APRIL 1. 1904.] THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTUEIST. 
there appears to be room for the cultivation of a 
profitable tea trade in a 35c. giaiie, with benelit 
to the consumer also. 
GREEN CEYLONS. 
In this grade thcie is a teudejicy already to fall 
into the rut and the cup quality is rather a second 
cons-iileiation, and though for the most part the 
quality is very good, the estates in Ceylon which 
produce line leas that coramand a high price will 
certainly not n)anufacture thtir leaf into green 
teas if buyers are unwilling to pay for quality. 
It is to be hoped that an effort will be made on 
the part of all concerned to encourage the growers 
in Ceylon to maintain the tine quality of their 
gieen teas and this can only be done by a willingness 
on the part of the trade to pay for quality where 
it exists, and the wholesale dealer cannot afford 
to do this unless he is supported by the authority 
of the demand of the retail trade for quality, . 
Make quality, not price, your motto in the tea 
trade for Canadian Grocer. 
THE l^EODUOTS OF KOKTHERN NIGERIA, 
The Colonial OfBce has issued a report by Pio- 
fesEor Dunstan, Director of the Injperial Institute, on 
various specimens of the vegetable and miueral pro- 
ducts of Nonhern Nigeria which were sent home 
for examination by Sir F Lugard. It seems that 
several of these aie, in Professor Unnstan's opinion, 
likely to prove of considerable commercial value. 
Amongst ihem are gums from Bassa and Borgo, seeds, 
which yield ben-oil, from Borgu, palm nuts fromKon- 
tagora, rubber from Bassa, though the quality is poor, 
alkali salts, yellow and red ochres from Kontagora, 
tin ore from Bautthi, limestone, and kaolin. The 
report points out the direct trade in palm kernels 
with this country might be increased, for large cxaan- 
tities of palm kernels, meal, and oil are now imported 
into England from Germany, where they are used for 
the expression of the oil and the manufaotnre of 
feeding stuffs. The tin ore is said to be of excellent 
quality, and the extent of the deposits and their dis- 
tribution over Northern Nigeria will form an impor- 
tant subject for the mineral survey which is expected 
to be made next year.— London Times. 
MR. R. V. WEBSTER'S NEW TEA WEIGHING 
MACHINE, 
A REMARKABLE INVENTION. 
A new automatic weighing machine for tea and 
coffee, just perfected in Paris, represents the 
mai;erialisation of English ideas by French engi- 
neering and mechaniial genius. In 1900, while 
in chaige of the Ceylon tea exhibit at the Paris 
Exhibition, Mr K Valentine Webster conceived the 
idea of such a machine and turned over the 
commission to a French engineer whose efforts are 
embodied in the luachine herewith represented. 
Packages of one quarter, one half or one pound 
are made. Ttie paper is taken off a roll to the 
right, cut the required length, folded into the 
bag and gummed. At the same time the tea is 
let down from a hopper above, weighed, dropped 
into the bag, shaken down, the packsge sealed 
and labelled, all at the rate of 40 a minute. The 
first machine is now working at 4 Hue Caumartiu, 
Paris, and will he put on the market next year, — 
Tea and Coffee Trade Journal. 
FUTURE OF COTTON-GROWING IN 
BORNEO. 
Cotton-growing has been experimented with in 
the Netherlands section of Borneo with little 
success hitheito. One planter who had done so 
gave a gloomy account of his experiences the other 
day, and openly said that he reaped nothing but 
disappointment. After having sunk much money 
in the venture, he gave up the enterprise for good. 
— Straits Times. 
RAINBOW TROUT IN THE NILGIEIS. 
Of the Rainbow Trout imported by the 
Nilgiri Game Association we are glad to learu 
thai 741 fry from the first consignment of ova 
have been put into the stream in Parson's 
Valley. They were moved very successfully, 
with practically no loss, and seem to be doing 
Well in their new home. The fry from the 
second consignment will go into the same 
stream, when ready to move, but the ova of 
this lot did not arrive in such good condition, 
^n(^ tbere will not be so many fry, 
PLAKTIiXG AND OTHER NOTES. 
Tree-Planting on the Goldfields.— Perth,— 
The Australian goldfields water supply administra- 
tion has arranged to distribute 5.0l0 trees among 
the residents of Coolgardie, Kalgoorlie, and 
Boulder during the coming planting season, and is 
donating prizes, through the horticultural societies 
for the greatest attention and cuituie, ' 
Oastilloa Rubber. -^A Colombo merchant 
interested iu rubber cultivation informs us 
that he understands oastilloa rubber was 
experimentally grown in Peradeniya Gardens 
or elsewhere m Ceylon .<;ome years ago. The 
same difticulty, however, that " L.D." has 
witnessed in the Straits, (see letter elsewhere) 
was experienced in Ceylon— the latex would 
not properly coagulate. 
A Species of Wild Coffee— Grows on the 
Nilgin Mills, says a correspondent of the South 
India Obstrver, ^^hich has white flowers and 
round benies like the ordinary coffee; the seeds 
of this are, however, flattened in shape, in which 
aspect they differ from the ordinary coffee. An 
infusion can be made from the roasted seeds, 
which is very palatable and similar in taste to 
ordinary coffee, though it does not possess the 
sirengtn and lullness of that made from the ordi- 
nary coffee. 
The Value op Para Rubber Land in 
Bearing.— The value of Para rubber plant- 
ations in Ceylon is unanimously regarded 
as substantial and safe, but many of the 
most sanguine believers in the future of the 
product must have read with agreeable 
surprise the valuation put upon cultivated 
Para rubber belonging to the Putupaula Tea 
Estates Company us announced by Mr. Shat- 
tock at the annual meeting. Mr. Shat- 
tock quoted the opinion .of Mr. R, "VV. 
Harrison, the most experienced rubber planter 
in Ceylon and a recognised authority on the 
matter. He valued 7 acres of Para rubber 
in bearing at Rl8,220 or a little over R2,600 
or £173 sterling per acre. The cost' of 
bringing this area into bearing has probably 
been about £15 per acre ! The figures are 
made more striking by comparison. Good tea 
iu bearing is valued at from R600 to R70U per 
care and coconuts at from R600 to K1,0U0, 
