Oci?. 1, 1903.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
267 
NELSON :— NEW ZEALAND. 
AN IDEAL HOME FOB ANGLO-INDIANS AND 
ANGLO-CEYLONESE. 
[By an ex Cei/lon planter.) 
After spending a considerable time in most 
of the chief towns of New Zealand, none that 
I have visited struck me more forcibly as 
a place of peaceful retirement for Anglo- 
Indians than Nelson. Comparisons are odious 
at times, so it would be hardly within my 
province to point out some of the defects 
which were so obvious in other towns when 
writing a short description of that 
which has most taken my fancy. Nel- 
son itself is beautifully situated on high 
ground about one mile from the harbour to 
which there is excellent and cheap communi- 
cation either by 'bus or cab. The Union 
Company provide a splendid steamer service 
daily to Wellington, the capital of New Zea- 
land, a journey of from twelve to thirteen 
hours. This Company have also a line of 
steamers running twice weekly either way 
to the West Coast from Nelson, visiting 
Westport and Greymouth— the chief seats of 
the coal and gold industry of New Zealand. 
A word with regard to the Union Com- 
pany and its different lines of steamers 
trading along the coasts' may not be out of 
place. The fares by many visitors are con- 
sidered high ; but this is not to be wondered 
at when the wages paid are taken into con- 
sideration : £6 10s per month for a man 
before the mast and all found; the remainder 
of the crew, officers and engineers proportion- 
ately highly. The table and accommodation 
provided, however, would be hard to equal 
even by some of the best deep sea lines. 
Being surrounded by hills Nelson is well- 
sheltered from the cold, southerly winds 
which are not infrequent during the winter 
month. On the whole the town is well laid 
out and possesses two large recreation grounds; 
a botanical garden, which, for its size, is one 
of the most comprehensive I have yet seen ; 
besides an art gallery and several entertain- 
ment halls visited at frequent intervals by 
some of the best Theatrical (Jomp.mies com- 
ing to the colony. Few provinces, if any, 
have had so much attention paid to roads, 
and every advantage has been taken in 
tracing them at easy gradients through some 
of the finest scenery in that part of the 
country which ttikes the first i^ank in either 
the North or South Islands. 
Climate.— -As a rule people looking 
for a place of retirement give the 
climate the first consideration, and a few 
discomforts can be faced with comparative 
indifference— provided health is maintained, 
In this instance the former is provided for 
but without the latter. I hive no hesi- 
tation in saying Nelson would satisfy the 
most fastidious with its dry atmosphere, 
moderate rainfall, t^lorious sunny days in 
spring and summer and clear frosty nights in 
winter. 
Education. — In this respect there can be 
no cause for complaint, rhere are schools of 
all grades from Colleges down ; and all edu- 
cation is free up to the higher branches at 
College. The masters all hold first-class 
qualifications and are appointed by Govern- 
meut. 
A large proportion of the Residents are 
retired Indian Army Officers and Civil Ser- 
vants with moderate means. As to Livi.vg 
a friend of mine, who has lived both in Ceylon 
and India and who is at present living with 
his wife and family near Nelson, has been 
kind enough to give me the following infor- 
mation, which may be of some value to your 
readers. A married man with a wife and 
two children can live comfortably on £250 
per annum inclusive of the rent of an eight- 
roomed house. To most houses of this size 
there is a fairly large section of land attached 
which could be devoted to fruit and vegetable 
growing. The chief industries in the province 
itself are fruit(hop) growing, grazing and farm- 
ing—in fact for fruit, Nelson Province might 
well be named the Kent of New Zealand. 
To sportsmen excellent deer stalking can 
be obtained a few hours' ride from town 
for which the license is £1 per annum. 
The deer originally imported are now breed- 
ing freely in both islands and afford really 
good sport First-class trout fishing is to be 
had almost at the door and the streams are 
in no way reserved. The Acclimatisation 
Society stock the rivers yearly, so that an 
abundant supply of the finny tribe cana.lways 
be relied on. R.W. 
RUBBER NOTES FROM THE AMAZON. 
(To the Editor of the India Rubber Wo7'ld.] 
It usually is taken for granted here that beating 
the latex before smoking injures the quality of the 
rubber. In 1873, when this inethoil was first intro- 
duced, the Para rubber houses — Manaos did not 
then exist — especially Singlehurst & Co., sent 
representatives up country, asking the seringuieros 
not to adopt it. Nowadays, however, when only 
greenhorns smoke cold rubber milk, little is said 
about the practice. There can be no doubt that 
heating the milk hastens the effect of the cure 
by .smoking, bat whether it does or does nob 
injure the rubber, I cannot say ; I think, however, 
that it does. 1 will rry to obtain samples of cold 
and hot smoked rubber, and send to the United 
States for comparison, 
You may be interested in hearing of the enormous 
yield of a rubber tree {Hivea Bi-asiliensis) in 
Mutumarutuba, on the river Madeira. It wa3 
discovered by an old man nearly three years ago, 
since which time it has been tapped regularly 90 
days in the year— 25 days in the month during the 
season — yielding an average of 2 litres of latex per 
day. This would give a total of ISO litres [ = 190 
quarts] per year. L.G. 
Mandos, Brazil, May 7, 1903. 
Javanese Labour for the Straits.— The 
Malay Peninsula Sugar Industry Association has 
taken steps to approach the Netherlands ludi.i 
Government on the subject of sanctioning emi- 
gration from Java to the Straits Settlements on 
the following conditions, viz :— (1) That the 
proteciion clauses of the Indian Immigration 
Ordinance be extended to cover Javanese labourers, 
and (2) That the Superintendent of Indian Immi- 
gration be given the same power of inspection 
and regulation of Javanese as he now exercises 
ia tlii case of ladiau c joliej.— Siraifs Tin^i 
