Aug. 1, 1901.] THE TEOPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
129 
"THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST." 
The twentieth annual volume of this peri- 
odical was completed with the June number ; 
but the title page, index, &c. for the same 
are included with the first issue of a new 
year, the July number, and we give the same 
as a Supplement today. We began the 
Tropical Agriculturist in 1881 ("Timehri" in 
British Guiana began a year later), and we 
do not know of any similar publication in 
the British Dependencies, at a.ny rate within 
the tropics, that has lasted so long, or been 
so generally appreciated by the constituency 
for whose benefit it was started. It has 
carried the name and reputation of Ceylon 
and its planters far and wide, and the copies 
officially filed in the West Indian, African, 
and some of the Australian Colonies afford 
evidence of the value attached to its con- 
tents. Of late years, not the least flatter- 
ing testimony has come from French and 
German Dependencies ; but the greatest 
compliment was that paid by the Agricul- 
tural Department in Washington where, on 
our visit in 1884, the " T.A." file was brought 
forward as including one of their most treasur- 
ed foreign receipts, and we were even asked 
if we knew of the existence of this Magazine 
from the East Indies ! Of course, primarily, 
the periodical has been begun and continued 
with reference to Ceylon, Southern India 
and the Straits, and there are certain features 
— the London and Colombo Sales of Produce, 
Reports of Tea Limited Companies, &c.,-— 
which make the periodical specially useful 
for local reference, so that it has been 
well said a copy should be filed in each large 
Tea Factory or on all plantations, especially 
where several products are being cultivated. 
Having concluded a third series of "Plant- 
ing Pioneers " in our monthly, we cried 
" halt " for a time ; but we have been urged 
to resume, as there are several names of 
departed and living worthies still available, 
that ought to be embodied. The new 
volume is likely, therefore, to include several 
for a new or fourth series. But what is 
now wanted is a more concise and yet 
general Dictionary of Biography for Ceylon, 
to embrace, say, all the notable men of the 
past century in connection with the Colony 
with brief accounts of their career, some- 
what after the fashion of Mr, Henniker- 
Heaton's Australian compilation, or of 
" Who's Who." Believing that such a work 
would be widely appreciated, and having a 
great deal of the material at hand, we are 
anxious to put one through our press. 
Meantime as regards the Tropical Agri- 
culturist, the chief desiderattim will now be 
a Topical Index to the twenty volumes, and 
this is hastening to completion, and will 
enable all who possess the set (or a goodly 
number) of the volumesj to refer very quickly 
to information in respect of any product or 
subject treated. 
' 
A RECORD BLOCK OF MICA. 
A block of pure mica, measuring a cube of 
six feet, has been found in Canada. This is the 
lars;est piece ever discovered, and is to be 
exhibited at the Pan-American Exhibition at 
Buffalo.— ffZeifie, May 31st. 
" ANNALS OP THE ROYAL BOTANIC 
GARDENS." 
A new Official periodical makes its appearance 
on the scene with the second half-year of 19C1, 
and we have to thank Mr Willis for the first 
issue to hand, It is introduced thus in a Circular 
from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya, 
dated June 1901. "Commencing with the present 
year it is intended to issue a new Botanial Peri- 
odical, to be called ' The Annals of the Royal 
Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya.' It will be a 
journal of pure and applied Botany and will 
contain chiefly the results of work performed 
wholly or in part in the laboratories and 
herbarium of the Ceylon Botanic Gardens, 
or upon materials supplied by the gardens. It will 
also contain notes, papers, and reviews dealing with 
general tropical Botany and its applications. 
While in general conception it thus resembles the 
well-known " Annales du Jardin Botanique de 
Buitenzorg," it will include a somewhat wider 
range of matter. As in that journal, papers written 
in French or German will at times be included. It 
will be issued by the Government Printer, Ceylon, 
in an octavo form equal in size of page to the 
"Annals of Botany," and will be illustrated as 
required. 
The "Annals" will appear at irregular intervals, 
each paper of any considerable size being published 
separately as soon as ready. The number of pages 
that may appear in one year will be variable, prob- 
ably at first between 250 and 300. When suffi- 
cient matter has been published to make a volume 
of convenient size, the Index and Title Page will 
be issued ; there will not necessarily be annual 
v^olumes. 
It is not of course possible to mark out in 
advance the exact line to be followed by such 
a publication. One great object in view is 
the keepinar together of the large amount 
of work dealing with Ceylon Botany, and 
the fostering of an esprit de corps among 
the workers in the Research Institute now estab- 
lished in the Colony. In the pursuit of this object, 
not merely will original papers be inserted, but 
also reviews of other papers and books and sum- 
maries of preceding work. It is intended also to 
publish short floras of special districts or of bio- 
logical areas in Ceylon, and figures and descrip- 
tions of the leas-known species of the Ceylon Flora. 
The following list of papers that may probably 
appear within the first two years will help to indi- 
cate the scope of the journal : — 
A History of the Botanical Department in Ceylon, 
by the Editor. 
The Research Institute of the Royal Botanic Gar- 
dens of Ceylon, by the Editor. 
The Life-History of the Cacao Canker, by J B Carru- 
thers. 
A Revised Catalogue of the Phanerogamic Flora of 
Ceylon, by J C Willis. 
A Revision of the Podostemaceaa of India and Ceylon, 
by J C Willis. 
The Oeylon Ebonaces and their Timbers : a Syste- 
matic and Anatomical Monograph, by H Wright. 
A Botany of the Maldive Islands, by J C Willis and 
•J Stanley Gardiner. 
Notes on Hemileia vastatrix, the CoQee Leaf Fungus, 
by C Holtermann. ' 
The Citronella Oil Industry of Ceylon, by J C 
Willis and M K Bamber. 
Notes on the Sapotaceaj of Ceylon and the Gutta- 
perchas yielded by them, by H Wright. 
