4^0 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTUKIST. 
[Jak. 2, 1899. 
vafcion in India, apart from tlie extensive 
acreaf,'e uiider <late-sii;rar cultivation ; that the 
industry gives eniployrnent to ahout two million 
persons ; that ib represents an annual turn-over 
of 12 to 15 crores of riipaes ; and that the revenue 
derived by the (ioverninent from I he land under 
Eugar-cane is about 35 lakhs of rupees. Already 
a large number of sugar-relineries have been 
closed in the Jessore District, and the efi'ect of 
the failure of the Brnesel? Conference to come 
to an agreement, and of the im|)os<ition by 
America of countervailing dutif.s, having been to 
flood the Indian market with bounty-fed sugars 
to a greater extent than ever before, the remain- 
ing refineries may have soon to be closed. The 
argument that countervailing duties would operate 
against the consumer, is met by the statement 
that India is ditt'erently situated from F^ngland, 
as relined sugar enters into consumpiion only 
among the well-to-do classes, and that the tax 
which niay save an industry in which mil lions 
of the poorer classes aie engaged, w ill not be se- 
riously felt by the wcallhy. 
So far as we are aware, no answer has yet 
been returned to the reprc-entations of the Bei.t;al 
Chamber, and it is not to be e.\pe(!ted that a 
definite answer is ])ossiblein a hurry. jMeanwhilc, 
the Government of India have directed all Local 
Administrations to institute special inquiries, 
and to report how far the increased importations 
of sugar have affected the area under cane 
cultivation, ihe (jrices of locally manufaotuied 
sugars in the market, the land and canal re- 
venue, etc. The tenor of the inquiries would 
seem to suggest that the demand for coarse sugars 
is unafl'ected, and that it is the refiners and not 
the growers and manufacturers, of sugar, who 
are beginning to feel the |)inch of increasing im- 
portations. That, there has been a growth is 
indisputable, with the vahie of imported Austro- 
ilungarian crystallized siigar increased from 
K63,582 in 1895-96 to IUO,45O,0UU in 1897-98, 
and the increase from other protected countries 
has been in proportion ; while Mauritius sorts 
have fallen olF. The outcome of official inquiries 
will be eagerly looked for. 
COFFEE IN UVA. 
(Communicated.) 
At the Pass how it does blow I — the cape of your 
waterproof is lifted over your liead, and the 
raw cold and drifting mist are twin horrors to 
the lowcountry man, and the resthouse is not by 
any means a cheerful place at this season. 
- The old King Coffee is putting on quite a regal 
appearance this year at Haputale. Whether it 
is that the planting of tea through the coffee, 
Avhere tea was before spurned at, has had any 
effect, certain it is that the coffee crop this sea- 
son is remarkably line— what a wealth of it ! 
IJerries clustering everywhere and crowding out 
each other in all stages of ripeness. "Not ex- 
pected that the trees will be able to carry it," 
is what was told nie. Is it a new version 
of the song of the dying swan, which was always 
sweetest with death in sight ? There will be 
rare times for the coffee thieves ! I have heard 
ot stripping coffee in the old days to relieve a 
heavily-bearing place, though I must say I never 
knew the man who had tihe nerve to do it ; bu8 
when the relief conies in an erratic way — and 
through the good services of our coloured Aryan 
brother— well it may save the tree, but it's mighty 
bard luck tor the planter. 
The lantana bug is said to be nourishing at 
Judge's Hill, Badulla — imported from the I'era- 
deniya (jan'ens, it is reported ; It would not 
take long to spread thiough the province; and if 
tliere is trouble in its track, it will be poor com- 
fort to know that the Principality has to thank 
the Koyal Botanical Gardens for the gift of the 
blight. .We all want a .Scientific Agricultural De- 
partment, but for other work than scattering fun- 
gus broadcast. 
THE CEYLON HANBOUK AM) 
DIKECTOUY. 
The new Cc>lon Handbook and Dirtrtory for 169t( '.<9, 
compil&d and edited by Mesers. A. M. and J. Feigasoo, 
of Colombo, hus ncowa to be a poitly volume of some 
1,000 pages, full of information regarding Ceylon es- 
pecially and o'ber countries incideutally. India being 
HO near a neigbboar to Ceylon, it is natural tliat sub> 
jects which are of interest to both couiitrieB Hliould be 
compared ; for the Handbook is a history and encj clo- 
pojjia as well as a. Directory. TbuH, in regard to the 
tea enterpiiiic, we >ue told that India and Ceylon 
together have 840,000 acres unJe' cuUi\.itii n, while tea 
is expected to yield '275,0u0,Oi'O lb. iu IbyS. The Kr<-» 
under tea in India exceeds the Cevlon tea cultivatiou 
by only 100,(X(0 acres, the totals being, respectively 
470,000 and 370,^00 acres. This represents a develop- 
ment of hut thirty > ears iu Ceylon, the first tdi acrei 
of tea, planted iu 18(>7, liaving reached a thousand 
acres in ln75, and 100,01.0 ten years later. Since 1886 the 
progress has been phenomenal, and the danger now is 
over-production. An interesting table shows the "Tea 
consumption cf li e World in 1698." araounticg to a 
grHiid lotal of overs thousand million pounds, of which 
China is supposed to consume 100,000,0001b. and the 
United Kiugdom 2l0,000,000ib a year. There are statis- 
tical tables of great value, besides a calendar, containing 
a chronological table, showing the principal historic 
and traditional events connected with Oeylou from the 
earliest times. One page contains a list of upwards of 
seventy principal Indi>u stations, with particulars of 
population, latitude and longitude height above sta 
level, mean temperature, etc. It is interesting to 
note that the recorded, nTau annual temperatures of 
Ijahore and Poona exactly correspond, 'hough the 
Punjab capital has f;ir greater extremes of heat and 
cold than the capital of the Deccan. Darjeehng 
appears to have the least amount of heat of any of 
the Iudi^n sanitaria, its mean temperature being only 
45 e. The meteorology of Ceylon is fully dealt with, 
and elaborate statistics of rainfall temperature, etc., 
are given. Questions of revenue and taxation, rail- 
way extention, and harbour works, all find their place, 
and a closer com ection with India is anticipated with 
the proposed railway by Adam's Bridge. The Dir- 
ectory proper contains upwards of 12,000 names, and 
includes every inhabitant of any standing in the 
colouy, besides a directory of roads, estates and pro- 
fessions. It is difficult to imagine anything of inter- 
est in regard to the Island of Ceylon that has been 
omitted or forgotten, while a complete index of sixiy 
pages makes it an easy matter to find out facts and 
figures whicIT must have been compiled with 8n incredi- 
ble amount of patient labour and research. — /Statesman. 
DEATH FROM HONEY-SEEKING. 
Eeeently a cooly on Cymru Estate, Dimbula, 
taking advantage of the present season while 
the nilhc is in its septennial bloom, met his 
death in the pursuit of honey-seeking. He had 
climbed a high tree on which a-swarm of bees had 
deposited their honey, and in his eagerness to ob- 
tain the luscious prize before him, missed his hold, 
and falling to the ground was almost instantly 
killed. 
