AGRICULTUELST, 
829 
Railways.— A lif;ht tramway lino is sliortly to be 
coustructecl from Ainraavauayakanur to Uttamapoliaru 
and will eventually be extended to Kui-avaaootb. If 
rates fov goods over thia line are sufficiently low. and 
when taken into consideration with the cheaper 
steamer freights always to bo obtained at Tuticorin, 
uo doubt some estates, more e?peoiallv those on the 
eastern side of the District, wiii send their tea to 
Tuticorin foi* shipment rather than as at present to 
Cochin. The promoters of the line expect considerable 
pro";ress will have been made in its constriiotiou by 
the end of the current year. 
Obituary — We have to deplore the death of one of 
the oldest members of this Association, Mr. J. Bur- 
rows, who passed av^ay early in the year. Dece-ssed 
was on the point of leaving for England when death 
overtook him. 
Gamb Jjaws. — Mr. Holder at the meeting of 
the association drew the attention of the 
meeting to the wiy in which big game of both 
sexe,^ was being exterminated and uumberr^ of per- 
sons now to bo seen prowling around the confines of 
the estates with guna intent on butchery. Only re- 
cently a cooly had been shot by some person un- 
known who had been trespassing on the Woodlands 
Estate. In faot, it was biCOmii^g positively dungeroua 
on some estates to walk along the roads even in broad 
dny-light. lie therefore proposed and Mr. Laurie 
seconded ohe following Kosolutions which were carried 
unanimously :— 
1. " That members of this Association do view 
with alarm the manner in which game is being ex- 
terminated in the District, and do agree to do their 
utmost to prevent the possession of guns by cooliea 
and kangauies on their respective estates and in 
every way to try and protect the game surrounding 
thorn." 
2. " That the Dewau be requested to confer the 
powerf, as laid dov;n in Saction i of the Tiavanoore 
Gams Preservation Regulation, on all members of the 
Conimiltee of this Association." 
" It v.'as further resolved ' tbat members' attention 
be drawn to Section 3 of the Travancore Game 
Preservation Regulation." 
THE EXPERIENCE OP CEYLON AND 
.SOrm INDIAN PLANTERS. 
A correspondent writes :— Looking tlirongh 
the columns oi' J'linif'ntg Opinion. (is.sue of 
the 1st inst.) the heading ''Tea from Seed 
to Cup," attracted my attention. Your con- 
tempoi'ary has arranged with n Sonc/i Indian 
Planter (the italics are mine), to write a 
special series of papers on tea cultivation 
and manufacture, giving practical hints that 
will serve the beginner and enable him to 
s :art tea planting with the teaching.s of ex- 
])ei'ience before him. What struclv mo was 
the announconent that the papers v/ere to 
be written \>y a Soidh Indian Planter. 
Considi'ring that North-Eastern Indian and 
Ceylon planters ai-e far nioi-e experienced 
uieii than their confreres in the South of 
India, specially as regards inanKfaclurc, 
would it not have been mure to the point 
if W(^ had been infoi-med that that some 
ex]3ert from oiu' i)ait of India, or from 
Ceylon, h.id engaged to write a series of 
practical articles for tlie benefit of his leas 
oxi)e) ienced brethi'en in tlie South of India. 
Aitiiough tea was started in Southern India 
at llie same time as it was in Assam and 
Nf>rti:-\Vestern India, the Industiy may, in 
cnnnKivison to the latter, be said, to l)e still 
in its iiilancy in the former. I look foruavd 
wilii interest to see how my Southern brotlier 
w ill teach " the young iilea how to shoot," 
espei ially regarding innmidxituiw—Plaidcr. 
April lo. 
CINGALESE CATTLE AND GOVEIiNMENT 
F.\U;M IX TRINIDAD. 
We direct attention to the interestin<' 
letter sent tons by ih: I'.Ieaden, the Mana'"->r 
of the Trinidad Goveiinnent Farm, in I'efer- 
ence to the cattle selected hy Dr. Stm-ge.^^s 
and sent from Ceylon, via Calcutta, to Triiii- 
dad. It is too noon yet, it will be ol)sev\ ed 
to say _ that the expreinient is a succt-.-is '; 
but so far all has gone well and v,-e trust 
Mr. Meadeu will have a good acfount to 
give by-and-bye. The Government Farm on 
which ho re|..rts is cntireiv dcvdt-fd to 
"stock,' and 1h.' Iitl(' of'tlie ■'('(y^n'-U 
Paper No. 10 of r.m." no^v before ns is 
'■Annual Rer.ovt of th.- S-ujioini pj)(h-ii< o1 
Pastures for ISOx." Burli tiu- t-'arni and tli^^ 
Pastures seem to be worked at a iij-ofit ; 
the former siiowji ia the s iU- of T,'.S7;:i v. i ,rtli 
of stock and oi' tii.' -.ui pl-, lo of 
about m,m qnari-, oi ndili i'l-odiicxil 'ni so 
low a cost as ;;, rvni< per (-uarl. hi thi- 
case of •' i^-isii!vcs,'" tin- tVes leave a balance 
to the gootl of ii;2--;o. A iiaiancc-.shcft for 
the Avhole establislnnciit tells us that the 
value of stock is £i/7."5: the cost of Farm 
£6,100. The totisl reveu'.ie for 1898 eeualled 
£3,114 (counting the milk at 4-d a ''(iiiart, 
less than is paid for inferior milk to Colombo 
milk-sL'licis) and the total expenditm-e in 
salaries, wages, feediiig stock, &c., expi-nse 
of stallions, pinx-hase \>f pure-i)]-ed iioiVlct\- 
&c., £2,001— sliowing a net profit of £1.11:-;" 
Clearly Mr. C. Vv. Meaden deserves p'l-t^ui, 
credit for so good a result. The stock inidei- 
his care on 1st .January, 1899. included dairy 
stock 221 ; zebus 2i— total 21.5. Stud one 
stallion, 11 bi-ood niai-es, Ki younp- stock 
total 33. Poidtvy :~Wya]idottes fi ; wliite 
Minorcas 9: Creve Couis 3; Creole 12-- total 
38. Here are extracts of interest and of 
practical value with reference to local " Dairv" 
experiments. Mr. Meaden .states : — 
The milch lierd numbers 91 cows, all in profit- 
able condition, aiid iV) lieifcrs ; these \\ ill come in 
later on in the year to aa-incjit tin- iierd. orfor sale 
in calf as suygested in tlie Eeport fur 1897. The 
health of the herd has been, as usual, exeeliejit 
anything like disease is unknown. In calfhood 
there must be losses from various causes known 
and unknown. During the year 82 calves were 
born and 8 died, a rate of 10 per cent. 
The avora,2,e quality of the Farm milk has main- 
tained its high standard and kept pace with the 
extra amount proilueert. Dt-loM is sliown the a.\er- 
age composition of millr tVom 8 leading Conti- 
nental countries, the minimum quality permitted 
by the Societ\- of Public Analysts, and the analysis 
of the average milk of the Farm taken raonuiio- 
and ('vcnina: : - " 
Vat Solids Total Mois- 
not fat solids rare 
Conti7ieni,il :Milk. .3-73. ii-li). 1l'-92. S7-)s. 
Society public Aii.i- 
iay.sts. ... :i- 8-.VI. 11-.50. 8.-i-.5(). 
Farm Milk.— Morn- 
ing ... (iW I."v38. 8My. 
Evening 'yA)' 9'oO. H'oO, i!5"44. 
A% crage per cent. Cream 10. 
Sp. f;r. lO-lS. 
i'. Carmody, Govt. Aualysi. 
During the year experiments in butter-making 
have been carried on. The chief obstacle to suc- 
cess is llie (lillieuUy ill l.iringing 1 he moisture con- 
tained ill the buLter down to tlie legal liinil, viz., 
12 percent. When it is consicU'ird thai the melt- 
ing iioinl of Imlter is iS7 degrees and tlnit our t em- 
peruture nearly always ajiproaclies this diuing 
