £262,865. 
GUATEMALA —In 1900 there was india-rubber to 
the value of £53,012 exported while last year the value 
only reached ±'49,510. The coast-lying districts are 
particularly well suited to this industry, and with a 
little perseverance and patience planters would reap 
year by year, more and bettsr crops, and would be- 
come independent of the varying prices of the coffee 
market. The Consul adds : — The cultivation of the 
rubber tree and the export of the product is a growth 
entirely of the last few years, and it is undoubtedly 
an industry which is admirably suited to the coasfe 
districts of the Republic, and should more than make 
up for the appai-ently permanent falling-off in the 
coffee-growing industry. Coffee, it has now been found 
may be grown with ease in all countries where a 
cartain temperature prevails, and the consomptiou doss 
not increase in proportion to the supply ; while on 
the other hand good rubber is as yet only obtainable in 
few parts of the worldj and the demand increased 
every day, and this decnand aeema likely to go on 
increasing with every new invention and improvement 
in almost every branch of the mannfactnring indos- 
tries. It is, therefore, worth the while of those who 
are considering the advisability of a planter's life in 
tropical countries to enquire into the details of rub- 
bar planting, at any rate so far Central America is 
concerned, where concessions of land are easily ob- 
tainable at very cheap rates, and where the huge 
markets of the United States lie so close at hand. It 
must be remembered, of course, that the returns are 
considerably longer in coming in than in many cropa 
for rubber takes 10 yearn to yield a full crop. A 
person thoroughly acquainted with these subjects 
recently explained to ^me that the method he would 
follow Would be to plant a grove of, say 100,000 plaats, 
which at the end of five years would yield certain 
crop, say one-third of what fully matured trees 
should yield. At the end of the fifth year, theplluta 
should be thinned d' wn to half their Bomber, or 
50,000, on these 50,000 trees of five year's old a hand* 
some sum. would be realised which would entirely 
repay the original outlay, the running expenses bein){ 
paid|by the cultivjitioa of some such fruit as the banana 
thus leaving the planter at the end of five years with 
all his outlay paid, and a grove in hia possession 
yielding a larger product evary year, and the expenses 
of his plantation paid by the secondary crop of 
hmBAm.— India Ruhher Trades' Journal, Aug. 18, 
