166 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Sj£i-r. 1, 1898, 
An Aciricultural-Soientific Department. 
— A planter writes : — " I quite agree with your 
editorial ; but if tlie Colony can throw away 
K2,500,000, wliy not an extra lac ? Tlie whole 
AclRiinistration wants over-hauling, and tlie h^ooner 
the better." 
Scientists and Experts are all very well in 
their way, says a correspondent of the Calcutta 
Planter ; they can, undoubtedly, afford us great 
assistance, but the real backbone of the industry 
is the ^mciic«^ planter. Without his co-operation 
and assistfnce little hope can be entertained of the 
lea enterprise making much headway. 
" The Indian Forester." — Edited by J. S. Gamble, 
M.A., r.L.s., Conservator of Forests, and Director of 
the Forest School", Dehra Dim. Contents. No. G — 
f or J une 1898 : — Original Articles and Translations; 
Correspondence ; Official Papers and Intelligence — 
How rubber trees are grown in Assam, by D. P. 
Cqpeland. — [We give this in Tropical Agriculturist , 
—Ed. CO.] Reviews; Shikar and Travel; Tim- 
ber and Produce Trade; Extracts from Official 
Gazettes. 
Ceylon Tea in America —Mr. J. C. Larkin, 
of the far-famed Salada^ Ceylon Tea Company 
of America, is indeed a santruine individual ; but, 
although we cannot go all the way with him 
in his predictions, still it is very cheering to 
get so hopeful a letter as he sends us in 
regard to Ceylon Tea Prospects on the 
North American continent. It is noteworthy, too, 
that he regards the new American Tea duty as 
distinctly telling in favour of Ceylon and 
other high-grade teas— another warning, perhaps, 
that the absence of a duty favours cheap in- 
ferior teas? 
Porto Kico is an extremely rich little island 
— not quite so big as Jamaica, .3530 square 
miles or 200 miles less than the aggregate of 
our Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces, 
though with less population. Hills rise to .3,600 
feet: it is extremely well watered, 1,300 streams 
being enumerated and that it should grow and 
ship 500,000 cwt. of coffee ; 100,000 tons of 
sugar; large quantities of tobacco, &c., is mar- 
vellous for its population of 800,000 with their 
own food to grow. But there are nearly .300 
miles of railway made or under construction. 
Under American auspices, Porto Kico will at 
once spring into a new and splendid develop- 
ment and Jamaica may suffer from its rivalry. 
Castilloa, or Central America rubber, 
— said Mr. Hart of Trinidad in his lecture on 
Minor Products — is worth today from Is 6d to 
3s 7d per pound. We have trees in the Garden 
which will give a yield of from four to six 
pounds per tree per annxim. Two gentlemen, 
who were lately here, declared on trial that our 
trees not only produced a fine quality of rubber, 
b.it that the yield at one bleeding was greater thnn 
any they had previously seen, and the milk 
itself gave a return of twenty-five per cent, of 
the best transparent rubber, and His Excellency 
the Governor has been told on good authority 
that rubber is a gold mine to Trinidad, if we can 
only work it. lleturning to rubber, a Castilloa 
forest, if it existed today, would be a valuable 
property. A single tree of eight years is capable 
of giving at one tapping six to eight ounces of 
rubber, and such a tree can be tapped many 
times a year without injury, the number of times 
varying in accordance with the season. This 
means that an acre of 200 trees would give a gross 
return of some £90 per annum, while tlie expendi- 
ture for upkeep is much less tliaa for any other 
crop generally grown. 
" The Cevlon Handbook and Directory 
FOR 1898-9." — In answer to numerous enquiries, 
we may mention that the compilation <»f this 
work is now completed ; the printing bhould be 
finished within a week ; and the binder \jegin 
to supply volumes a week later on. Copies will 
be issued accordint' to the registered liet of 
subscribers. 
A Hint to the " Tuirtv Committek."— In 
view of what Mr. J. K. W. Pigott- as an old 
Ceylon planter— lias been able to do in making Cey- 
lon tea known iu .Sicily— he got a supply regularly 
direct from Abbotsford estate— wouhl it not be 
a good plan for the " Thirty Committee " to 
send a gift in the form of a sample chest of Cey- 
lon Tea to each on a selected list of British 
Consuls all over the world ? The recipients would 
be certain to take it as a complimentary hit of 
attention ; and in return would tje sure to make 
the tea known to their friends and i)robably 
refer to it in their Keports, 
The Ceylon a.nd Oriental Company and 
Cooper, Cooper & Co. —We call attention to the 
full report of the extraordinary general meeting of 
the shareholders iu Cooper, Cooper <3k Co. elsewhere, 
where much information of interest was given res- 
pecting tlie terms of amalgamation and the start- 
ing of a new Company with a capital of 
£500,000. So long as they induce increased 
rivalry in the tea market, the more n«w Com- 
panies of this kind the better. In this ease, 
however, it will be seen the promoterK talk of 
supplying consumers direct after the fashion of 
" butter and eggs from our own farm" ! And 
also of shipping from Colombo direct to foreign 
markets. It will be seen that Pallakclleand other 
estates are likely to be iucludeil in the new 
Com pany. 
(Growing Tea in South Carolina and the 
War-tax.— Our friend Mr. Charles U. Shepaid, of 
the Pinehurst tea plantations, Summerville, South 
Carolina, is well satisfied with the >var-duty on 
tea. He writes to us under date June Tth iu 
the following complimentary way : — 
" Thanks to the information which the highly prized 
Tropical Agricultuiist affords and to the probable duty 
on tea in the U. S., the Pioehurst tea experiments 
are going to prove a success in spite of cheap oriental 
labor and the jeers of my friends." 
That Mr. Shepard should feel indebted to the 
Ceylon monthly is only natural, tea being so 
entirely our staple of late years. It appeals, 
however, that Mr. Shepard has taken an active 
part in inducing the U.S Government to tax tea, 
using the following arguments in a letter to the 
Secretary of Agriculture : — 
1st. As a source of revenue ; 2nd. As inducing an 
improvement in the quality of commercial tea ; 3rd. 
As an encouragement to the establishment of a tea- 
iudnstry in the United States. 
And then he explains about his Pinehurst ex- 
periment, adding in a subsequent letter : — 
As yon have expressed an interest in the " Pine- 
hurst " work as a means of employing poor children 
who have otherwise no lacrative employment. I would 
beg to add to my letter of yesterday that nineteen 
coloured pupils from the " Pinehurst School " picked 
today from five or six acres 190 pounds of green 
leaf, for which they shall receive So, or more than 
2.5 cents each. Some of the better workers have 
earned over 40 cents. This lot of leaf will make 
over 45 pounds of cured tea, at an outlay of about 
14 cents for leaf-picking, ; children's lunch and super- 
vision. As it costs about 2 cents in the Orient, the 
difference between us is about 12 cents. The same 
fields in the height of the season should afford me 
60 per cent more, 
