Sept. 2, 1901.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
191 
in view, and it is absolutely ridiculous that, tliey 
should be undecided as to their course, but human 
natare en ninsse it-quires a lead. However, some 
ot your men took tlie lead and promised to reduce 
ten millions ; let them now moderate the bij; Cess, 
and /orcc it on by all means in their power. Were 
tho?e promises false ? Were tliey merely blinds to 
deceive others? If not, if they were 'pukka," honest 
real promises to do whatever was required, let 
them now adopt some other course. 
Tlie Tea industry had a promise of 12 lakhs of 
rupees from these men, and if they are asked to 
subscribe four laklis is there any good reason why 
ihey should refuse ? Remember that a "Cess" 
means that all shall pay equally and without fail, 
there will be no possibility of subterfuge, tiiere 
can be no doubt that a certain sum will be avail- 
able and that it will be sufficient for the purpose, 
and that it will be paid by our natural enemies, the 
buyers. We ourselves have allowed the buyers 
to become our enemies — we have forced them to 
be so, because we had no Cess, no system, no 
union of any sort, no common knowledge of the 
rulings of supply and demand, no common sense to 
foresee tliHt supply would oveitake demand un'ess 
we ourselves increased the demand by advertising, 
and shoving oui tea into new places. 1 should 
like you to note that those who object to my 
scheme do not propose any alternative ; they 
merely doubt the possibility of this, that, and 
the other thing. You remember about Cleopatra's 
Needle in Rome and how it was got up by the 
suggestion of one man out of ten thousand ; he only 
said " throw water on the ropes!! '' AVell, then ! I 
say to you: — Break down the paper screen. There 
will be long-eared ones who will shy at the broken 
screen, but " the Cess" will/o?'t'e them through. 
A. C. 
PLANTING NOTES. 
The Caoutchou export from New Caledonia 
reached in 1900 only 24,083 kilos. No rublier was 
exported in January last year. — India Rubber 
Trades' Journal, July 22. 
The Camphojk Monopoly.— The Vernacular 
papers report that the Japanese authoii- 
ties contemplate the creation of a monopoly 
to cover the sa'e of the camphor manufactured 
in Japan out.-ide of Formosa. The camphor 
industry in Japan has made great progress 
in recent years, and threatens to enchm^-er the 
monopoly in Formosa. Mr Gato, the chief of 
the Formosan Administration Bureau, has framed 
a scheme f<u' the restriction of the camphor in- 
dustry in Japan, and recently laid the selieme 
before Government. It is understood that the 
camphor monopoly law will be put in operation 
in Japan in order that sufficient protection 
may be given to the industry in Formosa. 
The construction of an additional building to 
the Kobe branch of the Formosan Camphor 
Bureau at Ouo, Hyogo, and the improvement 
of machinery ami plant having been completed, 
operations for refining camphor will be commenced 
shortly. Three oil engines of 17, 5 and .3 horse- 
power have been fitted. The nuDober of operatives 
has been gradually increased, and there are now 
fifty-three men and " omen employed, in addition to 
t. technical expert; About twenty thousand pounds 
of camphor recently refined for trial was delivered 
to Messrs Samuel, Samuel and Co., who shipped 
it to India and Australia.~C7/i6?ms^ and Drug- 
gist, July 13, 
Peijuvian Coca, Cocaine, Cinchona, &c.— 
The va.up nf the cuca leaves exported from Peru in 
1899 w: s £17,359, against £22,437 in 1898 ; of co- 
caine, £67,(197, ayainst £65, 197 ; of cochineal, £499, 
agaiDsi£709 ; of boiax, £61,lU2, against £57,422 ; of 
cinchona bark, £7,830, against £3,046. ISo weights 
are given for Peruvian exports as a whole, but they 
appear in relation t) various centres. Thus, 
Salavcrry exported 335 tons of coca leaves in l90o', 
and 214 tons in 1S99, and 284 kilos of cocaine in the 
former year as well, this being the beginning of 
the alkaloid trade at this port. Most of the leaves 
were sent elsewhere in Peru, probably to be re- 
exported. Germany receiveti direct 16,019 kilos 
of coca and 110 kilos of cocaine, whilst the United 
Kingdom received direct on y sixty kilos of the 
latter. Mollendo sent to Liverpool in 1900, 48,575 
kilos of bark ; to London, 93,051 kilos of bark, and 
670 kilos of coca leaves ; to Hamburg, 32,962 kilos 
of bark, 212,922 kilos of coca leaves, 261 kilos of 
cocaine ; to New "i ork 138,569 kilos, of coca leaves, 
and 137 kilos of cocaine. The total export of bark 
was 183,549 kilos ; of coca leaves, 352,161 kilos; 
of cocaine, 398 kilos. There was no sarsapaiilla 
exported from Mollendo in 1900, but 35 kilos were 
exported the previous year. From Cuzco 617,150 
lb of coca leaves were exported, the average price 
being I6s per drum of 25 lb in Ouzco. The ship- 
ment.s have gone principally to Hamburg via Mol- 
lendo, but some hundreds of pounds went to New 
Yovk.—BrUish and Colonial Druggist, July 12. 
"Imperial Gardens kor Fruit-Tree 
Dissemination Throughout the Empire." 
— Such is the title of a pamphlet by Dr. 
Bonavia, f.r.h.s, sent to us with the author's 
compliments, the six pages of which we 
shall have pleasure in reproducing in our 
Tropical Agriculturist. Dr. Bonavia is well 
known for his horticultural writings, and 
his monograph on the Citrus genus in two 
large volumes— one of them almost entirely 
diagrams— we frequently refer to. In the 
pamphlet under notice, he discusses bananas, 
guavas, mangoes, mangosteens and date palms, 
as well as oranges. The date palm ought 
to do well in the drier regions of Ceylon ; 
but not better than the useful palmyra, a 
grove of which ought long ago to have'ex- 
tended from Jaffna to Anuradhapura. One 
remark of Dr. Bonavia we must notice : he 
says "Why they have not introduced it 
(the mangosteen) into Ceylon and cultivated 
it for commercial purposes is a mystery." 
AVell, Dr. Bonavia should know that the 
mangosteen is not unknown in Cieylou. Both 
in Kalutara and Colombo on the moist 
warm South- West coast it grows and bears 
well in some gardens ; but it is a very 
ticklish plant to deal with. We have 
half-a dozen times ov^er got relays of healthy 
plants from a Kalutara friend to grow in a 
Colombo garden ; but without being success- 
ful in growing a single tree— they take root 
and look very healthy for six months or so 
and then wither away and die down. We 
have at present two plants of a larger growth 
(which have cost us Ro each) and they are 
being sheltered from the sea-breeze and 
coddled as well as we know, in the hope of 
sturdy trees resulting. But evidently the 
mangosteen is far less easily cultivated com- 
mercially than either the mango or orange, 
in Ceylon. " ' 
