Sept 1, 1898,] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
205 
will be about as large as at any previous time, not- 
withstanding the sale of liavilland, which was pre- 
viously reported, and of Kuda Oya. A statement of 
the present acreages of the Ceylon and Mauritius 
Estates is given in the Schedule annexed hereto. 
The Tea Crop in Ceylon amounted to 1,584,236 lb. 
(which includes 26,425 lb. from bought leaf), as against 
1,743,821 lb. in the previous year. The reduced amount 
was due to the lessened acreage under Tea conse- 
quent on the Sale of the Estates above-mentioned. 
The gross avernge price was 817 pence per lb. in 
London as against 7 9.5 pence in the previous year. 
The Cocoa Crop was 2,100 cTt. as against 1,340 cwt., 
and the price averaged 71/ per cwt. as against 60/8d per 
cwt. in the previous year. 
The net profits from the Ceylon properties were 
slightly better than those of the preceding year, not- 
withstanding the high prices of rice, the higher rate of 
exchange and the general fall in the average price of 
Ceylon Tea. 
i'he result of the working of the Estates in Ceylon and 
Mauritius respectively are given in the Profit and Loss 
Account, calculated at the average rate of exchange of 
1/9| as against 1/2.? in the year 1896-97 
In accordance with the resolution passed at the 
last General Meeting of tne Company, Mr.S.C.Masaskie 
was, on the 27th July last, elected to a seat on the 
Board of Directors. 
Mr. Norman William Grieve, under tha provision of 
the Articles of Association, retires from the Board, and 
being elifjible, offers himself for re-election. 
The Auditors, Messrs. Welton Jones & Co., also retire 
from office, and have expressed their readiness to act if 
re-elected. 
, By order of the Board, Henry Greet, Secretary. 
July 5th, 1898. 
THE FLOIIIDA VELVET BEAN. 
We have a number of correspondents acknow- 
leilgini; Mr. Brown's gift through us, of seed ; 
promising to do all the justice they can and to 
report the result. Mr Nock of Hakgaia, writes:— 
'• I am extremely obliged to you for twenty ' Florida 
velvet beans,' which shall have my best attention. 
I have sown ten, sent six to BaduUa Gardens and four 
to Mr. A. J. Kellow. So they will be tried in three 
different kinds of soil and elevation. I got three 
seeds a few days ago from Dr. Drumniond of Talawa- 
kele: so if they all grow I shall have 13 plants to 
work on. I am afraid we shall be too wet here for 
it at the end of this year ; but if it grows at the 
rate Capt. Wilson says it does, it must have a strong 
constitution and may push through our wet season. I 
hope I shall have seeds at the beginning of the year 
1899, and so try it in our dry season. It will have 
a job to beat Lucerne, I have just cut my fifth crop 
of this, this year." 
We quote as follows from the letter of an 
American to London seedsmen : — 
"Up to two years ago this bean was grown in 
Florida in a limited way, mainly as a trellis shade, 
but afterwards it became recognised as invaluable 
for all kinds of stock as a forage, and a phenomenal 
fertiliser for orange and other fruit trees, and for the 
soil as well, tjutil it is now grown ia large quantities. 
There is nothing yet discovered that is, all in all, 
.so valuable a crop as this for farmers to raise. It 
being an air plant, it will do well in almost any kind 
of soil, in any of the States, north or south, that will 
grow corn, and no fertilising is necessary. The for- 
age — the foliage and vine — coming from this bean ia 
a marvel and a wonder. Planting in rows 4 ft. apart 
will produce a solid mass of vine and foliage up to 
your waist in height, covering the ground completely, 
and yielding le.if, vine, and fruit, aggregating four 
■ to five tons to the acre, and of dry beans twenty to 
thirty bu-shels. Besides the vine being a valuable 
fertiliser, forage, mulch, and shade, the question will 
be asked, "Is it also prolific in fruit?" The answer 
is " Yes emphatically so." From the hill the vines 
run out in all dirootious like the water-melon, 10ft. to 
20ft. It commences to fruit at the hill in clusters like 
the raisin-grape, thence along the entire length of 
the vines at intervals of 10 in. to 20 in. pods in clus- 
ters of from two to twenty appear. Therefore the 
fruitage must be immense. For twenty years this 
baan has had a home in Florida, and has been known 
among the people as ^'the climber." In good rich 
soil It will climb 50ft. to 60ft., blooming and fruiting 
all the way up,— a most beautiful and lovely s\gM 
to look upon. To drill an acre will take 16 quarts 
of seed; to plant an acre in rows 4 feet apart each 
way, about 12 quarts. In good soil this acre will 
produce four to five tons of green forage, and fifteen 
to seventeen hundred pounds of beans. I speak from 
practical knowledge, a= I have recently harvested 19 
acres of as fine a crop as ever grew. 
" Plant seed in spring the same time as you do corn 
and cultivate and treat in same way, until vine begins' 
to fill the row, then lay by for the seaLO.i. When bean 
is ripe in the fall pick it, then turn mass of dry leaf 
and vine under the fertiliser, acd from this your soil 
IS immensely benefited. It is a good idea to drill or 
plant corn right in with bean seed as a partial support 
to vine, to keep pods off the ground. You can turn 
stock itito bean field if you wish, or cut vines up at 
hill and carry out to stock, latter being advisable" If 
planted in orange grove or orchard, keep 5 ft. or mo-e 
away from trees, as vine is a rampant grower and 
climber, and will cause you bother. Experience h-ia 
shown that it is better to drill than to plant in bills 
as by drilling you get a better stand on the ground and 
that is important. The beans ground up, hulls and al] 
make a fine fertiliser for pineapples, orange and other- 
fruit trees, as well as for all vegetable growth. Stock 
of all kinds like it, as well as the green forage early in 
the season, all do specially well on it. Every living 
thing on the farm will eat the green forage and dr? 
bean with greediness. The dry bean is also fit for table 
use. T-he question is often asked if this newcomer— 
the Florida velvet bean— will do well in any other 
section of our country except Florida. I answer by 
saying there is no earthly reason why it will not, as it 
IS not tropical, and will do well wherever corn will .^row 
After making a thorough test of it, I have come to the* 
conclusion that, as a fertiliser, forage feed, mulch, shade 
a prolific bearer of fruit, an up builder of the soil this 
bean has no rival. As a porch and trellis shade with 
Its beautiful dark green foliage, and its long, pendant 
down-hanging purple bloom, it ia truly lovely. The 
analysis of this bean shows :— Nitrogen, 54 pe'- cent • 
crude protein, 19 ; fat, 6 ; fibre, 9 ; moisture, 12." ' 
COCONUT PLANTING N.-W. PROVINCE- 
MARITIME. 
Marawila, July 27.— We were passing thmu-!i 
a season of comparative drougliD winch was broken 
on the 2otli uist. by a fall of -71 inciics of rain 
The whole of that day was drizzly and mon- 
soonisli. What aggravated the dry weather was 
the dry, scorching wind usual in July-Auo-nst 
Farther north, the drougiit is said to be more 
severe. I have heard of streams, wells and tanks 
drying up and making tiie water supnly of estate.? 
a matter of much difficulty and anxiety. 
Hardly had 1 despatched niy last communica- 
tion announcing that I had not heard of the 
canal being impassable anywhere, before I 
had ocular evidence of the grounding of boats 
The water in the centre of the canal ran dowii 
to barely two feet, and heavily laden boats were 
grounded and had to wait till a risino- tide 
lloated them, It is interesting to notice how the 
tides affect the level of the canal. Boatmen 
know exactly the time of the day when 
the tide rises, and if it is suHiciently high to lloat 
their boats, they go on their journey; otIierwi.se 
they wait till the tides are .aHecteii by the lunar 
phases. The sides ot the canal are being trimmed 
and it looks quite trim and spruce. 
The price of coconuts and copra has gone down. 
