$iO THE TROPICAL 
malarious in comparatively recent times ; and it 
thus becomes eviUent that some liiblierto unknown 
factor is at work. — M. Mail, April 27. [Regtirdiug 
that unknown factor we may liave sometiiing to 
•say shortly.— Ed. CO.] u-h 
SEXSAT10X.\L ADVANCE THE PKlC^ 
OF PEARL SHELL. 
At the recent London public sales of mother-o'- 
pearl shell from Queensland an advance in price 
of £1 to £4 per cwC was registered. This article, 
which is in muchrequesb at the present time, 
^.has been steadily rising for years, and since 
■January last, an advance of over £103 per ton 
has taken place in the superior grades. The 
particular cause of tiie ^late heavy rise in market 
value is the fashion prevailing in the United 
States for pearl buttons for ladies blouses. It 
will be d la mode in the coming summer for 
blouses to have three large pearl buttons in front, 
and to be fastenel at the neck and wrists with 
smaller buttons and links of the same material. 
So fashion decirees in New York and the 
brokers, hastening to obey, cabled over to their 
agents at the London isales " Buy white shell at 
, . any price."— Dai^y Chronicle, April 10, 
1. ^ -.j; il li: 
MR. KINGSTON AND THE KANAKA QUESTION. 
" YJELLOW agony" AND "BLACK CURSE." 
Brisbane, April 17.— At a luncheon, which 
w'as tendered to the Minister for Customs 
(Mr C C Kingston) in Cairns, yesterday, 
Mr Draper severely criticised the Pedertil 
Government with regard to white labour. 
Mr Kingston, in replying said that he had 
never had and never would have any 
sympathy with the Kanaka. A white man 
could do all that a Kanaka could do, and 
if there were an industry that must have 
the " yellow agony " or " the black curse " 
to keep it alive — a proposition which he 
did not admit— then that industry must be 
- swept off the face of Australia which was 
' white man's land. — W. Australian. 
•:>Jn9iJ ,{iihi;irA i , » 
!'^^rJr'M.M'!i^-i''l*i'ANTlNG NOTES. 
•^ 'TR<!)fPitf.vt' Queensland— we have always 
"iiiiaintained— should be made into a " Crown 
'"Colony " ; but the majority of the white 
■•'t!olonists will not hear of this and they 
^'are now engaged in the bold experiment 
of acclimatising the European race and 
excluding Kanakas who are capital labourers 
for sugar and other plantations and are 
" ready to come over very freely. But 
^''neither they, nor Chinese, nor pedlars, nor 
^"coolies from India, are to be allowed to 
■■"gain a footing on this soil. We are not 
' hopeful of the experiment succeeding— in 
■' spite of the increase of white sugar farmers 
' and the vehement support of men like Mr. 
'^ Kingston, the latest of whose violent language 
^ 'pn the subject appears elsewhere. 
y,, Tea in America in 1902.— Elsewhere we 
i,!<|uote the latest information from the Amen- 
0 can, Grocer. The same paper gives some 
interesting figures as to America's total 
Diink Bill. The cost at retail of all beyer- 
ages, consumed in 1902 alcoholic and non- 
alcoholic stimulants was $1,369,098,276, as 
follows : Alcoholic drinks $1,172,565,23.5; Non- 
alcoholic stimulants— Coffee $149,891,030; Tea 
,$39,642,011 ; Cocoa $7,0OU,UO0. The quantities 
of the four leading beverages consumed for 
, the year ending June 3'Jth, 1902, were as 
follows: Coffee 1,498,910,304 gallons; Beer 
1,381,875 437 gallons ; Tea 398,42p,lJ,|i; Spirits 
and wines lo7,206,.354 gallons. y\iV,>) ) 
The Labour Commissioners' Kerort— 
is in Ceylon ahead of the Labour Commis- 
sioners themselves, Mr. Kingsford sends it 
to us today, pointing out that the Commis- 
sioners recommend that the Planters- 
Association should station an agent in 
South India for recruiting and that he should 
be sent early next month as thak is the 
month in which coolies usually think 
of emigrating and rival recruiting agents 
are already at work. We tru-st therefore 
that Estates willing to support the agency 
will respond to Mr. Kingsford's appeal with 
tiie utmost despatch. Another departure 
recommended is that Xelugu districts should 
be tapped first in order to work up their 
connection with Ceylon ; further that a 
Labour Bureau inKandy, specially appointed, 
should collect all important information 
bearing on labour in the Madras Presidency 
and publish it at intervals; and thirdly 
that a strong Sub-Committee should study 
not only the regulations affecting South 
Indian Labour emigration but also the 
conditions involved iu rival agencies being 
at work and in the coolies' innate dislike 
to exile. Messx's. Hiil and Tuiner have 
evidently done their work thoroughly and 
. have fully appreciated the necessity lor speedy 
steps being taken. 
The Vitality of Pollen- is a matter of high 
practical interest to all cultivators' who are en- 
gaged in the fascinating work of establishing new 
varieties of useful plants by means of the process 
of cross-fertilisation. At the recent international 
conference on plant breeding held in New York, 
in the course of a discussion upon the subject, it 
was mentioned that the pollen of the tomato 
blossom will retain its vitality for fully .six months. 
That this is so receives confirmation from the 
practice of coLecting pollen during the late summer 
and autumn months from plants grown out of 
doors for the purpose of fertilising tomatoes grown 
under glass in the winter. It was also stated that 
the pollen of the grape retains its vitality fox at 
least two months, and that of the date palm for 
a year or more. The pollen of the carnation, 
again, may be kept alive in closely stoppered 
tubes for several weeks, and thus sent from one 
part of the country to another. In the prepara- 
tion of pollen for keeping it is recommended to 
dry the material thoroughly, and then to put ic 
in well-stoppered bottles. In the case of plants 
grown in moist climates the drying of th^ pollen 
should take place in the shade, but for thpse 
growing in arid regions the drying may be more 
quickly effected in the sun. The pollen of certain 
plants is said to be commonly distributed through 
the West ladies on dry blotting paper enclosed 
in pasteboard boxes, and iu this way retains the 
vitality for upwards pt three vyeeka.— London 
Times March 30. 
