424 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTUKIST. [Dec. 1. 1898. 
Nout'H Tu/VVANCORE : PL.VN'Tr\(; Activity.— 
We mulerstai)(l tliat the several Companies at 
work in this direction e.\|)eet to open ami plarit 
some 4,60IJ acres durinp; 1899, of Svliieli not less 
than 2,000 acres are to be in colFee and canla- 
moms. The r()peway and tiamway, of which we 
heai'd a good deal, are hein^' rapidly puslied on : 
the former, as we understand it, runs from l,(ju<> 
to 6,0iJ0 feet and llien there will be a motor car on a 
tramway for several miles. Alto-jethcr n)ucli 
enterprise and hard work mark operations in this 
"J\'cw Ceylon," and we cannot but admire t he way 
in which allisbein;^ pushed on and wish success to 
the old " Ceylon durais " who are responsible. 
Two Ni:\v EucLYi'iUS. — We have received 
from the author a copy of his papar (with plates) 
on two well-known but hitherto undescribed 
s|iecies of liucalypuis. The author is Mr. K. T. 
Baker, F. L.S , Assistant Curator, Technological 
Museum, Sydney. These are : — 
E. Biidgesiana, sp. nov. " Apple," " Apple-topped 
Box," " Woolly-butt," of New South Wales. " Jiut- 
but" of Gippslaud, Victoria. '• A tree of considerable 
size" (VVoolis) ; " grows to a f;reat hei^^ht, particularly 
in loamy soil" (J. Manns). Bark whitish-grey, 
wrinkleil or tessellated, abort and brittle in the giain, 
not fibrous, almost exactly identical with the Box, E. 
/lemi/jhloia, when freshly cui giving out an aroma 
similar lo the ordinary oil obtained from Eucayplus 
leaves, extending almost to the ultimate branch lets. 
liab. — Victoria: Gippsland ('' But But," "Apple- 
tree," "Apple-tree Box," '' White Box," .1. /f . y/yiiiV/, 
F.G.S.). iSl.S. Wales: Colombo* ('•Apple-tup Hox, ' 
W. BduerlcH) ; Albury (" Apple," Vr. Aiulrcics) ; Gero- 
gery (" SVooUy-butt," /. Manns) ; Itylstone (" Woolly- 
butt," R.T.B.) ; J3.ithurst (" Bastird Box," 11'. WooUs). 
TiMBEii. — It is a fairly hard, whitish-brown timber, 
but it is only good for indoor work as it decays 
rapidly when exposed to the air or placed in the 
ground. It is not used where strength and durability 
are required ; fairly good for fuel. 
Oil. — (a) Leaves. — 6i6 lbs. of leaves with branchlets, 
distilled Feb , 1898, gave 59 ounces of oil, or an 
average of '571 per cent., a very satisfactory result. 
The oil is a little red in colour, and a few prelimi- 
nary tests indicate it to be a good oil. 
Eucalyptus Paludosa, sp. nov.— (A'. Stanrtiana, 
F.V.M., va.i-.loiuiifolia, Beiith.,B.Fl. iii. p. 244). "Manna," 
"Yellow," " Ribbouy," "Swamp,' or " Flooded Gum." 
A tree " not exceedii g 80 feet in height ' (Sir W. 
Macarthur), with a diameter 6 feet from the ground 1ft. 
6io.to2feet. In the young state up to a trunk of 5 to 
6 inches it is very similar to K. vimuialis, Labill. Bdrk 
brownat thebutt, bluish-white on the trunk and main 
branches, and yellow on thesmaller branches and limbs, 
decorticating into long ribbons of 30 feet or more sus- 
pended from the forks and trunks of the trees. 
ffit6.--Monga (Braidwood, If^ 5tt«<Hc«) ; Delegate 
(Bonibala, IV. Bciuerleii) ; Wiugecanita^e W. Woolls ; 
Hill Top (./. II. Maiden); Barber's Creekf//. 
Timber. — The timber is much more difficult to season 
than that of E. t.'iotffii, Hook., and is also specifically 
heavier. It ia a close-grained, hard timber of a h'ght 
reddish colour, and I should consider it a much more 
durable timber tbetn E. Gunnii or E. viminalis. Sir W. 
Maoarthur states that it is " said to be good." Dr! 
Woolls was of opinion that it is not suitable for any 
purpose, but Mr. H. Rumsey, of Barber's Creek, in- 
forms me that sound logs will last 30 years in the 
ground. My own opinion is that it well seasoned it 
is a good, sound, hard, durable timber, and useful for 
many purposes. 
Oil.— The leaves are not rich in essential oil, as 
394 lbs. of leaves with terminal branchlets, distilled 
June, 1898, gave 15 oz„ or •248 %. It is slightly red 
in colour and is probably (from preliminary te?ts) not 
a good oil, and as the yield is not good it could not 
profitably be extracted. 
V »Wedidnotknow before that there waa a " Colombo " 
Jo New South Walfs.-^lD. 
LirjKKtAN CoKFKt IS SLMATfiA.— We direct 
attention to an intererstini; letter from our well- 
known correspondent "W.T.McK." ou |.a;;e 4W. 
Ihe heading he save of "Coffee Planting in Swit- 
zerland wa'^ so Ktartling lint we could not :i\»Ui 
adding "Sumatra," albeit '• Switz-rlaiid" is the 
ap))ellation of a very tine coflic-iirowinK <livi«i«a 
of that island. 
Dr. JniiN'soN anuTka-uki.nking — Mr. Tiioiiiai. 
Auld, of Beliai-t, writes in ,V.yf.'» niid (Jaerus of 
Ocfober lM:-"The late rom in<-ist K.L. .SteveiiKon, 
II! Ills essay •.\rs trijdex,' has rim, written: 
' Aliea.ly an old man, lie [l>r. Johiiwin] ventured 
on his Highland tour; an.) his heart, liound with 
triple brass, did nor recoil before twenty-seven 
individual cups of tea.' Is not this twenty sevL-ii 
a small romance in itself? I fancied I li;id rend 
most of the Johnsonian literature in e.'<i-:erice, 
yet I have never heard «if the doctor dispo-ing 
of more than twenty-four cups of tea at one sitliii;;! 
It is as well to point out this (if it ha* not 
alreafly been noted) lest some other writer, a hi 
Sir John Falstafi; should add a few more cups 
to a number which is already lar-je enougli in ati 
conscience. — T.'' 
Tka I.nku.sion. — Ur. GoodfcllowV seven "olden 
rules are worthy of .special record :— 
The golden rules he laid down with rejiard to tea- 
drinking were : always to use t-ood tea ; use water 
which had just got to the boil; infuse about four 
ininutes ; do not allow the leaves to stand iu the 
infusion ; avoid second brews and the used tea leaves- 
avoid tea at the principal meal ; and, if suffering from' 
heart or nervous complaints, only use the very finest 
qualities of tea, with short infusion. 
The London Stnndard winds up an appreciative 
notice with some unjustifiable remarks in rec'ard 
to Indian, specially Ceylon, teas — " 
The truth is that the excessive use of tbes-' teas 
IS a very great evil. They have made their" ways 
and ousted the China leaf, mainly because thev are 
cheap, and " strong," otherwise black. The average 
Englishman reckons his tea by the bUckne-is aiTd 
the average hosewife buys the kind with which fhe 
can make most cups of the standard shade, so to 
speak, out of a pound. Indian tea, and in a less 
degre« Oeylon, will make half as many cups again 
of suflicient colour aud " twaug ' as Chma It re- 
presents therefore, a very substantial economy to 
the thrifty housekeeper ; but the blackness and" the 
strength are not desirable qualities from the diete- 
tic point of view. As Dr. Goodfellow said yesterday 
the deep colour is due simply to the tannin, and 
such tea IS usually poor in theine, which is the 
exhilarating principle. High class teas do not pro- 
duce a deep colour, but they are rich in theine- 
neither black nor strong-which has such a wonder- 
ful effect on the tired nerves when taken at the riebt 
time. It seems to spread through the body iu a mo- 
ment, and dispels the sense of lassitude like ma-ic 
iiut to swill strong black tea, as many of the workine 
firr^dr^J^'kruVbee?: '^^^'^^^ 
Now our contemporary ouglit to know that Dr 
Goodiellow.s rules were -peeially drawn up for 
India and Ceylon teas, not for the weaker and 
comparatively fusiouless China kinds, and that 
if these rules are observed nothing but benefit 
can come from drinking our teas. Further he 
should know that Ceylon teas as a rule come 
between the Assam and China kinds. Then 
again, let bim note that the greatest tea drink- 
ers in the worla-tlie Australians-are amonff 
the most athletic and that they are ranidlf 
abandoning China, m favour of Ceylon and Indiah 
