198 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICrLTDRIST 
[Sept. 1, 1898, 
roil, shewn by analj sla to be deficient in Magnesia, 
this sabetance may to supplied a'* Sulphate of Mag- 
nesia, as Sulphate of Pot, .sri-Magnet-ia, i:v ai dolomi- 
tio Lime or limestone. I wonld uot desire to lay too 
much stress on the propriety of usi'g Magnesia 
in manure Many agricuitorista consider it UDn< ces- 
sary, taking it for granted that soils (an always 
anjjply all the Magnesia that is required for 
cropdjbut when the aualvsirt of a Cacao sjil s'iiavs the 
Lime and Magnesia (0 hi very low, the following coq. 
sider .tions would justify the Cacao planter in giving the 
so l a dressing of Lime or ground lime-s'on--, coutainiog 
a fnir amount of Maguei-i I. In the published Aniilysla 
of good Cacao soils in the West Indies, the amo iiit of 
LiiBO ranges from '350 to 4.93 percent, und cf Magnes a 
fiom •217 to 3'367 per cent. 1 cannot give the corrcs- 
p ud'ng figures for Ceylou Cacao sijils, but our up- 
couulry soils generally have Lime ranging from ab^ut 
•i)5 to Hbout '75 per cent, and Magnesia from abjnt -02 
to about '55 per cent. The Cacao tree makes a much 
grjater demand on the L'me of the foil than on the 
Magre^ia ; but, on the othi r hand, the seed of the 
Cicao, 1 ike most seeds, makes a considerably greater 
demand on the Magnesia »f the s il than on the 
Lime of the soil. Both of th^se substances, Lime and 
Magnesia, have, moreover, a value la the soil beyond 
heir plantfood vjiIuo. In tha ca»e of Lime, this is so 
we l kuoivn as not to require further ref rence here, 
As an example of goad i ft'eot attributed to Magnesia 
M. Dajardin states that Magnesux form"* a very im- 
portant constituent in all soi's, iu which the French 
viae reais s the attack of Phylloxera vastatrix, and 
aooorJii g to Dr. A. L. Cr ftith*, the American vine 
flourishes bpst on lhos<) foils containing a high per- 
centage of Magnesia. The Magnesia in tho ash of 
the Styrian Vine, aocordi' g to en oU a :alys s, is 
(V55 per cent; wh'le in the ash c^f the < acao tree, 
the proportion of Magaeiiia i.> decidedly higher tlm thip. 
As a sjurce of Pota.sli, I have cho c i the Sulidiato 
in profero' ce to tho Muriate, as, in the abs nee of 
much direct experience on tho subject, the tJulpbate 
is the safer s:iU to use. 
Ohloiides, however, have be^u sa'd not to derange 
the Cacao tree, in which case the Muriate, as the 
cheaper s 1*^, may be used instead of the t^uipha'e. 
M. GOGHllAN, M. A., E. c. s.; 
City Analysti 
SERDANG* AND THE LTBERIAN 
COEFEE ENTERPRISE. 
(By a Ceylon Plantinrj Visitor.) 
The description of the soil and rainfall sent 
to me some time back by the managing partner 
of one of the jjlantation^ there, had given me a 
higli idea of the country; but the reality I found 
far beyond anything told me. 
The plantations I visited are situated at about 
^5.5 miles from Belawan, the shipping place, 40 
V)f -which are covered by rail to Lobocq Pakani 
and the extension of it is being considered and 
will soon itnpose itself. 
I must not forget, liowever, to mention Kebocn 
coffee, the first plantation I saw on the main 
road at about 7 miles from the rail and where 
the oldest trees exist. These I did not see, but 
a field of eight years old, bordering the cart 
road was very luxuriant : lopped at 8 ft. they 
were touching at 10ft., without vacancies, under 
the shade of young cotton trees (kapok), which 
I would not reconmiend. Some young Arabica 
did not seem sj promising owing, I think, to 
the too retentive flat drained land. 
On Begerpang, the largest plantation of Serdang, 
with 300,000 trees planted within the 2^ last 
years, the growth is all what can be desired; for 
* A Dutch-protectecl State of N.-W. Sumatra, 
even on the St. Paul's river (Monrovia), in the 
best cult.ivaled gardens. I liave not .seen belter. 
It is beaiing heavily from after the 2nd year 
(whicli (hjcti not teem lo injure the treee later on). 
In other plantations I have "seen lields of trees 
up to four years whicli all came up to tJie highest 
Btandard 
UiiuiUia Vastati'ix is not unknown, l»ut 
does not alleet tlie trees in any way, on which 
it is hut f-parse. 
OnEK.s liuf; also is iheie but only on trees 
from one to two ami half-years old. It then 
seenis to cease repiodnction.* 
The ui.^tance a<lopteJ is 10 by ]0 wliicli is fully 
necessaiy and I am convincetl that the returns 
at four years will be from 10 to 12 cwt. |H;r 
acre (;ibout 3 lb. per tree). 
A lew caca<j trees raised from Beeil obtained 
from Peiadeniya (a forestero variety) planted on 
the edge of a ridge and uncared-for had given an 
average of 40 poas at ;ij years. 
The altitude of the Serdang plantations is ahont 
3D0 ft. and the «Y(/«/fi// averages lOU inche-^ well- 
distributed through the year. There ix a heavy 
dew at night, clothes in the bungalow felt damp 
in the morning. The temperature in the same 
as in Ceylon at the same elevation, but the nights 
are cooler. Cyclone.* are unknown. There is le&s 
fecev than in the Ceylon lowcountry and living 
is cheap and comfortable. 
The lay of land is generally undulating at 
.such a grailient that r<wd> have seldom to l>e 
diverted from the straight line, hi()h f nut covers 
the main part of it, with nmcii good liniljer, 
!ind /ff/«/(7 (illuck grass) those parts which hare 
been cultivated by t he natives and being burned 
yearly, fore.-^t growth is prevented. 
Tllii SOIL ill the forest is a thick layer of liumofl 
covering a silicious brown loam of "great depth. 
Thousands of jijuare miles are in the same con- 
dition between the sea and the dividing range on 
the N.-E. coast. I have seen nowhere in Co3-Iitn 
anything to compare to that part of Sumatra as 
lo general conditions required f.ir lowcountry )»ro- 
dncts, and Dutch ami German planters have 
assured me that the S.E. p.-irt (Palembang) and 
the Padeng west coast is even more fertile. 
Deli and Serdang might well be calldl the 
stoneless country; the hailast lor the railway has 
to be imported from Penang and there is no gravel 
for the roads. The land in Sumatra is leased 
for 75 year.-*. In Serdang the Saltan requires at 
]iresent 8.^ per bouw (1| acres) and a yearly rent 
of 1$ ; besides the Government survey C(ists 1, 
10 gulden ])er botiw. 
The J.vvan'i-se LAnouRis unlimited and the cost 
is clieajier in the end than our decayed Tamil labor. 
It is indented for three years. X premium of 
30 guldens (1 gulden Is 8 L3d) free pa.s.sage 
10 G. advance 3')G. Monthly wages, men 
(li? = Is 11.^1) women 'M: work 6 to ll-3>a.m. 
and 1 to Gp. ni. Only two free <la3's per month, 
periods of sickness deducted, no kanganies, 
mandares or overseers appointed by the manager. 
No crimping nor bolting possible'by good regula- 
tions. 
The Felling axd Clearing is generally done 
by Battack.s, the aborigines of the country, and 
* This would be in favor of my theory that another 
mysterious (root) di-^eiise was in Ceylon in conjunc- 
tion with these two and was tho main cause of the 
destruction of the coS-.'e. A roo; disease also affecied 
the eacso fn- several years (18.=lt-'.tl) and was the 
reason of t e abaudoumf-nt of oiie-tbitd of the acre- 
age then in cultivation. 
