m 
THE TEOPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Jan. i, M. 
itself on the edge, plumped into the water on 
seeing me and swam in the direction of the 
current. 
On following up I noticed something 
hanging out of its mouth, which turned 
out to be a small portion of the tail of a 
snake. I thought I was to solve the knotty 
problem as to whether a snake swallows its 
young. Ciradually, however, instead of one 
of its progeny, the cobra disgorged quite 
three-fourths of a rat-snake before I killed it. 
I hauled the remaining fourth of the rat- 
snake out of the cobra ond on measuring 
the snakes, found that the cobra was 4ft. 
Sin. and the ratsnake 5ft. 2in. It would 
have taken the cobra a good long time to 
have digested such a meal — a snake 6in. longer 
than itself !— Yours faithfully, 
H, L. BLACKLAW. 
CARDAMOMS : CAN>OT INDIA AND 
CEYLON MARKETS BE SPECIALLY 
EXPLOITED. 
Dec. 13. 
DEA.B Sib,— I am afraid there is a good 
deal of truth in what Mr. Hunter says ; 
but with the enormous number of natives in 
India who daily use cardamoms, I think 
India has a market within itself for all 
she is likely to produce, if planters and 
merchants there will take the trouble to 
meet, and encourage the demand for their 
produce. While Ceylon planters, with their 
facilities for conquering other foreign 
markets, should lose no opportunity of send- 
ing exhibits of their produce to every 
exhibition open to them. It is only be 
making known to the world the excellence 
of our products that we can expect to 
increase the demand for cardamoms which, 
as yet, are but little known. Yours truly, 
AN INTERESTED PLANTER. 
COCONUTS AND COPRA. 
Dec. 16. 
Sir,— Can you tell me what is the relation 
between a ton weight of Coconuts and a 
ton of Copra? How many nuts, in fact, 
are required for the latter ; but at the same 
time, how do they compare in regard to bul- 
,i Jock-cart loads. — Yours truly, 
IN EXPERIENCED. 
I Inexperienced," as a coconut planter, 
should provide himself with our " Manual '' 
and " Directory," in both of which are 
much useful information in daily request 
on coconut plantations. It requires from 
170 to 200 nuts to make a cwt. of copra- 
say 3,700 nuts to th'e ton ; and generally 
speaking, cart loads of coconuts, if con- 
verted into copra, would make only one 
cart-load. We need not point out the ad- 
vantage of retaining the husks on a planta- 
tion for manurial purposes— the veteran, 
Mr. W. H. Wright makes splendid use of 
them— but on the other hand, a good deal of 
labour and special care are needed in prepar- 
ing copra properly.— Ed. 2'.^.] 
THE PRESSING NECESSITIES OF 
THE TEA INDUSTRY." 
Dikoya, Dec. 14. 
Sir, — Your correspondent, G-. N. T., in your 
issue of 4th instant, has done public service 
by formuiating these into 3. His No. 3., 
" The improved cultivation of estates," I think 
should be left out, because it is a matter 
for the individual capitalist, not the public 
Plaatiog body to attend to. I would substi- 
tute for this necessity " The successful 
launching of the Green Tea Industry." 
We should then have the following 
necessities formulated :— 
No. 1. The reduction and ultimate abolition 
of the Duty at home. 
No. 2, The prevention of tea under a 
certain standard being shipped from Ceylon. 
No 3. The launching of the Green Tea 
Industry. 
Of these 3 necessities No. 1 may be left to 
the British consumer ; for we, planters, can 
do little more than support his protest 
whenever we see him agitating.* 
No. 3 is being taken care of to the full 
by the Cessites, and the majority in favor 
of the Cess— as a temporary measure at any 
rate— will ensure it being carried. 
No. 2 alone, while not lacking in morSil 
support, has no practical scheme yet sug- 
gested for enforcing it. 
In my opinion it is the most vital necessity 
of the 3, because it deals with a defect in- 
herent to tea, and to no other product, viz., 
that it can be over-produced in inferior 
quality at a few weeks' notice, to flood the 
markets, shake the financial position of the 
Tea Share Market, and prejudice the con- 
sumption. No industry can expect to be 
stable that is exposed to such a risk, and, 
just as locks were invented against thieves, 
so must a safeguard be adopted against 
"spoilt" teas. The following is the scheme 
which I have to propose for the Press, and 
the planters to knock into shape :— 
Let a qualified Expert be appointed to act 
with the "Thirty Committee" as Expert 
Adviser and Office Manager of a permanent 
Planters' Association Tea Industry Office in 
Colombo, which would be in touch equally 
with the Planters' Association and the Cham- 
ber of Commerce. 
Let the duties of this official be to advise 
planters on manufacture for fixed fees, and 
to be the " smeller out " of bad — that is to 
say rotten — tea leaf in course of export 
whether on arrival for public sale or ship- 
ment otherwise. 
In the event of the discovery of a parcel 
of " spoilt " tea, let it be the duty of the 
Censor to refer the sample to a Board of Tea 
Brokers' experts, associated with himself, 
and, if the tea is only verging on the line of 
condemnation, let that Board, as a prelimi' 
nary step, issue a warning to the exporter, 
which warning could be published if neces- 
sary. 
* Not so : we maintain that producers as feeling 
the pinch most should lead the way in agitation ; 
for it is undoubted, that the 2d. extra duty to a 
great) extent came off the prices. — Ed, T,A, 
