Nov. 1, 1898.] 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
35? 
directors propose to pay the final dividend at the 
rate of S per cent, on the preferouoe share capital 
(making 6 per cent, for the year), which will absorb 
£1801), and to carry forward the balano to next 
account. The directors regret that the revenue has 
proved insufficient to pay a further dividend on the 
ordinary share capital, but the circumstances which 
operated against the company during its first twelve 
months' working have again been strongly against 
it during the second. The yield has not been reason- 
ably progressive ; the level of market prices has been 
lower ; the ra»e of exchange has been still higher than 
before ; the supply of rice has again been carried on a 
a loss instead of a profit ; and, in addition to these 
adverse circumstances, there has been the state of 
transition and reconstruction at the principal fac- 
tories, which could not fail to affect results both as 
to expenditure and income. The last-named oanse 
will not operate in the new season ; the yield esti- 
mated for IS moderate ; the estimates have been made 
up at low prices and at the current high rate of 
exchange, and therefore it is reasonable to expect 
that they will be realised, and, if so, the shareholders 
may look for a marked improvement in the results. 
A material addition has been made to the block 
account, caused by the cost of various extensions, 
the upkeep of immature tea, the new factory at 
Chesterford, and the additions and alterations at 
Silver Kandy and Doragalla. Further outlay will be 
necessary on the immature tea, and to a small ex- 
tent on additional buildings required. Under the 
ftrtioles of association, Mr. John McEwan retires from 
the directorate, and, being eligible, offers himself for 
re-election.— fl & C. Mail, Sept. 23. 
PERAK DUTY ON COFFEE. 
Under the provisions of Section 3 (i) of the '; Cus- 
tums Duties Enactment," No. 10 of 1898, the Resident, 
with the approval of the Resident-General, has been 
pleased to impose the following export duty on 
coffee ; — , , , 
Price of Coffee per pikul. Duty Ad-valorem- 
Below$19 •• free. 
19 and opto $ 21 . . 1 per cent. 
Over 21 „ 23 .. li 
23 „ 25 .. 2 
" 25 2i 
The "above scale to come into force on and after 
the Ist day of October. 1898, until further notice. 
Note —The price of coffee will be taken as that pub- 
lished fortnightly in the Gazette, 22nd Sept., 1898.— 
Perak Government Gazette. 
per 
an 
RUBBER AND COFFEE IN NORTHERN 
QUEENSLAND. 
Tlie London Correspondent of a Queens- 
land paper writes of 20 bags rubber ex ss. 
"Jumna" selling in London at 23 8 d to 2s 94(1 
lb., and he then goes on to give remits ot 
interview with Mr. Thomas Christy (not 
«• Christie " as given in tlie " Queensland Agri- 
cultural Journal ") of lame Street ; and there 
follow the following paragraphs with some rather 
peculiar information :— . * 
"Mr Christy was very enthusiastic over an important 
discovery that has recently been made in connection 
with rubber, and of which he gave me full particulais. 
It appears that some few months ago a traveller, in a 
reeion not very remote from the Suez Canal, came 
across a weedy grass with an extraordinary root-a root 
that grew yards and yards under ground k few inches 
below the surface. On examination he was agreeably 
surprised to find that the plant produced rubber and 
subseouent investigation proved that the plant 
was of extraordinarily rapid growth. The rubber 
obtained proved to be of the very finest quality, and 
at the present state of the market would realise a 
heavy price. The plant was extremely hardy, and 
was admirably adapted for growing in Northern 
Queensland. That the plant is ot recent discovery 
could b3 judged from the fact that there was not even 
a specimen of it at K-w Gr'-rdens. A name has not 
yot bean bestowed upon it, but Mr. Christy, junr, is 
about shoi'tly to start for the district whore it is 
growing, and on his return I shall ba able to supply 
much fuller details. So far as 1 understand at present 
the rubber is obtained from the rhizome, and it ia 
of anch remarkably quick growth that a full crop 
can be obtained from the plant at the end of the first 
year. This circumstance renders it particularly 
valuable to colonists in Mr. Christy's opinion. This 
' grass ' grows about 2 J feet high, and does not 
require much attention. It can be grown in an inferior 
soil to that required for the ordinary varieties, and one 
very important feature, from the cultivator's point ol 
view, is that it is very easy of treatment for the ex- 
traction of the juice. 
" In connection with ihis subject, Mr. Christie in- 
formed me that a new process for separating and 
purifying the rubber has just been found out, and it 
is so simple that one wonders that it was never thought 
of before. The whole theory of the new system is 
eentrifugal force, aud I am told that an ordinary cream 
separator will serve admirably for the purpose, and 
the great consideration is that the operation is com- 
pleted in a few minutes, and every partic^le of dirt is 
removed, whereas the old process takes days. This new 
system results in an increased value of the material 
to the extent of 25 per cent. — in other words, tb« 
rubber which at one time realised only about 2s 3d. per 
lb. now fetches 2s Ild. Messrs. Christy hope to have 
several specimens of the new plant I have referred to at 
their premises before long. 
" On the subject of vanilla Mr, Christy was en- 
couraging, and said it was a very good commodity for 
Queenslanders to 'go in' for. Ic paid well, and it 
was one of tho»e substances that never seemed to 
glut the market. No two places had a big crop at the 
same time, with the result that shipments were never 
too heavy, and prices remained firm. Mr, Christy 
told me that he had only just recently sold a large 
quantity of vanilla at from IBs to 22s 6d per lb., the 
last-named price being an adance of quite Is 6d on the 
aver.age for last year. There is a good profit on this 
article, too, and it is a commodity that is easy to 
handle. Many people gave up the cultivation of 
vanilla because it required, so they said, such a lot of 
care, but, as a matter of fact, anybody with ordinary 
intelligence, when once they had mastered the initial 
stages of its cultivation, would find but very little 
trouble in cultivating it. The great thing was to keep 
a large stock, for the demands from buyers were often 
very sudden and erratic. Mr. Christie said he had just 
sent a very large parcel to British Central Africa."* 
Next we come on, in the above journal, a paper 
on " Coffee at Buderiin Mountains " by Mr. A. P. 
Corrie, accompanied by a plate showing a very 
primitive-looking pulper, evidently made on the 
spot, by the patriarch holding on to it ; while 
above are a few luxuriant hushes and the pro- 
prietor. The Editor says that special attention 
is now to be given to coffee, and articles are to be 
reprinted from reliable sources, and " more es- 
pecially from the Tropical Agricultutrist, Colombo." 
But why can we not be told something of the ex- 
tent planted with coffee in the different districts 
of Northern Queensland ? 
Java Quinink. - Part of the arrival of Java 
quinine, which we noticed some weeks ago 
as having been sent to Amsterdam from the 
Baudoong factory, was put up yesterday in 
auction. Our Amsterdam reiiresentative wires us 
that all the three hundred kilograiiimes (.say, 
10,500 ounces) put up was bought in at 16 
llorins ])er kil(>granime (about 9(1 per oz.) — 
ii. Ik. C. Dnigijist, Sept. 28. 
* A parcel of what ?!— Ed. T.A,. 
