Q7i THE TROPICAL AGEICULTURiST. [April 1, 1901 
PLANTING AND OTHEK NOTES. 
Geeen Tea IN Java.— Mr R C Wrifiht who is 
on a visit here from Jav-i says that they have a 
sort of green tea there also, but it is specially made 
to suit the taste of the Persian market, which is 
tiie only counlry which takes it in. Tlie leaf is 
pluclced at Ihe tips only, and it is lolled l>y hand. 
It all Roes to Persia— about 2,000,000 lb. 
Para Kubcisr Seed as a Crop.— We pub- 
lish on page 671 the letter of Mr. 
Coryton Roberts which he referred to in 
his letter to us recently. The value of 
Para seed as a crop is of considerable in- 
terest and importance to Ceylon growers, 
and we shall be glad to have the opinions of 
planters on the subject, especially of those 
who have experimented at all with the seed. 
Cotton GROvriNG in Ckylon.— We direct 
attention to Mr. W H Cowley's vigorous 
letter elsewhere and tmist it will attract 
the notice of enterprising capitalists. The 
progress made by the Government experiment 
is noted elsewhere ; it is a pity that this is ntfe 
more advanced, so that the Planters' Associa- 
tion or local Chamber might approach the 
Lancashire cotton-growers for a share of the 
half-million, after showing what can be grown 
in Ceylon. Government might certainly ex- 
end its experiments, as suggested. 
Rubber-Planting by the Indian Govern- 
ment— is the subject of another strong letter 
to the India Office which the Tea and 
Produce Committee of the Ceylon Association 
and London have forwarded and which Mr. 
Philip sends us for publication. In view 
of the Indian demand for rubber seed, it would 
be well if the Acting Planting Member at 
the next Legislative Council meeting asked 
Government for a return showing the quantity 
of seed sold from Peradeniya to the Indian 
Forest (or other) Department during the 
last two years. ^ ^ , 
Kalutara Revisited.— Some first-class 
reading will be found in " L. D. " 's notes 
(page 667) on his recent trip to Kalutara 
district where he had been a pioneer plan- 
ter. Things have progressed a bit since 
his day, (though the new planter is "no 
better " than the old !], but not nearly 
so fast as they should : and local officialdom 
is treated to some telling comparisons, which 
show it up badly as compared with India 
and Java. The P.W.D. have not done for 
Kalutara what the district deserves and the 
famous "dry rot" incident (which is er- 
called in the concluding instalment) provides 
warning as to the congestion that red tape ean 
effect in the prompt tackling of necessary 
business— often matters of life and death. 
The Ceylon land sale system is, further, held up 
to severe criticism and it is to be hoped that 
the desired statesmanship that will obviate 
the sending of men who come out to open 
pastures new, like " L.D.", away from 
Ceylon in disgust to invest not here but 
under a more attractive regime at the Straits 
—will not be a thing of the very distant 
hereafter. Rubber, in Kalutara, ia described 
as having a glittering future before it and 
a tribute is paid to Mr. E. S Grigson, one 
the earliest prophets of local prosperity in 
hia product. 
X-RAYS and Pearl Finding in Oysters. 
—In connection with our London corre- 
spondent's reference to the discovery of the 
Lyons professor, M. Dubois, of the power of 
detecting pearls in pearl-oysters by means 
of the X rays, our readers may like to know 
that in the case of the present Ceylon fishery 
the old method of opening the oyster is to be 
followed ; so that the element of speculation 
will not be decreased just yet, nor the oyster 
with a growing pearl scientifically replaced 
in the bed until the pearl has reached a more 
marketable size. 
The Ceylon Cotton-growing Experi- 
ment.— With so much being said about 
cotton-growing in the Colonies, and £500,000 
being voted for the purpose by parties in- 
terested, it is of interest to hear how the 
Ceylon experiment progresses. At present 
the Peradeniya authorities have about twenty 
acres of Tinnevelli cotton growinjr on black 
soil, and five on red, near Anuradhapura. 
The land for Egyptian and American is being 
cleaved, and it is hoped to sow shortly under 
irrigation ; but it will not be possible to 
sow much this season, as the crop must be 
gathered before the N-E rains begin. Next 
year it is expected tojhave 30 acres or so of 
Americans and the same of Egyptians in full 
swing, with smaller blocks of Peruvian and 
others suitable for the Lancashire market. The 
Tinnevelli is for the local market, which is con- 
siderable, for Ceylon imports large quantities 
from India now. The India cotton, ft may 
be mentioned, will bear from March to 
July. We regret to hear that^^there is no 
demand herenow for seed from the Northern 
Province or any other district. 
The Fictitious High Price op Rubber ! 
— The present high prices of Para rubber in 
the home markets is the subject of a para- 
graph by "Verax" in the Birmingham 
Daily Post. He regards the high price as 
forced and expects a considerable fall before 
long. "The high price at which rubber is 
now quoted seems to me altogether a ficti- 
tious one, and brought about, and kept up, 
by unscrupulous speculators, who are forcing 
prices upwards in order to dispose of their 
accumulated holdings, and sell forward de- 
liveries to the rubber manufacturers at the 
present extremely high level of prices before 
a collapse may be forced upon them by the 
heavy weights of receipts and stocks, 
which are rapidly increasing. The amount 
of receipts of Para rubber for January was 
4,350 tons, which is unprecedented, and the 
probabilities are that they will continue to 
be very large during the next few months. 
As present prices will undoubtedly pay hand- 
somely forcollecting rubber in large quantities, 
so it behoves all consumers to be very cautious 
in purchasing just now, and simply buy 
nothing but what is absolutely necessary 
for present requirements, so as to be enabled 
to benefit themselves by the considerably 
lower level of prices which should be reached 
later on — in the near future. The fall of 20 
per cent, in the price of cotton this week 
may be a precedent for a similar fall in 
rubber." The above appears to us very much 
an exparte statement. 
