332 
THE TROPICAL AaRICULTXTRlST. [Nov. 2, 196.3. 
The following have been planted on a more 
extensive scale : — Chillies, pineapples (both Mauri- 
tius and Kew), plaintains (of ditferent varieties), 
and manioca. The area planted with these is 
about IJ acre. They are of a more permanent 
nature, and should begin to give a profitable yield 
in 1903. 
Grass. — About 4 acres of land is under Mauritius 
grass for the cattle on the farm, and any in excess 
of requirements is sold. The grazing laad of the 
farm is provided by the golf links. 
Model farm Income and Expenditure.— The 
amount derived by sale of vegetable, grass, and 
sheep is R322'43. Revenue from lands leased to 
Golf Club, Messrs W H Davies & Co., Colombo 
Commercial Company, Limited, Municipal Coun- 
cil, and small cultivators of grass is ll4:,756-50 ; 
total R5,078'93i The expenditure, including rent 
paid to the Hon. the Government Agent, Manager's 
commission, purchase of stock, implements, and 
cost of a sheep shed, amounts to R3,490"08, leaving 
a balance of Rl,588-87. Of the expenditure Rl,350 
has been paid to the Hon, the Government Agent 
as rent, R766'02 has been spent on stock, imple- 
ments, and shed. Credit may therefore be taken 
for R3, 704*87 as profit, and actual expenses of the 
farm to Rl,374'56. Statements of receipts and ex- 
penditure and stock on hand are annexed. 
G. W. Sturgess, m. r. c. V, s.. Government 
Veterinary Surgeon. 
— Administration Report. 
PRODUCE AND PLANTING. 
While the Oonsnls at the Treaty Ports of China 
inform as that 
THE AWAKENING OF THE CHINESE TEA GROWER 
to the needs of foreign markets ia as far off as ever, 
there are a few prophets on this side who are still 
hopeful. Not long since one of these made it known 
that, "With a sufficient capital which would be re- 
productive, I would undertake to double the present 
trade in China tea in a few years, to the great benefit 
of the Chinese, and also to the health and temperance 
of tea drinkers who would consume China tea if they 
could get it. But," he added, no doubt with regret, 
"meanwhile the trade persist in ignoring it." This 
may be very obstinate policy on the part of "the 
trade," but they evidently have good reason for this 
wayward course. Teas from India and Ceylon have 
secured such a firm hold on the trade and on con- 
sumers that without the expenditure of a large sum 
of money it is not quite clear how the China tea 
trade is to be suooesstuily rehabilitated, notwithstand- 
ing that those interested are never tired of telling us 
•'that the day will come," &c. 
If we may judge by a recent circular from Messrs 
Smith, Baker and Co., of Yokohama, 
THE JAPANESE TEA MAN 
is not quite awake to the competition of Indian and 
Ceylon growers. The firm mentioned say : "Judging 
from the present talk among native tea men they 
seem to take about the same languid interest in the 
local tea market from now to the end of the season 
that the habitual 'fan-tan' player does after three- 
quarters of the cash in the game has been withdrawn, 
that is, they seem to know just how it is coining out. 
They say today for instance, that there will be only 
seventeen days more pickmg (the growers having 
agreed to stop picking September 1), and the narrower 
the margin of production becomes the more confident 
they feel of their ability to take care of the present 
stock and probable addition, and, in consequence, signs 
of weak(jesB on the part of holders are nowhere apparent 
to buyers for export. When we explain to them with 
painful particularity the inroads Ceylon and India teaa 
are making in the American and Canada trade for 
cheap Japans they miss the point entirely, and ask 
childlike and blandly if it is not possible tor them to 
import some of the cheap Ceylons for home consump- 
tion in Japan! 'These Mongolians is improvia'.' 
Will an export of 42,u00,000 lb trom Japan cover the 
requirements of America and Canada for this season 1 " 
Tea exported during the current season to August 11 
has been 22,461,148 lb, of which 5,551,555 lb were for 
iNew York, via Pacific Ocean, and 3,480,963 ib via the 
Suez Canal ; B,551,963 lb for San Francisco, 10,550,863 
lb for Chicago, and 2,228,623 lb in Canada. The total 
one year ago at this time was 19,244,527 lb. 
Since Russia has taken possession of the Central 
Asian territories she has developed the cultivation of 
cotton in a remarkable degree. Central Asia now 
produces, annually about 100,000 tons of 
COTTON, 
which, although insufficient to make the Russian 
cotton industry entirely independent of the United 
States for cotton for manufacturing ptuposes, ia a 
great step in that direction. The Eevue Qenerale 
des Questions Economiques" mentions an incident 
which may lead to a revolution in this branch ot 
industry, viz., that a Russian engineer M Soheveline 
has discovered a process by which the fibre of flax and 
hemp can be transformed into a substance similar to 
cotton by being treated with the residuum of naphtha. 
This causes the fibre to decompose, and to acquire the 
appearance and qualities of cotton. This substance 
can then be worked with cotton-spinning machinery, 
and the manufactured article has all the qualities of 
cotton tissues. No preparation of the flax is necessary ; 
the plant can be used just as it is pulled out of the 
ground. The inventor does not intend taking out a 
patent for his discovery ; on the contrary, he offers to 
make his system known to all who ask. This dis- 
covery is of great importance to Russia. Ihs area 
planted with flax in 1900 was about 4^ millions of 
acre, which produced about 490,000 tons, and this 
quantity, treated with the new process, would enable 
Russia to dispense with American cotton. In a few 
weeks the British Cotton-growing Association wiU 
establish its headquarters at the Equitable Buildings, 
St. Ann Street, Manchester. The association has 
interested itself in the question of improving the quality 
and increasing the growth of cotton in India, 
Although the reports from the association are neces- 
sarily indeterminate, they appear to give on the 
whole good reason for hope. As regards West Africa 
Mr Hoffman, the expert at' Lagos, expects that at 
least three or four thousand bales will be grown this 
year, and as the natives are beginning to take up the 
matter of cotton growing with the keenest interest, 
this comparatively small beginning is sufficiently 
encouraging. From Sierra Leone Mr Neely writes in 
a very encouraging strain, and though the result of the 
attempt to grow from American seed is doubtful, he 
has the best hopes of the future of native cotton, 
which is beliaved to be equal, if not superior, to 
middling American. Cotton is indigenous to the 
country, and has long been grown 'for the manufactuie 
of native cloths. Among the other fields for the 
activities of the association may be mentioned South* 
ern Nigeria, where various experimental patches under 
the direction of i^r Prince are reported to be doing 
very well, and the West Indian Islands, in which it is 
expected that next season a very large area will be 
planted." 
The prospects are encouraging, whether we regard 
the West Indies (with their 3,670 acres already planted)j 
the West Coast of Afriga, Eastern and Central Africa, 
or Rhodesia ; and there is no reason to doubt but thit 
Americans would soon have the opportunity they at 
present sigh for, of consuming all their home-grown 
supply, if the possibilities of the regions we have 
named were exploited, as they would be, under the 
stimulus of preferential treatment in our markets.—- 
£[, and C. Mail, Sept. 18. 
