762 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, [May 1, 1900. 
A Mew "Rubber Plant."— The Semaine 
Horticole of January L^dIi publisiies ao illustra- 
tion and a figure of a new species of Ficus 
called F. Eetveldiana, It is a moderate-sized tree, 
growing in the Belgian Conjro. The leaves are 
ou long slender stalks, the blades cordate obloiig. 
It will form a line shade tree in the tiopics, and 
grovvs rapidly under cultivation, — Gardeners' 
Chronicle. 
"Mazawatte." — A Ceylon friend at home 
sends us a specimen of this Company's ad- 
vertising, from which we quote as follows : — 
£85,862 8s 8d Represents 194 miles of 100 lb. 
tea chests, .5,151,746 lb. of delicious Mazawattee, 
equals over 2,300 tons. 1,300,000,000 cups of Maza- 
wattee would fill a huge tea-duct 1,670 miles 
long by 1 ft. square. Reaching from London to 
Siberia, right across Europe. A river of liquid 
Mazawattee as long as the river Thames, 215 
miles long, 8 ft. wide by 1 ft. deep. 
The Sugar to sweeten this Mazawattee tea 
(one lump of a cubic inch to each cup) would 
make a road of sugar 1<1^ miles long, 10 ft. wide 
by 1 ft. thick ; and the milk for the delicious 
tea would till a milk duct of 1 ft. square, which 
would extend from London to Dublin, a distance 
of 289 miles in a straight line. 
The Tea Duty.— A London wholesale firm have 
through a trade journal made to their customers 
the following offers : — 
If you remit us (plan a,) as a deposit, a sum equal 
to the present Duty of 4d. per lb. on any quantity 
o£ tea, we will hold on your account that qanutity. 
Thus for every i;25 you send, we undertake to enter 
for you 1,5001b. of tea at our present list prices, and 
at the 4d. Duty rate, and you gain should au ad- 
vance in Duty take place. If however, the Duty be 
not advanced, all we ask from you is to send us orders 
(before 3Iat December next) equal in amount to the 
sum you have actually deposited with us, and the 
transaction ends. 
If you remit us (plan b,) a deposit at the rate of Id. 
per lb,, i.e., one-fourth the present Duty, on any 
quantity of tea, we will hold on jour account that 
quantity. Thus, for every single sovereign (^i) you 
deposit with us, we will enter for you 240 lb. of tea 
at onr present list prices, and at the 4d, Duty rate, 
and you gain if the duty be raised. You advance Id., 
whilst we advance 3d., per lb. for the present Duty. 
If, however, the Duty be not raised, you on your part 
undertake to complete the purchase (before 31st 
December next) of all the Tea thus entered for you. 
An Old Subject Revived.— Few are 
aware probably that the question raised by 
"Wanderer" (see elsewhex'e) has been be- 
fore discussed in our columns and the 
matter went so far jit one time as that 
estimates of the cost of erecting a Paper 
Mill ^on the side of the Kelaniganga were 
prepared ; but nothing came of it and there 
can be no harm in now reconsidering the 
subject of the introduction of a paper- 
making industry into Ceylon. Why should the 
Government not take a hint and guarantee a 
bounty for the first ton of locally-made 
paper ? The value of actual local industries 
must be insisted upon and we are glad to 
find our correspondent draws further atten- 
tion to this subject. Possibly people in the 
past have been asleep ; so our correspondent 
thinks : and it is within the region of the 
future that the fibre and grasses of Ceylon 
can be put to other uses than they now 
command. At any rate we live and learn and 
the man who shall introduce a paying Paper 
Mill into Ceylon, will deserve the cox'diil 
thanks of all of us, 
Dr. George Watt, c.i.e., who is retiring from 
the position of Reporter on Economic Products 
in the Department of Agriculture ' of the Indian 
Covernnieut, has been as;ociated with this depart- 
nieiiC since 1884, He will be recalled as having 
charge of the Imperial Indian Economic Court at 
the Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886. — 
British and Colonial Druggist, March 2. 
" Natal Plants."— It is highly satisfactory 
at this time to receive from Natal the second 
part of Natal Plants. This consists of a series 
of quarto lithographs, with accompanying des- 
cripoion.«, from Mr. Medley Wood and Mr. Mau- 
rice Evan.-?. In the present number we find various 
plants of garden interest, such as Cyrtanthus 
Mrackenni, t. .'il ; Leonotis leonurus, t. 53 ; Ha;man- 
tlms natal'^nsis, t. Gardeners' Chronicle. 
Tea. — According to the Indian Daily News the 
tc.x season in South Sylhet has begun on most of 
the gardens. Shamshernagar started "tipping" 
on the 3rd, which is early for the district. After 
a spell of hoc dry weather, South Sylhet gardens 
since the 17th, have been getting a plentiful 
supply of rain, so that the lots of leaf may be 
e.Npected. Rtd spider was in evidence, but tbe 
heavy rain experinced will wash a good dea' of 
it away. Gardens, on the whole, are looking well. 
Appointments fhom Kew.— We learn that an 
extraordinary demand for trained gardeners for 
positions of importance luxs been experienced at 
Kew within the la.st year or so. In addition to 
changes of situation which h.ive occurred in the 
ordinary way, nineieen appointments have been 
filled by the authorities. Amongst these are nur- 
sery-foremen, head gardeners, assistants in the 
lioyal Botanic Gardens, Calcutta (N. Gill and 
W. F. Green) ; superintendent, Agri-Horticultural 
Society, Madias, (B Cavanagh) ; snperiniendent, 
farks and Garden, Slianghai (A. Arthur) ; Cura- 
tor, Botanic Station, Accra (W. Brown); Agri- 
cultural Instructors for the West Indies (A J 
Jordan and M Mi'Niel) ; Curator, Botanic Gar- 
tlens Antigua (W N Sands) ; Assistant Superin- 
tendent, Botanic Gardens, TTrinidad (W Leslie). 
These appointments have all been filled from the 
improver-gardeners employed at Kew, i.e., young 
nieu who after five yeais training in good private 
gardens or niu'series enter Kew for a two years' 
CQwrsQ.— Gardeners^ Chronicle. 
Destruction bv Paroquets.- A letter was 
read at a recent meeting of the Board of 
Management of the Jamaica Agricultural 
Society, from Mr. Charles H. Nunes and two 
others from Falmouth, Trelawny, bringing 
to the attention of the Board of Idanage- 
nient, " serious loss sustained annually to the 
orange and lime crops by destruction thereof 
by parrots and paroquets, which birds were 
protected under the law. Not only did these 
birds destroy the above citrus plants, but they 
attacked young breadfruits. They asked the 
Board to bring the matter to the notice of the 
Government, in order that legislation might 
be amended in this respect, and thus yield- 
ing privilege to destroy the birds all the year 
round. The destruction of these birds was 
beyond description and they were really of 
no value whatever. They were sure that it 
opinion from different parishes be taken, if 
would corroborate the statement they made. 
The matter was referred to the Standing 
Committee on Fruit to report on the matter," 
—How about paroquets in Ceylon t 
