March 1, 1899.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
SUBTROPICAL CROPS IN NEW 
SOUTH WALES. 
(From latest Official Keiiort to the Agricultural 
Department ) 
Coffee (Coffea arahica). — Tiie small iituiiljer of 
trees planted upwaixls of two years ajjo ore still 
tiirivinj;', some of them sliowiiiij proiniseof aiiearlv 
croj) of berries. Some of them (luriuj;' last wiiuer 
were somewhat injured by fro.st, hut [)!oteetion 
will thi.s season be afforded them. It ij intended 
to plant an acie at least to coH'ee-tree.s when the 
land is ready for the imrpose, 
Jurineric [Curcuinalonga). — This crop lias so far 
proved succf.ssful, the plot harvested since last re- 
port having yielded f;i een routs at the rate of 4 tons 
[ler acre, valued at £7 per ton. The irrowin;: crop 
now ap[)roacl)ia^' maturity will, in all [uobabiiiiy, 
give an imiuoved return. 
Ginger (Zingiber officinale) — The last season's 
crop proved a comparative failure, but owint; to 
better soil beini; available the plot t:ow o-rowini; 
promises payable results. 
Arrowroot. — A heavy crop of the purple variety 
{Caniin edulix) is almost ready for haivest, while a 
fair yiehl shuuld be obtaineil from a nlot of the 
Itermuda or White Arrowroot (.Uaranta urundi- 
nacea). Hotli of these products will be prepared at 
a local mill, as the jirocess of jirep^iratiuii with tiie 
a))pliaiices available sit the farm is tedious and e.\- 
pensive- Samples and further reports will be fur- 
nished later. 
Ccw.saya.— The sweet variety (MnnUud only 
is cultivated, I he yield of tubers beiiig over lU tons 
per acre. Manihot ntililissinia was applied for 
trom Fiji, but jM. Alpi, which had previously been 
in cultivation here, was forw.irded in eri'or. 
Itice. — One variety (Japane.^e) has been giown 
this season, but owinp; to lack ot ninistuie and the 
attacks of rust it has provoil a complete failure. 
THE " VENEER-ACilE " TEA CHEST. 
Our siibdiea('.inws are not at all too strong if 
the new " Veneer- Acme " tea chest is to main- 
tain among Ceylon planters, the reputation already 
won el.-sewhere amonij Indian planters who have 
s^=en and tried it, ami among the home tea trade 
that have had it put before them. Wlien in 
(;iasgow in 1891), learning all about the "Acme" 
st(!el chest, we ventured to say that we could 
not help pinning our faith to the men of the 
(yiyde beating the world when they took up a 
mannfaeture in their own line in downright 
earnest. Tlie Acme Syndicate were at 
the time extending their Work.s and were full 
of faith in their sii^el bo.ves and not without 
warrant ; because they are at this moinent manu- 
faclniing the s:\me not at 10,000 "a month's 
(as we said last e^'ening) ; but at 10,000 a 
week ! 'I'hc out-turn last year being not 
under 400,000 b.i.xes. And their Agent, Mr. 
H J S l'io>vn, re])ort.s that he found very great 
satisfaction e.xpressed by Indian planters who 
iiave been using tlieni. They save so much 
trouble : no waste cf material, no tem))tation to 
steal loose lead, nails, iVc. ; noehips (lying about 
llie fjLclory, &c. ^VIly then — it may be asked — 
should the Acme Company go in for a new che.-t? 
Well, undoubtedly, their steel one is hcax ier 
than some others in the market: some think it 
not lle.xible and iiandy enough an<i tiiere is some- 
tliing lob,! desired o.i the -^coie ot price. So the 
Clyde nuicliinists set tlienisel/es to combine light- 
7'J 
ncs.s, _ ne.xihiiity, strength and ch( 
utilising "veneer" with specially pre 
ror the veneer they go to Canadian! 
which are sliced round by a peculiaii 
American machine adaptoll and impro 
res[)pcts on the Clyde. These " 
cemented together liruing tiie graiti Crosseu, anu 
tne oenient is the siiecial invention and tlip 
propsri;y of tne C(,mpany and is .so admirable that 
the veneer sides and ends of tlie cliests tlips 
manulaotured, have been tested boi,h for heat and 
weD and have stood lK)th tests admirably Then 
the veneer sides ar<5 bound together Mith steel 
bands hrmly fixed, bu^ so fie.xible that the four 
.sides flatten out in packing as two thin bjards 
might. _ lo stiffen them out into a four-.sided 
chest, sups ot hardwood, ingeniously grooved are 
used, and nothing can be more salisiaotory than 
the way in which these answer their purpose 
and are .slipped out or in, so far as we can 
judge by tiie models Then the ends -veneer 
bound with steel -slip into their pl.aces and are 
cla.sped with steel bands after the fashion with 
which the Acme chests has made us familiar-— 
nothing more than two .screws beiirn- required 
to fi.x them over which a thin steel band i.s 
drawn and soldered down, so .sealino- the chest A 
lining of lead-foii i.s duly att.aelied"ta the veneer 
\Vo are assureil that an ordinary cooly can 
put such cho.-ts together in four minutes with the 
greatest ease; tint the tare weight is IGlb against 
~^h\} tor tlie Acme's, while some other cliest.s 
come between at ISlb or so. Further that each 
chest can take llOib of tea which the tare makes 
\mb, or well within the I29ib allowed under 
London regulations. Lastly it is claimed that the 
new cliest saves up to 15 jier cent in freight and 
alt^ogeti.er in co.^t as much as U 5d per" maund 
St lb.) of tea. Ihen we have been shewn 
Jetters trom le.ading representatives of the home 
tea buying trade, .say in- they are well ple.ase.l with 
what they have seen of the " Veneer-Acme" lioxes 
and would give preference to them over any 
others so far seen. The ease with which they 
can be opened for sainides and shut again is es- 
pecially realized. 
There is nothing like competition to set inven- 
tion agoing. Tea planters have certainly no cause 
to complain of the amount of ingenuity used in 
their interests and not the leist iu deviMn^' im- 
proved and economical tea boxes; and we "shall 
be mucli surprise.l if tlli^, latest; invention the 
" Veneer-Aeme" does not meet with full measure 
of approval. 
. 
BIango ST.iRcn. - Ag the mango season has cow com- 
menced, liiAuj will be at a loss what to do with the 
Bupernbiindauce of fruit, wldoh, of late, has been diffi- 
cnll of s.xle, and in many cases not worth the expense 
ot gathennjf, packing, freight, etc. It is not generally 
Aiiown that the mango coutaias a quantity of starch 
which 13 s^-arccly distinguishable from arrowroot. 
\> he;i used iu the aaiue nuiuner and boiled witli water 
the jelly is very similar to that of the latter. Jlr! 
Watts, a chemist in Jamaica, reported lately on a 
s. niplc of niaago starch submitted to hiui by the 
.Jamai:a Agriculturil Society, and he pronoam'ed it 
iibuo-it piu-o starch of fairly good colour, thoiT'h capabb 
of being washed to a whiter condition. As an article 
of diet or of commerce, it will compare very favour- 
ably with arrowroot; this beijig 80. he exprcs.^ca some 
doubt whether it i an ba produced at a price sufficiently 
low to coniptte with arrowroot, of which the ordinary 
brands are selling in the wholeaalo ni(ii ket3 at pri-cS 
ranging from 2d. to Id. per lb. We think the matter 
worth a trial, at all QXi^uU.- Qu.enala td Jjriculturai 
Jounuil, January lat, 
