Jan. 1, 1904.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
489 
are very old and get no cultiv ation or pruninff and 
I fancy, from what I have heard from many and 
a little I have seen, that trees are in the same state 
as those about iiere and moreover lauds are taken 
up except at great distances from the coast and 
far from roads: but there is a chain of hills from 
end to end of the island which comes near to the 
sea coast both N <£: S the whole length, and 
though I do not say the following on any autho- 
rity I believe I am quite correct in sayiug that 
except at this end and within short distances 
of this district, lanl suitable for eofil'ee is 
taken up, I have passed through a great deal of it. 
I know of no other Englishman or British 
subject coffee planting here. 1 do know a half- 
German, half-Danish W I family who speak 
English, but they are sugar people, with coffee 
the property 'of one, and I fancy not very much 
of it. I can name you, should you so desire, 
several English sugar people; but if you wrote 
them regarding coffee you would probably not hear 
from them again as they know nothing of it and 
would refer to me tor information. However, 
should you desire anything further, I will do what 
I can to assist you. * * *— 1 am, Very 
faithfully yours, 
AKTHUR C. HANSARD. 
[We may mention that another ex-Ceylon resi- 
dent met by our Senior in Chicago is Mr. W 
Cartwright, well known in Uva and JNuwara Eliya 
during the " seventies," he having been Assistant 
in Messrs. Glenny & Co., and afterwards partner 
with Mr James MacLareu. After a most varied 
career, including an attempt to make coffee pay 
in Guatemala (where the Jamaican negroes gave 
the labour, but seemed only good to grow bananas !) 
Mr Cartwright lost both his money and health 
(through jungle fever) there and returned to the 
States penniless. Fortucately, he got a start 
through an American philanthropist as well as 
keen man of business, and while engaged in 
Kansas City as an Agent for the Pullman Car Co,, 
he encountered Alan Black, formerly of Dikoya, 
on his way to Mexico for coffee and rubber. Mr 
Cartwright is now in a comfortable position in 
Chicago, has his own home 12 miles, married, with 
son and daughter doing well in business, with 
another daughter at home. Old friends in Ceylon 
will be glad to learn of one whose name was 
known to all the old Uva planters and in the 
Stores of Colombo, Kandy, &c. That Mr Cart- 
wright became a changed and useful man in 
America is patent from the fact that, in his varied 
career, he was for live years a Missionary to the 
Indians in Dakota, where he ran frequent risks of 
losing his life, one companion being killed. Mr 
Cartwright is still an active man in good health. — 
Ed. T.A.] 
PLANTING AND OTHER NOTES. 
BVRMA— is beginning to grow English fruit in 
certain favoured tracts in the Southern Shan 
States where a Government orchard lias so far 
succeeded as to now offer apple, pear and cherry 
trees and strawberry plants for sale to the public. 
— Pioneer, Dec. 30. 
Bananas and Plantains.— The following is a 
highly coloured account froui Titbits of what 
can be gained from the cultivation of bananas in 
Jamaica and the West Indies :— " Immense for- 
tunes have been made out of the banana bu-iiness. 
Revenues do not accrue alone from the pale of the 
fruit, for the leaves are used for packing, the 
wax found on the under side of the leaves is a 
valuable article of commerce, Manila hemp is 
made from the stems, and of this Iiemp are made 
mats, plaited work, and lace handkerchiefs of the 
finest texture. Moreover, the banana is ground 
into banana flour. The island of .Jamaica and the 
West Indies generally yield great crops of this 
useful fruit," 
Tea in jAVA.^An extract from a Straits 
paper quoted elsewhere, urging the greater 
cultivation of the local (Java) market, is a 
sign of the times and of the centrifugal move- 
ment of tea selling as regards Europe, which 
has lately resulted in the great development of 
the Colombo and— latterly, more especially 
— the Calcutta markets. But it is curious 
to find a Java writer urging, as this one 
does, the imitation of the make of China 
teas. Japan greens have been held up to 
Ceylon for imitation, to fetch the American 
taste : bbt in this case the argument is that 
Chinamen will be the people to drink the 
Java tea if only China kinds are imitated ! 
A Varnish FOR Books in Hot Climates. —In 
regard to the protection of books from hot climates, 
"Karachi" writes in "The Model Engineer'': — 
" T enclose a wrinkle in protecting books in hot cli- 
mates from the three destructive agencies, viz , 
(1) damp, black insect, (2) small black insect, 
and (.3) cockroaches, by coating the covers of 
books with the varnish described on the reverse. 
I think it may be useful to other readers : — 
Dammer resin 2 ozs. 
Mastic 2 0Z9. 
Canada balsam ... 1 oz. 
Creasote J oz. 
Spirit of wine 20 fl oz5. 
Where it is necessary to keep books or papers in 
boxes, cupboards, or closed bookcases, some naph- 
thaline balls or camphor should be always present 
with them. 
Tea Sales in 1903.— The quantity of tea sold 
locally this year is the largest on record, hav- 
ing been 46,172,4871b. against 42,874,399 in 1902. 
The average price shows improvement on 
the previous three years. In 1893 the total 
quantity disposed of at local auctions was 
only 14,365,017 lb., and it is satisfactory 
to note that the market has continued to 
expand steadily. We quote figures for 15 years : 
Sold lb. Av, cents. 
1903 
46.172,487 
38 
1902 
42,874,499 
34 
1901 
39,154.923 
33J 
1900 
38,442,920 
34J 
1899 
31,970.236 
38^ 
1898 
28,831,747 
35 
1897 
26,132,080 
35 
1896 
25,402,624 
41 
1895 
19,668,116 
47 
1894 
15,723.080 
43 
1893 
14,.S65,017 
43 
1892 
11,578,869 
41 
1891 
9,578,611 
41 
1890 
6,114,225 
43 
1889 
4,627,762 
46i 
The decrease in London sales is, of course, 
due to less exports to the United Kingdom 
this year. 
