March 1, 1899.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
651 
OLD LAMPS AND NEW. 
To the Editor of The Home and Colonial Moil. 
Sir —As a fairly lai-ge shareholder in different tea 
companies I have been much concerned by the neNvs 
I have had in so many letters from India lately 
of the vei-y large number of older planters who have 
been dismissed this vear to make rcora for younger 
and cheaper men. To my mind this seems a very 
mistakeu policy on the part of our agents and directors. 
1 wonder what would be thought of London business 
men who made it a practice to dismiis their em- 
ployes on reaching, say, the age of f..rty, filling their 
places with young and inexperienced men ? in tea 
it is, if possible, worse policy, for when a planter is 
uncertain of length of his tenure, beyond that it will 
probably be rather shorter than longer, he is apt 
to do the best he can for himself, taking little or 
no thought for the future. Possibly the results tor 
a year or two are brilliant, then comps the reaction. 
With the well-established mm, looking forward to 
?ears on the same garden, the results may not be 
so brill'ant, or cori.ect-like, while the dividends will be 
more steady, and there will always be " a bit in hand. 
The conspicuous successes on old gardens has been 
chieHy where the employes were certain oE tbeir 
billets. It m ly be said the older planters " get stale, 
and the youuger (and cheaper) men are more active, 
but I doubt if this is the fact. The older planters 
are " the survivals of the fittest," and I would put 
my money on the veteran for a tough time or good 
health Again, even supposing what is not the case 
—viz., that the younger men are more active, is ac- 
tivity the only requisite quality on a garden.' i 
think not. The experienced man manages his coolies 
better, gets more work out of them with less friction, 
and last, but not least, understands the intricacies of 
land laws and-others. Lastly (though this perhaps, 
is not " business "), is the hardship entailed on those 
elder planters-I do not say oZf/ planters, as most of 
the niei I have in mind are from forty to torty-tive 
—by having to turn to and find new work for which 
thev have not been trained ? It is all veiy well to 
say with the members oi a large firm notorious for 
frequently changing their staff. " It is no hardship, 
even when we turn out our men for younger ones at 
the end of a five years' agreement. We have taught 
them a business." They certainly have, but wnat is 
the use of the knowledge if there be no vacancies 
for which to apply. Further, and for this I confess 
I am more concerned, is it not penny wise and pound 
foolish to save monov by getting rid of your experi- 
enced men and putting in youngsters who, in their 
turn, are not blind, and, knowing what .to expect, 
make hay while the sun shines ?— Yours faithfully, A. 
U. and C. Mail, Feb. 17. 
MANICOBA RUBBER IN BRAZIL. 
The ofacial report of Consul Benjamin F. Clark of 
Pernambuco to the United Siatts government has jubt 
reached us : . • «i_ 
He says: The manicoba plant is grown in the 
no-th of Brazil especially in Ceara and Bio Grande 
de' Norte and Parahyba. In price the rubber from 
those states is second to the senngueira or Para 
rubber, and for certain classes of work is preferred 
to the latter. , , , , • ^ j-t 
The interest in the growth of the plant is steadily 
increasing through the three states mentioned above, 
and is also extending rapidly throughout Pernambuco, 
AJagoas and i3ahia, giving better results with lees 
labour than almost any other agricultural pursuit. 
The seed should be planted at the beginning of 
winter red or brown soil giving the best results. At 
the time of planting the soil should bo neither exces- 
sively dry or wet ; once the tree has reached the age 
of two years it can resist any weather, but, of course, 
the amount of milk will always more or less depend 
9n th« climfttic iutiuaace. 
At six years the plant will have reached its maturitv, 
which is the time best suited for tapping, though 
this may be begun at the age of two ye irs. After six 
years the tree will produce annuillv. until the age 
of ihirty years fiom 2 to 5 kilograms (1'4 to H pounds) 
of rubber, if iu good conrliiiou. At'i ! triirty yeirs the 
yield will slighUy decrease, the life b:ing at least a 
century, undei' fair cuditions. 
The sap is prepared in exactly the same manner as 
the seungueira of Para, but is of a deepsr bro.vn color 
after smoking. 
The way the greater part of the man'coba rubber is 
produced in the states above mentioned is to simply, 
cut the bark of the tree, lettiug the sap ^un in 
drops to the base, where by the action of the sun's 
rays it coagulates and forms an irregular solid mass, 
which is gathered by the natives and sold to the 
mi Idlemen, by whom it is shipped to America and 
Europe. 
The prices per kilogram range, in the states from 
2 to 6 milreis (28 to 70 cents per 2, -2046 pounds), 
according to quality. 
Besides the manicoba, these states produce a great 
quantity of mangabeiia rubber, whic'i is of an in- 
ferior grade to the manicoba and is used for covering 
cables, &c. 
Below is given a table of the rubber export from 
Ceara for the years 1893 to 1897, inclusive : — 
Quantity. Valne. Value. 
•Kilos t Milreis § 
1893 .. 135,.i69 1.129,742 359,840-66 
1894 .. 146.027 1,221,892 242,378-30 
1895 .. 146,627 1,592,.567 302,587-73 
1896 .. 324,327 2,702,725 486,490-.50 
1897 .. 475,603 3,964,108 594,616-20 
— The BiolHeios, Jan. 24. 
THE MOTHER-OF-PEARL SHELL 
INDUSTRY. 
TO THE EDITOR OF THK LONDON " STANDARD.' 
Sir, — My atteation ha« been directed to the very 
interesting Article on "The Jlotlier-of-Pearl Shell In- 
dustry," contained in Ihe Standard ot last Saturday 
and which is based on the recently-issued Pieport ofVice 
Consul Thesiger. Mr. Thesiger's Report deals with Sig- 
ner Comba's proposition to cultivate the larger tropical 
mother-of-pearl shell on the Caiabrian coist, and 
suggests that this newly-proposed industry might 
present a favourable opening for British capital. 
Queenslend is referred to as the only place in which 
mother-of-pearl shell has, so far, been made the subject 
of systematic cultivation, and the advantages of esta- 
blishing a like industry at so much nearer station 
as the Mediterranean to the home markets are strongly 
advocated. 
It so happens that the inauguration of this industry 
in Queenslund was the outco ue of successful experi- 
ments condn';ted by myself in Torres St: aits, when acting 
as Commiss oner of Fioh.ii ies to the QueenslandGovern- 
meut, and foiiowiug which, upon my recommendation, 
an Act was passed by the Q leensland Parliament, pro- 
viding facilities for leasing suitable areas within 
Queensland waters for peirl-shell cultivation. Full 
particulars of these earliest successlul attempts to 
cultivate the large tropical mother-of-pearl shell were 
recorded in mo Report to the Queensland Government 
for the year 1888, and also, with further details, iu a 
paper communica' ed to the first meeting of the Austra- 
lasian Association for tha Advancement of Science, 
held at Melbourne iu 1689. Since then, actiug in a 
similar official capacity for the Western Austra- 
lian Government, I have demonstrated that this 
large mother-of-pearl shell, Melcagnna maniaiitifera, 
may be successfully cultivated under varying con- 
' 1 kilogram eqaais 22,046 pounds. 
fThe paper milreis is estimattd as follows: la9>, 
23 cents; 1894 20 cents; 1895, 19 cents; 1896. 18 
cents ; 1897, 15 cents. 
