778 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[May 1, 1900. 
Kamie Fibre Spinning Syndicate, Limited. 
—Registered on March 23rd, by Holnian, Bird- 
wood and Co., 50, Lime-street, E,C., witli a capi- 
tal of £13,000 in £1 shares. Object, to adopt an 
agreement with J. V. Woods, and to grf>w, cul- 
tivate, manufacture, and deal in rhea and other 
hbre. The first directors (to number not less tlian 
two nor more than seven) aie to be appointed by 
the subscribers. Qualification, £100. Hemunera- 
tion, one guinea each per boani meeting attended. 
Registered office : 71-72, King William-street, 
.^E.C. ~ Financial News, March 30. 
Indian Tea : Close op the .Season and 
Prospects.— Here is the record from Messrs. 
Bailies & Co. for the three past seixsons :— 
1897- 98 ... 147,070,755 lb. 
1898- 99 ... 1.53,196,217 ,, 
1899 1900 ... 170,475,965,, 
The detailed table below shews that, 
apart from the large increase of shipments 
to the United Kingdom, there are sai^is- 
facfcory increases in direct returns to America 
and Australia; but only a slight addition 
■ in the case of "foreign Europe." We direct 
attention to what is said in respect of 
prospects in the several districts for next 
. crop. Hail-storms have done damage in 
Assam as well as, we may be sure from our 
special telegram, in Darjeelmg; but there 
ia no reason to suppose there will be an 
appreciative, if any, falling-oif. 
Tnro Future of Coffee. — It may be of inter- 
est to coffee planters to consider to what extent 
prospects have improved since this question was 
first laised, and to try to ascertain what prob- 
ability there is of the present level of prices being 
maintained or improved. The actual present 
■price of coffee, says the Madraa Mail, is a eom- 
pieie refutation of the gloomy forecasts of lust 
year that planters ninst look forward to a lonjr 
continuance of the prices then ruling. The fol- 
lowing quot.ations from which exceptionally fine 
marks' of botli E India and Costa Rica coffee are 
excluded, show that the rise has been about 50 
■ per cent for all classes of cottee : — 
Aug. to Oct., 1899 Feb., 1900. 
No. 7 Rio. 4 S0 to 4 50 cents 6-70 to 7'30 cents 
per lb. per lb. 
Costa Rica ") 
Ordinary to 5- 28s to 52s p. cwt. 433 to Via 6d p. cwt. 
, Middling 3 
. E India E ... 30s to .iOa do. 503 to 74s 01 do. 
As regards the effect of the recent rise in prices 
on the Brazil industry, it is to be remembered 
that nearly all Brazilian planters are heavily 
handicapped with mm tgages incurred during the 
last four yeais of b d prices. Many planters have 
been ruined, and it will probably take some tixe 
to restore confidence in tlie industry. After the 
cri.-<is of r 82-80, which was not nearly so severe 
in Brazil as the late crisis, it took live years of 
good prices to restore conlidonce, so as to increase 
the planted, aiea ; for it was not until 1896-97 
that production began to iucrea.sc materially . As 
the Ainerican Grocer rvcently remarked, it takes 
four years for coffee to couk; into bearing, ami 
however low prices may stimulrtle phniting, ti'.ere 
must be a period of high prices btfoie produc- 
tion Ci!! overtake cousuniplion. In 1890 to 1898, 
moreover, Brazilian exchange fell laiiidly. jS'ow 
\i is rising, and the chances are that it will con^ 
tinue to rise. 
The Tomato as a Tonic— The tomato has a 
high dietetic value and has been especially recom- 
mesded for use in eases of blood impoverish- 
ment — a suggestion which, i)erhaps, rests upon 
the fiict that it contains a considerable amount 
of iron. The presence of iron may easily be de- 
tected by ajiplying to the cut surface of a 
tomato the ordinary re-agent. As a food for 
supplying iron, the tomato is far superior 
to any of the combinations of iron as com- 
monly used as a means of enriching the 
blood. It has long been known that these inor- 
ganic compounds cannot enter into the composition 
of the blood U is possible, however, that they may 
senietimes be useful, tor, as has recently been sug- 
gested, while they do not enter into the com- 
position of the blood, they serve to neutralize acid 
substances which form insoluble salts with the 
iron of food, and thus prevent its absorption and 
assimilation. In other words they act as protec- 
tives of the nutritive iron compounds of food. 
The tomato may serve a similar purpose, and not 
only by supplying the source of iron, but the in- 
troduction of a larger amount than is needed, pro- 
viding for the conservation of the amount actually 
required — Journal of the Jamaica AffricuUnral 
Societ}/. 
University Extension in Aghiculture.— Mr. 
A. C. True has a paper in the Forum dealing with 
the American University Extension Movement on 
agricultural lines, at the head of which are the 
\ nited .States Department of Agriculture and the 
Agricultural ExperimentStations, which aredepart- 
ments of universities and colleges, and largely en- 
dowed by national grants of land and money. 
The American Department of Agriculture distri- 
butes 7,000,000 copies of 600 different publica- 
tions annually. There are now fifty-six agricul- 
tural department stations in the United States, 
all of which publish reports of their own itivesti- 
joiations : — 
Under the direction of the agricultnral experiment 
stations thoasa,nds of simple co-operative experiments 
in which farmers take part are now annually carried 
on in different parts of the country. They consist 
pri[icipally in the growing of different kinds of crops, 
such as wheat, grasses, sugar beets, vegetables, and 
fruits, or in the testing of different kinds of fertilisers 
as applied to the soils and crops in different localities. 
These experiments are pertormed in accordance with 
plans furnished by the experiment stations ; and when 
they are conducted in the most effective way the co- 
operating farmers are visited, from time to time, by the 
officers in immediate charge of the experiments. 
Usually the experiment stations furnish the seeds, 
fertilisers, or other materials to be used in the experi- 
ments, while the farmers supply the land and the 
labour. 
Farmers' institutes are also regularly held in at least 
thirty States. In th se States where they have reached 
their highest development their importance as educa- 
tional institutions is very great. This is indicated by 
the number of instiiutes annually conducted. In New 
York, Tennsylvauia, and Ohio hundreds of them nre 
held each year ; in iilassachusetts there are now 125, 
witli au attendance of about 13,000 persons ; iu ludiana 
about 100, with an attendance of over 25,000; iu Min- 
nesota 50, with an atteDd^nce ranging from 300 to 1,000; 
in Wisconsin 120, with au attendance of over 50,000. In 
Michigan institutes are l;eld iu nearly every couuty, 
and the total attendance is reported to reach 120,000. 
Sixty thousand copies of the annual bulletin of the 
Wisconsin institutes, in which the best addresses are 
grouped together to make a bock of over 300 pages, are 
auuuilly distributed. A copy of this book ia put into 
very school library iu the State. 
