874 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[June 1, 1899. 
The estimated output of tea tioin your estates 
(which estimate has heen carefully compiled by 
Mr. Tatham, the Conipany'.s Mana^'er in Ceylon) 
is l,.30ii,000 lb., which sUoulil show, from le.i uloi.e, 
a very yalist'actory inctime, wii limit taking into 
accouut any prolits arifi"j; troni Humbafio. Cocoa, 
Tea Seetl, etc. 
As ref^ard the question of Plniiiba<4o, which wiw 
referred to at the meeting, this m itteris having 
the careful consideration ot your Din.'Ctoi-.s ; they 
are now awaiting more delinitc statements from 
the Manager, who has already been approached by 
certain persons with a vii-w of h a-iiijj or purchanii.g 
the mining rights. Nwilimg, however, will be 
done without the approval of the London Uo-inl, 
who have in mind that, it nee^essary, expert evid- 
ence should be obtained to the value of tliis 
riumb;igo Deposit. 
By Order of the IJoard, 
li, T. BAUTLETT, 
Secretary. 
15, Biihopsgate Street Withiu, 
London, E.C., 22ud April, 1899. 
COFFEE AND COCOA lii SAN DOMINGO. 
Tha niomitain regions of S m Domingo, says R jbert 
8. Hill, in his admirable work, " Uubiv and Porto Ilico," 
like those ot H titi, Cuba, 'ind J.un.iica, are eapaoi^iUy 
suited to the cidtiue of coffee. The annual yield u 
about a million and a half pounds. The area of uu- 
ouUivated lands suic;ibl3 for coffee in this island 
probably exceeds th.it of all of the rest of the 
Antilles. 
Cocoa is extensively cultivated, much foreign cipital 
having beeu invested in it within recent yei'.r.s, and 
the proiuction liaving multiplied live-fold within the 
past decide. — American Grocer, April 12. 
PLANTING NOTES. 
'-'■Green Teas.— It will be seen from an inter- 
view reported elsewhere, that Mr. Ayden favours 
the preparation of Ceylon green teas for tlie 
American -uarket. 
. A New Vbstilating Fan is in working order at 
the Sirocco Factory (DavidsDo & Co., Ltd.), and its 
results are certainly extraordinary. A littie 3U' 
diameter Fnn puts through over 10,500 cub. feet of air 
per minute when driving at only 380 revolutions per 
minute, Hud the power required to drive it was only 
I H.P.— its work is therefore 2-3rds of 1,000,000 
cub. feet per hour. 
- "Grossman on CoffkI':.''— It is evident from 
■the April circular of W H Crossinan aud Brother 
(says the American Grocer) that they are hrm 
believers in a coaiinuation of clieap coflee, and 
that prices must go considerably lower before 
overproduction will be checiced. The present 
Brazil crop is placed at 5,500,000 bags of Santos 
and .3,50^),000 bags Kio, makint;- a total of 
9 000,000 bags. The next crop, it is believed, will 
e'xcei'd that of 1898 99, but this is legardeo im- 
material, a=! " ibe fourth consecutive large crop 
in excess of the requirements of consnniption 
•will mean a continuation of very low prices. 
With three large crops in Rio and Santos aggre- 
gafcin"- 28,00(1,(100 bags, and a fourth (claimed to 
be a " record breaker " to follow, it is no longer a 
nueslion how much coffee is oa tlse tr »es ; it is a 
question how much cofi'ee is in the warehouse.^, 
the surplus production of the last three seasons." 
Dakjf.eijng Tea — Recent advices from Dar- 
ieeling— i-ay.i the Indian Hunters' Gazette, April 
'29th -state that tea pt"S| ecis are htolcing up in 
the surrounding district, the late heavy rain bein;!; 
good for the bushes, iloist gaideiis aie going iu 
for very fiue (juulity in tlie luanufactuie of t«a. 
Planters consider' that tiie season is opening 
avourably. 
"TiiK Vanui.a IJkan js Mkxico"— is the 
subject of an ititerostiug paper from liie 
Society of Aris Journal, which we leiiroduce 
id our daily and 'Jropicftf Aiji-v-uitniint. 
All interested in tlii« spice, the cultivation ui 
V. liich in Ceylon has lately boon on i he iiicrcaw, 
should carefully .^tudy the brief arlicle referied 
to, V'linilla pUnlaf i<ins in Mexico, we i^ee, are 
valued up to I'lOU per acre. 
A Favokitk Foudkr.— We have lieard "Al 
falla'' or " Lucetne " {Mcdicago natna) much 
praise I by Mr, Nock of Hakj^ala, who ho:; hud 
a good deal of experience of fo<ttlers. The follow- 
ing is from a recent nuniber of the Hand Cati- 
forninn : — 
Alfalfa is better tb>in a b.ink ooooutit, for it never 
fails or goes into the hands of a receiver. It is 
weather proof, for the cjld does not lujure aud lie.tt 
makes it grow all the bet'.or. A wiatnr flood will not 
drown it, and a fire will not kill it. As a borer it 
is equal to an iirce^iau well ; it loves water tind bores 
to reach it. When growine there is no stoiiping it. 
Begin cniting a 20- icre field, and when your la^t load 
of li.ty is haudled at oue end of the field it lo ready 
to cut again at the olbereud. For filling a lailk can, 
au alfalfa-ted cow is equal to a handy pump. Cattle 
love it, bjgs fatlou upon it, aud a hun<{ry horse 
wants nothing else. If your laud will giow alfalfa, 
you have the drop on dry weather. Once started on 
yoor land, alfalfa will stay by >ou like Canada thistles 
or a first-class mortgage, but only to make yoa 
wealthie r and happy. Evidences of the profitablenesB 
of alfalfa on irrigated land in the semi-arid regioue 
multiply from year to year. 
Oil Motors. — Our Loudon Correspondent 
("B.P.") sends iis the following: — "Every- 
body ill Ceylou knows Mr. Jackson, of 
Tea Machineiy fame, by uauie at least. I 
was int'jrested to bear of a recent tour he 
took with Mrs. Jackson and two friends fi-om 
Aberdeen to London iu a motor car, driven 
by oil. The party travelled the distance of 
over six hundred miles iu seven days, aud 
their itinerary was as follows : left Aterdeen 
on the 17th April, reached Edinburgh the 
same evening, left Edinburgh at 10 a.m. 18th, 
reached Newcastle in the eveuing. Left New- 
castle at 10 a.m. on the 19th and reached 
York iu the evening: left York at 11 a.m. 
on the 20th and reached Grainsborough in the 
evening. Spent the following day tliere, and 
started once more on 22nd, reaching Him- 
tingdon the same evening. Left Himting- 
don at 11-30 a.m. next day, and arrived in 
London at 3 p.m. Forty gallons of oil, cost- 
ing Is a gallon, were itsed in the journey 
which for fom- passengers reckons up to 
10s a passenger for over 600 miles. Mr. 
Jackson's conclusions as to the different kinds 
of power to be used comes to something like 
this. Iu towns where it can be easily ob- 
tained electricity would work best for private 
carrlage.3 and vehicles, and steam for busses, 
but iu long country journeys " oil will be 
found toanswer best being capable of storage to 
last some distances :" enough oil can be carried 
to do for 200 miles in such a motor car as 
he used, which held four people." 
