490 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Jan. 2, 1899. 
Kobiiif^oD, 
those ■wlio are 
states 
THE MARKET VALUE OF KOLA NUTS. 
Dear Sir,- In a leading paper from one of 
our Southern Colonies there is a review of a work 
on the Gold Coast, by the Rev. L. 
which may be of interest to 
growing kola nuts in Ceylon. The writer 
that " one caravan was observed by Robuison 
of 1,000 men and a large number of donkeys, 
carrying these nuts, and the value of the caravan 
was estimated at £100,000. The nuts are ir. great 
demand and fetch high prices in the inlcrior. 
It is a pity the number of donkeys is not stated. 
If we allow as many as 500, carrying each a 
load of 125 lb., and the men f,^l%7ll?"The 
as 75 lb., we get a total of l.i/,500lb. Ihe 
average value of the nuts thus appears to have 
been over 14s 6d per lb. t n j ti,„ 
In your columns of 25th ult. I And the fol- 
lowing in the Minor Products Report dated 
Londol, Nov. 3:-" Kola Nuts.-Good Crenada 
nuts sold at this week's sjuce auctions at .3d o 
3M" There is obviously something wrong witli 
theLondon market, if with the l»rge recent de^ 
mand for these nuts the price paid is barely 
sufficient to cover transport '^"'l I'^^.^r"^ roV 
-Yours faithfully, AN OLD BOY. 
[Curiously enough we have just been reading 
nml marking Mr. Robinson's book, in regard to 
kofa nuts an^d some other matters. But the trade 
in 'kola' described is altogether a local one- 
from one part of the Soudan to another : he 
use of kola nut being universal in the Soudan 
villages. \Ve quote from the book elsewhere.— 
Ed. T-A.] 
the following dimensions :— height of trunk to 
inflorescence 73 ft. ; height from tliit to 
top of iniioiescence 30 ft — total lieit;ht 103 ft.; 
girth of trunk at baire 13 ft. Tiie inlloreKceiice, 
which tapers to the top, consistt* of 50 main 
branches, one of wliich has been found to measure 
15 feet in length, having 26 " branchlels " averag- 
ing 2 ft. in lenj;th. 'Jhe branch niea>rured, 
required three strong coolies to carry it ; tliuf, 
making allowance for smaller branchfB at top, 
quite 100 coolies would be required to carry the 
whole inflorescence. The Talipot "flower" 
collectively is therefore by far the largest in the 
vegetable kingdom. The individual flowers are 
iricon.'?f»icuous, cream-coloured, iini»lcasant ly 
scented, and are blown al/out by the wind, giving 
a snowy appearance to the ground underneath. 
Estimating by the number counted on one t-pike 
the whole inflorescence contains over GO,000,0<.Kj 
flowers. — Yours faithfully, 
H. F. MACMILLAN, 
Curator, K. B. Gardens, Peradeniya. 
FLORAL ; 
NOTES FROM PERADENIYA 
GARDENS. 
SlR,-Someof your readers may be interested 
to know that the following objects of interest 
may now be seen in convenient parts of the:ie 
Gardens, viz 
A Victoria regia, the giant water-lily, in b oom 
in the Lake. This Brazilian aquatic developes 
only one flower at a time, every third or fourth 
day, and regularly at 5-45 in the evemng. The 
flower, measuring about a foot in diauie er when 
expanded, can be seen gradually ur^folding its 
numerous creamy-white petals, which emit a power- 
ful and pleasant odour. The leaves are completely 
Circular with a turned up "/^rgin, each being 
ab)ut4ft. lOin. in diameter when full gioun. in 
warmer waters, however, they attain a much larger 
Size and are frequently photographed with children 
fl mating on them. , , 
A cannonball-fruit tree, a member of the 
«' monkey-pot" order and native of tropical Ame- 
rica, bearing three globular fruits suspended by 
straggling flowering branches issuing from the 
trunk at a heiebt of 12 ft. .from the ground. 
The fruit, the pulp of which is relished by the 
Dative.s where it grows, is appropriately named 
being about the size of a mans head, the 
largest at present measuring H inches in cir- 
cumference knd is still growing The tree itself, 
introduced in 1881, and probably the only one 
in the East which has as yet borne fruit, is one of 
a row of the same species planted along the 
East river-drive, all apparently of the same 
age, viz. 17 years, and averaging about 5o It. 
'°I^*"flose proximity to these is a hand- 
some specimen of a Talipot palni in 
Ker and ^vhich has been found to be of 
TEA CHESTS. 
Dear Sir,- -I ehonld be glad if yon would kindly 
allow me to reply to Mr. John Hill'a letter of 28ln 
November and Mr. E. JJ. Creasy's letter of let Dec- 
e nber re tea chests. 
Mr. Hill mnst be singularly unfortanate iu his 
choice of carpenters and if be will put on an intelli- 
gent cooly he will find his Veuestss cobt four cents 
a piece to make. A carpenter bae been knovrn to 
do 40 in a day. 
The " lead foil " need in Venestas is stronger than 
four oz. lead. 
Then as regards the " minute holes " made by the 
fasteners, it would be just as reasonable to sav that 
a ship had 100,000 holes in her hull, because l'00,O(X) 
rivets had been used iu her construction. 
Mr. Hill's agents seem as unfortunate as himself 
in employing a " carpenter " who took 13 minutes to 
open and close a Venesta. 
I can do it easilv in four minutes. 
Mr. Hill is of opinion that a Venesta will not hold 
as much as a Momi, but if Mr. Hill will work out 
the by no means difficult sum of Oednctinj? 3 16 in. 
all round from a five foot Venesta and half in. all 
round from a five foot Momi he can prove the fallacy 
of his opinion. 
Mr. Hill's prices of Momis E2-60 and Venestas 
I13'45, finished are extravagant.and as regards Venestas 
inaccurate. 
Blr. Creasy after stating that" good wine needs no 
bush " appears to have forgotten his text and to have 
gone off at a tangent. Now noboriy has gaineayed 
the fact that Momis are " cheap light of even tare" 
but Venestas by long extended trial ha'e been pro- 
ved, in ultimate cost, to be cheaper, they are very 
much lighter weighing complete with lead only 17 lb. 
versus Momi 25 lb. and are of perfectly even tares. 
They tare to three or four oz. 
Venestas have never been known to impart " a 
cheesy or toyshop flavour" to the tea; six planks 
make a chest and there are no knots to fall out as 
frequently happens with the Momi chest. 
The light tares of Venestas in a vast number of 
instances will permit a planter to get his teas home 
under the 129 lb. limit instead of over it as at pre- 
sent, which alone will mean a saving of several pence 
per chest. 
Since Venestas were first introduced to Ceylon the 
price has been considerably reduced and I may add 
there is no intention of raising it neither is there 
the remotest probability of the supply runing short. 
Venestas have come to stay. — I am . dear sir, yours 
faithfully, (Signed) A. S. PENNY, 
Secretary, Venesta Lt. 
