bsc. 1, 189$.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTUIilST. 
415 
Coffee Supply. — Messrs. Rucker and Bencraf t* 
report earlj' in this month that tiie visible supply 
of coffee is 400,000 tons, — " another record "! 
Insect Fests and Mr. Kcbbele. — We attract 
attention to an interesting letter fcoin the 
Honorary Government Eniomologisb Mr. E. S. 
Green on the aburidant and good work Mr, 
Koebele is doing for the Hawaiian Islands. 
Mr. CvRRUTHiiRS' di'cision to delay liis depar- 
ture is not dun simply to a requ3.it to watch 
the cacao fungus in the wet weatiier ; but also to 
the discovery that some of the bark canker was 
spreading into the pod. This is rather a new 
development and ^Ir. Carruthers does not care 
to leave before inveetigaling it, as he has 
been requested to do so. This may take 
two months and Mr. Carruthers is likely to make 
Warriapolla Matale, his headquarters <luring 
this period. 
The Rice Crop of 189(3— says Mr. Robertson 
in his Indian Trade Report just issued — was very 
deficient in Bengal and Madras, and a large part 
of the surplus of the Burma crop was diverted to 
those provinces to supplement the deficiencies in 
the food supply. 
The Artificial Manufacture of Pearls is 
becoming a regular industry in America. Tiiey 
are produced by introducing a ,trlass bead or some 
other substance between the shells of a fresli- 
wa,ter mussel. This, in the course of six months, 
bedoraes coated, as in the case of oysters, with 
a slimy substance, and a pearl is thus formed. 
— London Times. 
Tea-Seed. —Here it may be mentioned that the 
export of tea-seed from Bengal, mainly to Ceylon, 
has been in the last three years as follows :— 
Cwt. 
Rx. 
1895-96 
. . 3,232 
35,985 
1896-97 
.. 4,173 
52,825 
1897-98 
5,347 
87,853 
Imports of Tea into India. — The sources of 
supply are China, Ceylon, the Straits and Java, 
from which countries the imports in the last five 
years have been : — 
China. Ceylon. Straits. Java. Total 
lb. lb. lb. lb. lb. 
1893- 94 6,016,24-1 930,507 360,770 303,333 7,687,757 
1894- 95 4,630,327 901,971 413,417 362,366 6,326,122 
1895- 96 5,890,0.r2 997,925 399,792 187,433 7,497,703 
1896- 97 6,342,962 718,127 431,672 306,323 7,874,832 
1897 93 1,689,561 1,059,716 450,585 291,674 3,515,013 
The Orange Trade in Southern California 
is reported not to have been so profitable this 
season as in former years. Over six thousand 
car loads were despatched from various sections 
of thestate to the eastern market. Some arrived in 
first-class condition and brought fair jirices. It is 
stated that a large part of 'the crop has not 
realized good prices, so that the average has been 
a loss to the owners. 
Large Number of Talipojs in; Flower.— 
A planter who has just come down by laihvay, 
tells us that he never saw so many talipots in 
flower along the line of railway before. On the 
way down no less than 21 tress, in full flower are 
to be seen. We never iieard of anything like this 
number being in Hower along the line at one time. 
Our informant tells us that there is a beautiful 
clump of 6, all in flower together, about a mile and 
a half on the Kandy side of Rambukkana, in tlie 
north side of the line. They ought to be well 
worth inspection,— Local "Times." 
Citronella Oil axd South Ci:yLON.— Messrs. 
Schiinaiel and Comr)any of Leipzig send us their 
reports for thi-! year upon oils and essences and 
in leference to citronella oil devote three or four 
pages to descriptions of tiie metliods of culti- 
vation and preparation of the .sil, and to diagrams 
illustrating the distilleries. They also give a map 
of South Ceylon, shewing the situation of tli", 
principal scenes of citronella cultivation and quote 
from our Ceylon Handbook. Mr. Karl P'ritz-sche 
has been in the island collecting full information 
for the firm. The book contains also a large map 
of Tonquin showing where the Sternan Plantations 
are situated. 
The Tea Industry. — In another column (see 
l)age 410 of this number) we publish a letter from 
Mr. J. L. Wood, of Johannesburg, whose experi- 
ence as a tea-broker makes his remarks on the tea 
industry of the Colony of something more than ordi- 
nary value. We have also reproduced, as requested, 
the valuable letters contributed to 2'hc Times by 
Mr J. Ferguson, of Ceylon, a gentleman who is 
well-for his painstaking accuracy and knowledge on 
questions connected with the industries of the 
t^ast. Mr. Ferguson's letters, we are sure, will 
be read with interest by all Colonists, and, as 
Mr. Wood remarks, something should be learned 
from them. — Natal Mercurij, Sept. 23. 
Bananas : Avery Dangerous Pest -says the 
Planters' v>/o)UA<y— has attacked the banana plant in 
Australia, andashipment of eleven thousand bunches 
is reported to have b33n condemned on arrival at 
Sydney, and were ordered to be destroyed. The in- 
sect is stated to 1-e a fly that attacks the fruit, and 
destroys its value as food. A report states that 
this pest has appeared also in Fiji. If so, it is 
likely to be imported in any of this fruit brought 
from that group by the colonial line of steamers 
which touch here, and whi_di are usually supplied 
with bananas grown south of the equator. While 
there may be no immediate danger of this pest 
being introduced in this way, it is well to be on 
our guard against it. 
Consoltd.\ted E.states Company, Limited. 
— On page 412; we reproduce a report of the pro- 
ceedings at the seventh annual general meeting 
of the Consolidatetl Estates Company, Limited, 
at which a very clear statement was made by 
the Chairman (Mr, G. Arbuthnot) as to the 
position anil prospects of the concern and the 
condition of the estates. Apart from details 
concerning the Company, the Chairman also 
gave e.xpression to his views on general questions 
such as that of decreasing the diUy on tea (which 
he thought would result in increased consump- 
tion) and that of exchange, his opinion that by 
keeping the rupee at its present high rate the 
welfare of the country was materially injured. 
Growers of Tjoa in I.vdia and Ceylon are 
now meeting with an active rival in the Japan 
variety ; and judging from a pamphlet whicli 
1 caches us from Tokio, the merits of tea from 
the Mikado's Etnpire are to be pushed, in the 
United States especially, with all the resources 
of modern advertising skill. In the brochure before 
us, attention is drawn to the extreme cleanliness 
of the Japanese, antl to the fact- that of the 
tt;{,00O,000 lb of tea imported into the United 
States in ISOo, (il, 000,000 lb came from Japan. 
Some useful hints as to the making of tea are 
also given, and the general arrangetnent and get- 
up of tlie circular show that the Japan Central 
Tea Tiadcrs' Association, from whom it emanates, 
are ai)t .students in modern mothods of pushing 
conuuercial commoditcs. — B. '1\ Journal, Oct. li 
