THE TROPICAL AGRICTTLTURIST. [Nov. 2. X903. 
and establish them as the ordinary labourer 
is on the estate, be he Tamil, Sinhalese, 
Arcot, or Telngu. No distinctive marks, 
higher pay, etc.— but just a common garden 
cooly and no more, this result, I suppose 
will throw back the deliberation on labour 
of the P. A. another decade, and local crimping 
will triumph,— Yours truly, FACT. 
P, S.— Get the labour into the country. 
Mr. Westland's coolies won't leave. They 
will go on to other estates only, but not 
^s units at 40 cents. —F. 
» • 
CEYLON EUBBEK COMPANIES. 
THREE PROMISING PIONEERS. 
The Seremban Company, from the prospectus 
of which we quote fully elsewhere has 
been floated, we understand, entirely by 
Ceylon capital. It is doubtful if there are 
any Straits men in it. This is practically 
the first Rubber Company of its kind and 
will no doubt form a basis on which many 
ether Companies may come out ; but the 
special claim of the Seremban is that it is a 
" going concern." The capital was well over- 
subscribed before the application list had 
been open 3 days. The first Rubber Com- 
pany floated as a going concern is worthy 
of special remark ; no doubt this Company 
marks a new era as far as the investing 
public are concerned. 
Elsewhere we quote also full particulars of 
the Southern Ceylon Rubber Company which 
is to work the recently purchased Udugama 
estate. Mr. Harrison's report and valuation 
shows that the Tea at present-is worth nearly 
half the whole property ; but whereas there 
are as yet only 2,000 Para Rubber trees on the 
land, it is proposed to open as many as 1,500 
acres in this product, and— on the completion 
of this— yet further extensions will be taken 
in hand.— Yet another Rubber .Company is 
announced. This is to acquire the Selangor 
"Golconda" estate (the acreage, not 
" average " of which* the Straits Directory 
gave as 987—100 being already in Para 
Rubber and coconuts.) The prominent 
Ceylon names in the directorship showed— in 
yet a third instance— how strong is the local 
taith, among some of the shrewdest of our 
planting proprietors in the future of that 
product —still somewhat young in public 
not ce— Para Rubber. 
THE GOLCONDA ESTATE RUBBER 
COMPANY, LTD. 
Application for the Incorporation of the above 
Company, under the provisions of the Ceylon Joint 
Stock Companies' Ordinance, has been made by 
Messrs F J and G de Saram on behalf of the Com- 
pany. The primary object of the Company is to 
purchase the Golconda estate situated in the Dis- 
trict of Klau;^, Selangor, in the Malay Peninsula 
and comprising 970 acres, for K90,000. Tiie 
nominal capital of the Company is K.SOO.OOO, divi- 
ded into 3,000 shares of RlOO each. The memo- 
randum and articles of Association of the Company 
ftre published in the Gazette, the subscribers 
being:— The Hon J N Campbell, Mr W D Bosan- 
quet and Mrs Elinor Bosanquet, Me&srs John Inch, 
F J Healing, and J E B Baillie-Hamilton and Mrs 
Margaret A Inch. The first Directors of the Com- 
pany will be Mr W D Bosanquet, Mr John Inch 
and the Hon Mr J N Campbell, 
" A MANUAL OF FOREST ENGINEERING." 
AN INDIAN GOVERNMENT WORK. 
This work by C. Grilbert Rogers, Fellow of 
Cooper's Hill, Deputy Conservator of Forests, 
Imperial Forest Service of India, is intended chiefly 
for Forest Officers of India, but including as it 
does a wealth of practical information useful for 
agriculturists in the tropics it should be found of 
great use to planters generally, especially such 
as are engaged in more or less pioneering work 
and have to rely on themselves and local labour 
for the laying out of estates and improvement 
of the same. 
The manual is in three volumes ; Vol. I. includes 
Building Materials and Building Construction ; 
Vol. II, Road-making and Bridges ; Vol. Ill, 
Transport of Timber ; Wells ; Construction ot 
Embankments and Water-channels, River Train- 
ing Works ; and Demarcation of Forests. The 
manual should prove of much service to foresters 
everywhere, while the first two volumes are 
almost equally useful to planters — the language 
and terms employed and the numerous illustrations 
and diagrams enabling even a tyro to under- 
stand and carry out his work. A forest officer 
or planter in many places has to carry out his work 
with the simplest and crudest appliances, and 
generally with local materials only, and this 
manual is especially useful to such men. As the 
author states — the use of technical terms has been 
avoided as far as possible, and an attempt made 
to render the manual intelligible to those who 
have had no special training in engineering. 
The scope of the work is certainly very wide. 
The manual is published at the Government 
Printing Office, Calcutta, price R4, or six shillings, 
and is well worth investing in. 
PLANTING NOTES. 
The French Government and the T. A. 
AND Ceylon Directory.— M. Em. Labnssifere, 
Consular Agent for France, has been directed 
by " Monsieur le Directeur de I'OfHce Na- 
tional du Commerce Exterieur de la France " 
to acknowledge the receipt, on behalf of the 
Minister of the Commerce, of the complete 
collection of the Tropical Agriculturist and of 
the two copies of tbe " Ceylon Directory" 
which had been sent to him for transmission 
to the French Government, in March last. 
M. Labussi^re adds :— " It pleases me at the 
same time, you will understand it easily, to 
convey to you His Excellency's very warm 
thanks These vei-y interesting publications 
have been transferred to the Library of the 
Ministry of Agriculture (Office des ren- 
seignements agricoles), where they will be 
consulted with very great benefit by the 
Planters of France," 
