Nov. 1, 1899.] THE TKOPlCAL AGRICULTURIST. 
301 
Hooker tells us that the plant is cultivated in India 
for this purpose ; therefore in all probability the seed 
of the two New Guinea forms may be put to the same 
use in some parts of the island. Duthie states that in 
Oadh (India) the plant is largely eaten by cattle, and is 
said to be very fattening. 
THE VANILLA BEAN. 
This valuable product, which is highly prized for 
making extracts of perfumery and in cooking, has, 
within the past few months become very scarce, and 
the price, in consequence, has advanced to three 
times what it formerly sold for. Nothing has ever 
been found to take its place in cookery, or for per- 
fumery, and coDseqnently the price must remain high 
for some years to come, as it takes three years for 
the Blant to come into bearing, after which it con- 
tinues in fruit for several years, improving from year 
to year, if well cared for. 
A recent published statement says th it the short- 
age of 1894 was due to a frost, which destroyed 
whole plantations. Then in 1895 a clash between the 
Indians, who occupy and cultivate the large plan- 
tations around Papantla, Mexico, the centre of this 
industry, and the Mexican authorities, who own the 
lands, resulted in the former being driven out, but not be- 
fore they had succeeded in almost entirely destroying the 
vanilla plants as revenge. These two causes account 
for the shortage, as it requires three or four years 
before a plant will yield fruit. This shortage is much 
greater than is generally known. The present price 
of beans is §16 00 per pound, and it is not unlikely 
that it may advance to §18 or §20. 
We have several times urged the planting of vanilla 
as a minor industry, as it will flourish here in almost 
any locality, where it has plenty of water, but is 
particularly adapted to the rainy sections of Hawaii. 
Although it requires three to four years for the vines 
to come into full bearing, it will then pay better 
than almost any other industry, that does not re- 
quire much capital. Nor will it interfere with any other 
light work, and is particularly suited to females. 
In a future issne we will give some particulars re- 
garding its cultivation and mode of curing the beans. 
— Planters' Monthly. 
♦ 
PARA RUBBER AMD THE GOVERNMENT. 
Tlie following is the official report of a dis- 
cussion on the supply of Para rubber seed.s from 
Singapore at the U. P. A. at Selangor on 
Aug. 14th,— 
The Chairman said that, in consequence of the 
attitude taken by the Singapore Government with 
regard to the supply of rubber seed to applicants 
from the Federated States, he had interviewed the 
Colonial Secretary in Singapore and had been told 
that, in booking orders for rubber seed from plan- 
ters in the Native States, Mr. Ridley had acted 
without authority from Government, and it was the 
intention of the Singapore Government to repudiate 
his action, as all orders for seeds from the Colony 
must be first executed. In consequence of this it 
had been decided at a Committee Meeting, held on the 
22nd May last, that a sub-Gommitee consisting of the 
Chairman, Secretary and Mr. Bailey should inter- 
view the Resident-General, laying all the facts of the 
matter before him fur consideration and asking for 
his advice and support. (He the Chairman) and 
Mr. Bailey had seen the Resident-General, who 
said that those applicants who held no distinct 
promise in writing from Mr. Ridley had only a moral 
claim against the Government, and he doubted 
whether it could be enforced, but the case of Mr. Bai- 
ley was very different and he did not see how it 
could be disputed. That was how the matter stood 
so far, but Mr. Bailey would tell them what his 
case was and what action he was taking. 
Mr. Bailey said that early in 1897 he ordered 
C00,000 Para Rubber seeds from the Botanic Gardens, 
Singapore, and on 1st April, 189f , Mr. Ridley wrote 
saying he would supply him with that number as 
soon as he could at §10 per 1,000. As he was form- 
ing a Company to plant rubber in Selangor, he wrote 
officially to lilr. Eidley on 12th August, 1898, asking 
him what number of seeds he could supply him with 
from lat September, 1898, to 1st September, 1899, 
as it greatly depended on the number of seeds 
available as to whether the Company went 
through or not. In repply Mr. Eidley eaid he would be 
unable to supply the complete order from the 
present crop, but, as he was the pioneer of the culti- 
vation, he would guarantee that he should have half 
each crop of seed till his orders were filled. The 
represent crop of seed is expected to bd 150,000 yet 
he is now offered only l.i,000, which is a very diff- 
erent thing to above promise from Mr. Ridley. 
The Resident General, at the interview mentioned 
by Mr. Carey, had stated that he had already put the 
matter into the hands of his lawyers. 
The Chairman said he hoped the meeting would 
express their willingness to support Mr. Bailey in 
his action. 
Mr. Lake asked if this expression was meant to im- 
ply that the Associatson should support the action 
in a momentary sense if necessary. 
The Chairman said he certainly considered so, but 
there was not much likelihood that such help would 
be required. 
The proposal met with the unanimous approval of 
the meeting. — Singapore Free Press. 
^ 
POSSIBLE INDUSTRIES IN TRAVANOORE, 
ANOTHER LAND OF PROMISE. 
A correspondent writing to the Madras Mail urges the 
small capitalist to look to Travancore and take note 
of the possibilities that exist there fore the successful 
cultivation of low-country products. As an inducement 
he leads off with a noteworthy example of what a small 
man at one time actually did. 
THE FOUNDATION OF ONE FORTUNE, 
The late Mr. Darragh, he says, started business in 
Travancore a little more than a quarter of a century 
ago with the very slenderest capital, and confining his 
operations chiefly to the products of the coconut tree 
died an extremely wealthy man. Not long before he 
died he turned his attention to cotton, and opened a 
mill in Quilon, which is still flourishing, although the 
cotton has to be conveyed to it all the way from Tinne- 
velly. Labour, however, is so abundant and so cheap 
that the mill is said to be thriving concern. 
ANOTHER FORTUNE GOING BEGGING. 
A part from the mill industry in cotton, which ia 
in the position of being some what overdone, it is puz- 
zling why the enterprising European capitalist has not 
attempted to work coir and copra by machinery. In 
Travancore, with its vast output of capra and coir, the 
most primitive and unsatisfactory methods are still in 
vogue in extracting coconut oil and in cleaning and 
weaving the coconut fibre into rope, and it was by ex- 
porting these materials that Dr. Darragh scored such 
a brilliant success. The eslabliahment of an oil mill 
or two with other machinery for dealing with the fibre 
would make the fortune of the first person who supplied 
these wants. Both water-power and steam-power are 
available, und fuel is as cheap as it can practically be 
any where, where it is not to be had for the mere gather- 
ing. 
WHAT A FEW SAW-MILLS COULD DO. 
Again any European who turned his attention to the 
vast timber supplies of the State would find it paid him 
Timber for railway sleepers is now selected from a 
limited variety, viz., sal, teak, deodar, payngadu and 
pine. Another writer in the Madras Mail calculates 
that at least three million railway sleepers are wanted 
annually in India for renewal and extension work, and 
state ihat a saving of one rupee on a sleeper re- 
presented a sum of thirty lakhs of rupees saved ! AH 
this shows that only a little energy and plenty ©f 
