844 
THE TROPICAL 
agriculturist; [June 1, 1900. 
mistic writing that one planting authority, 
I think, asked you not to publish such facts 
and figures, lest there should be a rush to 
do likewise. After all this, I think we cau 
do well with a, little of the pessimistic. — Yours 
truly, REGULAR READER. 
["Fiat Justitia," in Avhatever subject is 
handled in our columns, will always meiui 
that we shall endeavour to show both sides 
of the shield. We overlooked the exagger- 
ated tone of W.E.G.'s (not W.B.J. — as in- 
correctly printed) remarks ; but the above 
rejoinder is well deserved. Pessimism 
attracts attention, though it be expressed 
but seldom ; but sunny optimism is borne 
along on the smiling wave of public recog- 
nition (and sometimes illusion) and, by some, 
more speedily forgotten. — Ed. T.A.] 
PLANTING NOTES. 
CocoNOT Fertiliser.— Mr. Arthur Keyser, the 
British Consul for Borneo, writes to the Malay 
Mail tliat cocouuc trees at Sanda!<an in British 
North Borneo tlirive luxuriantly from being 
manured with the refuse of the mangrove bark 
after extraction of its dyeing materials. 
Australian Produce for Delagoa Bay. — 
The latest consular report of Lourencjo Marques 
and district (Delagoa) states that the erection of 
large cold stores for frozen meat, &c., gives hope 
that the development of the Auscraliau frozen 
meat and iisli trade, begun in 1898, will assume 
large dimensions. The principal agricultural 
products of the Portuguese possession are : — Sugar- 
cane, ground-nuts, manioc, sweet potatoes, millet, 
mealies, wheat, barley, oats, and potateos. — 
Sydney Mail, April 14. 
Snake Poison Investigations. — Captain 
Elliot, I.M.S., in the " General Deductions " with 
which he concludes his last paper on snake poison 
investigations, remarks : — " It seeius clear that the 
serum obtained from the blood of venomous snakes 
is, wlien obtained pure, antidotal in its proper- 
ties. The antidotal power possessed does not, 
however, appear to be of a sufficiently high order 
to warrant the hope that [the blood of these 
dangerous reptiles will yield a fluid of commercial 
value 8S an antidote to snake-bite, unless means 
are found of separating the antidotal constituent 
from the serum. More than this I am not at 
present prepared to say." — Madras Mail. 
Cinchona Seed from Java.— Now that 
cinchona planting has recommenced in 
several districts in Ceylon, it is of great 
importance to know where good seed can 
be got. Java has now, undoubtedly, the 
richest cinchona trees in the world, and Java 
seed ought to do well in Ceylon. We used 
to consider bark analysing up to five or 
seven per cent as valuable ; but the advertise- 
ment from Java which we publish in our daily 
indicates trees with bark up to 17 per cent! 
The seed from such trees, if carefully plucked 
and transported, must be very valuable. 
The prices fixed are from two to five gulders 
(each about 2s in value, we believe,) per 
gram, of which about 200 go to the ounce. 
The seed is, therefore, priced very high, un- 
douVjtedly ; but we suppose an appreciable 
quantity is found even in each gram, or the 
200th part of an ounce. Cau there be any 
miatake ia oiu' calculation? 
SiiRlCULTURK AT BANGAT.0f;E.— It is interesting 
to learn that the mulberry hushes [Morm all>a,) 
which were gro-vii at the Lai Bagh, Bangalore, lor 
the ex|)ei iuKiiii s in scriciihuie, are now more ad- 
vanced and wiM soon as-unie a conimtrcial aspect. 
Tlie tn<» . Japanese expertH employed by Mr. Tata 
arc hopeful of good results fioin the introduction of 
ccips fi om Jajiaii, raid have been partially successful 
in obtaining a cioss between the indigenous and 
foreign varitie.--, — Pioneer, May 2. 
Mb. Sutton'sTea-Dbiek — Says the Indian 
Planters' Gazette (April 28th) on Mr. Sutton's 
te;i drier, the good results of which with 
cocoa beans we recorded yesterday: — ''Tea 
men in India would no doubt be better able 
to judg(! of the caj)abilities of the new drier 
if they C(3uld see it working. Mr. Sutton, 
we understand, intends to exploit India, but 
he will find it uphill work campaigning 
against the excellent machinery which is 
already so well-known and so widely popular 
with Indian planters. Messrs. Davidson and 
Messrs. Marshall Sons, Ltd., at present hold 
the fort, and it is not likely that they will 
surrender the field without a great contest. 
Mr. Sutton, however, is certain of a fair 
field and no favour."— We doubt that a 
machine of such excellence, as Mr. Sutton's, 
will find the work so very uphill as our 
Indian friends anticipate ; but before being 
able to form to a precise judgment on its 
excellences in dealing with tea (although, 
theoretically, is ease and range of regula- 
tion is just what has so long been wanted) 
we await further figures from Mr. Sutton, 
after he has analysed his first experiments 
with our staple. 
Life in Fiji appears to be popular with the 
Indian coolie, since, out of a total Indian popu- 
lation of over twelve thousand, nearly eight thou- 
sand, according to the last official Report to hand, 
are coolies who have stayed on after completing 
the five years for which they were originally 
shipped. Their prosperity is testified lo by the 
fact that, during the twelve months, they were 
enabled to deposit £16,000 in the local bank, 
besides buying a good deal of property in land 
and houses and sending nearly £2,000 to rela- 
tives in India ; while in one district alone 13,000 
tons of sugarcane were grown, on tbeir own ac- 
count, by the time-expired coolies. These figures 
are the more striking as the Report states that 
the majority of the time-expired coolies prefer 
starting a homestead for themselves to continuing 
plantation work. The health of the community 
appears, on the whole, to have been good, and 
the birth rate liigh. The principal drawback at 
present is a social one, and lies in the tact that 
the number of women imported into the Colony 
is disproportionately small as compared with that 
of the men. The last returns show just three 
men to every woman in the population. The 
result has naturally been a state ot disorganisa- 
tion which has upset the family life of the coolies 
and led to a good deal of crime, no fewer than 
six murders, from motives of jealousy, having 
taken place during the year under review. The 
question of remedial measures, we are told, is 
under consideration, and attention is drawn to the 
case of Trinidad, where it has been found neces- 
sary to materially increase the proportion of coolie 
women sent out. Some such measure will, no 
doubt, have to be taken iu the case of Fiji. — Indian 
Witness-, April 27. 
