348 THE TROPICAL AGRlCtT:.TURIST. [Nov. 1, I89fl. 
Travellinp; about the districts afterwards may 
be useful, but until some practical work in the 
factory, aided by cliemical analyses in the Labo- 
ratory close at hand, has been conipletec', it will 
only be a waste of valuable time to go from 
place to place. 
All scientific investigations must be carried on 
in properly arranged works and Laboratories and 
according to a definite pre arranged plan, and 
under careful personal supervi'ion otherwise no 
useful results could possibly be obtained. 
I feel sure that Mr. IJaniber will cordially sup- 
port me in these suggestions and jjiobaldy will 
have anticipated nie in these remarks ; if so, they 
will be useful in supporting his own views ; but 
having taken a great personal interest in the impor- 
tance of instituting chemical research in the 
manufacture of Tea I felt that the op|)ortunity 
favoured a definite slatement in regard to the 
most practical way of carrying out the same and 
I trust these lines will be accepted in the same 
spirit as they have been written. 
JOHN HUGHE.S. F.i.c. 
Analytical Laboratory, 79 Mark Lane London, 
E.G., September 23rd 1898. 
THE FIRST FRENCH MERCANTILE 
HOUSE IN COLOMHO: 
MESSRS. COCHERY AND PERKiNON. 
We are very glad to welcome Messrs. Coohery 
and Perignon who arrived a fortnight ago from 
France in order to establish a meicantile House 
in Colombo. It is very singular tliat although 
the " Messageries Mari'imes " has been in exis- 
tence for wellnigh 35 years, giving regular and 
ready communication between France and Ceylon, 
no French merchant has hitherio started in 
Colombo. Messrs. Cochery and I'erignon deserve 
all the greater welcome, therefore, for tlieirenterprise 
and they are eminently qualified for their mission, 
speakin? English well and knowing all about the 
requirements of France and the Continent gene- 
rally. It will be especiall J' gratifying to our jilanters 
to know that a particular object with the new firm 
is to introduce tea freely into France. There is a 
steady and growing demand now all over the 
north of France, although so far it has 
been chiefly met by China tea. Of course, other 
products — of the coconut palm especially, cacao, 
plumbago, &c. — will not be overlooked. But 
being on the spot to buy their tea in the Colombo 
market, it may be confidently assumed that the 
new firm will be the means ot introducing a 
growing quantity of Ceylon tea direct into 
France. Messrs. Cochery and Perignon also ex- 
pect to get orders from Russia. They have not 
yet settled about an office and warehouse in the 
Fort, but hope soon to do so. 
Congo State CorrEE. — The poor quality of the 
coffee deapatched to Antwerp from the Congo Free 
State last January has now been followed by a further 
Bhipment, which experts declare to by a consider- 
able improvement over the previous samples tested 
at the beginning of the year. The Congo coffee, 
whilst resembling the Ambriz product cultivated in 
the Portuguese colonies in Africa, is said to be far 
superior to it. It has a pleasant although somewhat 
nnusnal, taste, and by admixture will facilitate the 
burning process of other and better qualities of berry 
where the flavour is not affected. The tests made 
show generally that considerable progress has been 
made in the method of cultivation and treatment of 
PLANTING IN THE STRAITS. 
OOFFEE-COCONUTS-KUBBEE— RICE. 
(I'rom Ihpoii in tht Kuala l.angat Dittriet.) 
Cultivation. — Apart from the pepper and eambier 
estate al Sepang, the greater p.irt of the land taken 
up has been planted witli coflffte or coconuts. I regret 
to say that n)U';h of the land planted with coffee by 
Malaya has been Badly neglected by the owners. Ccflea 
cultivation is emiueutly uasuited to Malays, who will 
not devote the labour and time required lo briug the 
trees into bearing. The general idea uuioug-t them 
lierc^seems to have been that they had only to plant up 
an aero with coffee and bit down for a year or two, 
iu order to realise a fortune. Experience has, to 
a very great extent, now disabused them of this notion 
and I do not anticipate many fresh applications for 
coffee la^d nor shall I cncouriige sach Applica- 
tions. Coconuts, on the other hand, thrive extremely 
well and, except iu the immediate neghbjurbood 
of Jugra, the trees have sutlercd iiltio from the 
ravages of beetle. In several instaaces native coconut 
gar 'ens have realised very good prices. 
The cultivation of rice has not increased to any 
appreciable extent, but I hope that it any do so 
before long. A start was made in Ulu Libu, with 
considerable success. The coffee craze having to • 
certain extent died out amongst Malays, every induce- 
ment should, I think, be offered to them to return 
to the cultivation of products whicli tbey are natu- 
rally adapted to, such as rice, uipah, rotau eeg4., 
coconuts, etc., aud that every effort should be m ide 
to encoura<{e thera to improve the methods they 
use for sucfi cultivaliou. On th3 other hand, they 
should, I thiuk, be discoaragel from attempts to 
imitate Europeans, with whom they have neither the 
energy nor the capital to compete, and whose methods 
they aie unable to emulate. On the two European 
estates at Telok the coffee ia still youiig ; but some 
70 acres belonging to I^lr. Barring, which caraii into 
bearing, is reputed to be as fine as any coffee yet 
produced in Selangor. 
(From Ilcport on the I'lu Lanrjat Dutncl.) 
There are five Earopein-owaed estates in this dis- 
trict, the areas under caltivatioa at the end of the 
year were : — 
acres 
Coffee ... 1,435 
Coconuts 30 
Rubber . . 38 
Durians ... 9 
Maize . . 3 
The abnormally high price of rice early in the year 
had the effect of inducing the Malays to plant padi 
ou a much larger scale than nsual. The total area 
of padi planted in all mukinis amounted to 1,065 
acres, the crop from which was at the commence- 
ment of harvest, estimated by the Penghulas at 
157,991 gantangs. 
{From Report on the Kuala Selangor District.) 
COCONUTS. 
Since Mr. Holmes started the Oil Mills Company's 
work at Kuala Selaugor, a great impetus has been 
given to the coconut planting amongst the natives, 
so mttch so that the number of nuts saved for seed 
has had an effect on the price, which has gone up 
considerably during the year. Javanese who took up 
land on the Bukit Rotan Road and planted it with 
coffee, which was destroyed by flood wt^ter, the 
drain having been dammed by the Public Works 
Department to use as a canal for transport of metal, 
have now most of them planted coconuts as also 
have many others who hold land on the inland side 
of the Coast Road which as my predecessor pointed 
out, acts like a long dam from Sabak to Kapar, as 
if built purposely to prevent the water getting to 
the sea. By planting each coconut on a mound six 
feet high it has a chance to get a start without being 
flooded ; but you cannot grow coffee like that. I am 
in hopes that there will be a regulation soon to fight 
the c9CQ&ut )?ee(le 9<i present it ^9^% mai;ii ^f^iua|ei 
