Nov. 2, 1903.1 THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 335 
JAVA RUBBER EXTRACTION FROM 
TWIGS &;C. 
The Java Bode points out thab the iacreasiug 
demand for twigs, branches, and leaves from gutta" 
trees for the extraction of that stuff is doing harm. 
The young gntta trees hitherto spared in t he jungle 
from their not being old enough to yield the real 
article, are now getting stripped of their, leaves 
and twigs for the other form ot extraction. The 
result is too often the death of the trees. —Straits 
Times, Oct. 5. 
B C. A. EXPORT VALUATION ASSESS 
MENT ON TEA. 
ONE SHILLING PER POUND. 
The Board of Trade have received a copy of the 
British Gentral Africa Gazette under date of 30oh 
June last, which contains a notice to the effect 
that on and after the 1st July, 1903, the export 
valuation assessment on tea will, until further 
notice, be Is per pound.— JBo^irdo/ Trade Journal, 
Sept. 17. 
PARA RUBBER IN THE STRAITS, 
Mura, Sept. 26.— The Government seems deter- 
mined to encourage the cultivation of Para. This 
is very prudent. With a view to supplying the 
gardeners in the districts with the seeds by and by, 
1,000 young plants have now been planted all along 
the roadside in town, well fenced in. That this 
move will, in due course, be beneficial to the 
revenue of the State goes without saying, inas- 
much as the soil is highly favourable to the growth 
of rubbers. Already many land-holders up-country 
are growing Para extensively. — Straits Times. 
PLANTING IN KALUTARA, 
Rubber Clearings, — Clearings are being made 
for rubber, as much as the cramped space in 
the district allows, and on St. George's Group, 
fifty acres of forest land at Bopitiya were burned 
on the 9th O.'t., and twenty-live on the 10th, under 
the supervision of the Superintendent of Ambe- 
tenne Estate. For the opening up of more arable 
lands for the plantation of rubber, Kalutara 
looks to the Railway, on the construction of 
which the prosperity of the planting district 
depends to a considerable extent. 
PLANriHG IN NEGRI SEMBILAN. 
Only three applications for agricultural land, 
in Negri Sembilan, during 1902, for 50 acres and 
over, were received. Mr Rowland was granted 
100 acres at Perhentian Tinggi for the collection 
of getah taban. Messrs Gumming and Bugai's 
application for 50 acres at Kuala Sawah for millet 
cultivation was approved. An application for 50 
acre^ ai Kuala Sawah for cotton cultivation was 
als'O approved. 
PLANTING NOTES. 
A Peculiar Food Product from Baluchis- 
tan — is reported to have recently been brought to 
ofiicial notice. It is the pollen of Tipha angus- 
tifolia or elephant grass, the yellow powder being 
used as flour and for bread-making in Sind and 
Bombay,— in/. Mail. 
An Unusually Large Speclmri^ of Red 
Capsicum— was shown to us today. It weiaiis ex- 
actly 8 oz. and has be°n grown at the Tea Gardens 
where vegetable cultivation has been recently 
started under the ilireetion of Mr A B Stephens 
Acting Superintendent, Government Gardens, 
Taiping.— PeraA; Pioneer. 
Rubber— selling privately at 5 shillings- 
shows how firm the market for this 
product is at home. We trust that the rubber 
canker, upon which— as a contemporary 
takes upon itself to make public— Mr. 
Carruthers is now reporting, will not be 
found to be affecting the product at all 
seriously. 
A Rubber Rise.— The U. S. Consul generpl 
at Cobourg states ihat a circular has recently been 
issued by the India-rubber Manufacturers' Associa- 
tion announcing an advance of ten per cent on the 
price of manufactured goods owing to the riao 
in the price of raw rubber. He advises manu- 
facturers to be careful in dealing with this article, 
as there is every prospect of the price of 1900 ($rui 
per lb) being exceeded in the near future. — Chemist 
anrt Druggist, 
Tamarind Avenues.— The avenues of the 
Salem District are a legacy which the old Maramut 
Department left to posterity. We are sorry to 
note a large fall in the income from these avenues, 
which amounted to only R33,787 for last year 
against R44,992 in the previous year. This is 
explained to have been due to the low bids at the 
sales of the avenue produce on account of the 
scanty yield of tamarind. — Indian Engineering. 
A New Rubber Company.—" Mountford Rub- 
ber Co., Ltd," (78,498).— Registered September 4, 
with capital £500, in £1 shares, to carry on the 
business ot manufacturers of and dealers in India 
rubber, gutta percha, fibre, leather belting, 
leather, canvas, asbestos, waterprooting, ebonite 
and vulcanised goods, etc. No initial public 
issue. The number of dealers is not to be less 
than 2 nor more than 5 ; the subscribers are to 
appoint the tiist. Registered by Waterlow Bros, 
and Layton, Limited, Birchiii Lane, E.C, — In- 
vestors' Gucrdian. 
The Next Prize Competition for Tea 
Manufacturers,— After the award in Messrs. 
Geo, Steuart & Company's prize essay com- 
petition, alittlebreathing spacewill be wanted. 
But as soon as a new subject is required the 
F, A. Committee, having now received a 
stimulus, would do well to consider Mr. John 
Hughes' even more practical (or commercial ?) 
suggestion for a prize —i.e., for the highest aver- 
age price of tea sold in Colombo. In a letter 
elsewhere he takes a planting contributor to 
task for misreading his previous proposal 
contained in his letter of July 10th (published 
July 27ch.) It may be suggested that with a 
system of commissions on profits, such a prize 
would be a small additional incitement to 
careful manufacture ? It is not every superin 
tendent, however, who gets commissions based 
on the prices his charge obtains, and in the 
proposed prize both superintendent and assist- 
ants (if any), in each case, should have their 
share. 
