!klAY ], 1900.1 THE TROPICAL AaRIGULTtTRIST. 
76S 
COFFEE, COCONUTS, RUBBER &c. AND 
PROGRESS. 
(From a Special Correspondent.) 
It is perhaps not so glowing a tale that is fur- 
nished when I turn to the world of planting and 
agriculture. The labonr problem naturally enters 
largely into the former sphere and this remains still 
unsatisfactory. The Government has been a large 
employer of labour on railway and other worlvs, and 
this lias somewhat handicapped the planter in the way 
of cheap labour. In time this will right itself. The 
main planting industry has been coffee, but its ex- 
istence in the Native States has, unfortunately, never 
been very flourishiug, and recently the very low price 
of coffee, has been the means of bringing some of the 
best known estates to the hammer. In time thofe 
who have the financial strength will doubtless benefit, 
but meanwhile the weaker are being frozen out. When 
you see some thirteen piculs per acre as I did in the 
Klang district, it looks as though there sliould be a 
future. This was a lowland estate, and such a crop 
has not, I believe, been gathered on any of the estates 
on higher land. So much has been hoped for from 
coffee and so much capital expended, I can only hope 
that it will yet be a profitable industry to both in- 
dividuals and the State, la other directions coco- 
nuts seem to be doing well and to be a fairly constant 
source of revenue, and Para rubber cultivation has 
made a good deal of headway and should in time make 
a fair show in the list of exports. I am not altogether 
sure, however, that the indigenous Getah Rumbong 
would not prove more profitable in the long run. If 
the price of its produce is not up to rubber, it is much 
more prolific in its yield, and as it is a native there 
is not the same difficulty about seed. Padi cultiva- 
tion by natives has increased and gives signs of ex- 
tension. It might well be the dream of every officer of 
the Government to see these Kative States not only 
supplying their own rice requirements, but that they 
should be the granary of the colony of the Straits 
Settlements. It is well to know that land revenue is 
increasing, and that the cultivation of padi is 
being extended, but much more yet remains to be 
done. Unless I am mistaken, the Malay will in- 
creasingly go in for this class of work, but the pro- 
gress will be less rapid than one might reasonably 
hope for. Some schemes for its larger cultivation 
have been, and are, under the consideration of the 
Government, and irrigation is being resorted to in 
more than one district. 
It does not exactly come under the heading, but I 
may note a new industry at Ipoh that bids fair to do 
well. The Perak Marble Company (Limited) has been 
started to work on some excellent marble. It has 
first, good marble suitable for many domestic and 
ornamental uses; it is close to the line ofrailway, 
which gives the company good transport ; it has good 
machinery, which was almost in working order at the 
time of my visit ; and lastly, there should be a good 
market all around Malaya, and possibly over a more 
extended area. With good and economical manage- 
ment the company ought to do well. The material at 
its disposal is more than ample, and the marble is 
said to be of good grain. — London and Cldna Express, 
March 9fch. 

TEA IN THE PHILIPPINES. 
Mr, C. Ffollioct Pears, to whose adventures 
we have already referred fully in previous issues, 
having been enabled to publish a full acfH)untof 
them through the courtesy of Mrs. Pears, has re- 
turnedfrom the Philippines, where he went in con- 
nection with the wreck of his vessel. He has given 
our evening contemporary a rough idea of what 
he thinks of the future of the island recently 
acquired by the Americans 
TEA CULTIVATION. 
"The country," said Mr. Pears, "is exceedingly 
fine, and I should think that some portions of it 
95 
would be very suitable for tea cultivation. Thesoil 
looks as if it had plenty of iron ill it. They grow 
coifee there already, and I did not notice any disease 
amongst it. Cacao is also cultivated, but the trees 
are sickly, and the pods very small. There is any 
amount of gold there, but ic is not mined to any very 
great extent ; and there is, as well, plenty ot 
steel, from which the Filipinos make their swords. 
The climate of tlie country is exceedingly line. 
In the early inorningsit is nice and cool, similar 
to the cliiuace of Dikoya. Of course, there is a 
certain amount of fever. Imported food stuft's 
are very dear and heavily taxed, but the indus- 
tries in which there is ample room for develop- 
ment are sugar cultivation, saw-mills, and rice- 
niills. The English firms in Manila, I may say, 
do nearly all the business. 
" The Americans," added Mr. Pears, "are just 
beginning to buy Ceylon tea. Dr. Stepliens, a 
dentist who used ro be in Ceylon, has imported it 
to Manila, and the Commissariat bought up all 
he had and wanted a lot more." Mr. Pears 
thought it would be advantageous if someone in 
Ceylon could secure a contract with the American 
Commissariat to supply Ceylon tea to the 60,000 
odd troops in the Philippines. 
COLOMBO COMMERCIAL CO., LD. 
ANNUAL REPORT. 
The following is the Report, which was to be pre- 
sented to the fifth ordinary general meeting of the 
Company held in London, on Thursday, the 15th 
day of March, at noon. 
The Directors have pleasure in placing before 
Shareholdei's statements shewing favourable re- 
sults for the |)ast year, viz. : — 
Profit and Loss Account for the year ended 30ch 
September, 1899. 
Balance Sheet made up to 30th September, 1899. 
It will be seen from the Profit and 
Loss Account that after debiting all 
charges, interest on Debentures, &c., 
the profit for the year amounted to. . £9,184 4 6 
A balance was brought forward from 
last year of .. ,. 1,303 8 2 
Making the total at credit of Profit 
and Loss . . . . . . £10,487 12 8 
From this the following sums';||have 
been transferred, viz.:- 
To Exchange Reserve 
against Capital Ex- 
penditure .. £1,400 18 5 
To Reserve Fund . . 1,000 0 0 
— 2,400 18 5 
Leaving available for Dividend, <fec., 
a sum of . . . . . . £8,086 14 3 
CENSU.S OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM.— The editors 
of the Zooloqical Record have recently drawn up 
a table that indicates approximately the number 
of the living species of animals. The following 
are the figures given : — Mammals, 2,500 ; reptile" 
and batrachians, 4 400 ; tunicata, 900 ; brachio- 
pods, 150 ; crustaceans, 20,000 ; myriapods, .3,000; 
echinodernis, 3,000; cojlenterata," 2,000 ; prtoo- 
zoans, 6,100 ; bir. Is, 12,600; fishes, 12,000 ; mol- 
lusks, 50,000 ; bryozoans, 1,800 ; arachnids, 10,000; 
insects, 230,000 ; vermes, 6,150 ; sponges, 1,.500. 
General total, 366,000 distinct specie?,.— British 
and Colonial Druggist. 
