SiSfT. 2, 1901,] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
207 
little more than 2 kilos ; the circumference is 
about 17 centimeters. This leaf was certainly larger 
when fresh. 
I do not know if Sanseviera Zeylanica is 
regularly ijrowD in Ceylon, for fibre purposes^, but I 
Jo not liVlieve 5 Zeylanica i'^ comparable with this 
Bt>\v iort. It. i-<n.a S. Thii'ibergii, but a d -riuct 
species. It is no more S. Perrotii from Z .iiz!'.;"!r 
but perlif.ps near it. \ tew years a^^o M iM Nichol- 
son aijii Wat -ion called my attention to Thunberqii 
and I found this new sort a long way fi' ni tlie 
place where Thuubergii is met with. I btdieve 
this gigantic species will be easily adopted by 
growers, if any Sanseviera grower exists. How 
do you obtain fibre, by machinery ? by hand ? 
We ' are combining a little measure, but if we 
succeed well with all the Sanseviera with 
round leaves, such as cylindrica, sulcata 
and the new species ; we have been unsuccess- 
ful with the species with flat leaves such as 
Zey] .i]tca, longiflora, Guiniensis or others. I hope, 
■n a, few 5'efir-, growers ■^ill thi'U-: aboiv.;-, these 
fibre I roducers and Sanseviera lieids wiii hs as 
common as Miuritius hemp or Het-.equin iields ! 
This neiv Sanseviera gives fully 7 per cent of very 
fine and silky fibre. 
I have introduced recently a new rubber producer, 
the Forsteronia flonbunda. Forsteronia is an 
apocynaceous climber and more than forty are 
known in America, chiefly in Brazil. Two species 
have been regarded as producers of_ rub- 
ber : F gracilis from Guiana and F flonbunda 
from Jariraica. F gracilis is a gigantic climber, 
one plant sent by one of my collectors 
reached 4^ yards in two mouths, in my house. I 
believe Jloribvnda is not a fiee grower but 
its product is as good as Para rubber. Kew 
regards its quality and I have been astonished 
when I received this same field plant from 
Haiti. I hope to receive fresh seeds in a few- 
weeks. As my thermometer is always at 27 degrees 
'Centigrade (81 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit !— Ed.), 
allow me to present you my best compliments. 
A. GODEFROY-LEBEUF. 
PLANTING NOTES. 
Abandoning Tea and Coffee in Sumatra' 
—We learn that the British Deli and Lang- 
kat Tobacco Co., Ltd., have closed their 
Tea and Coffee estate, confiniDg their atten- 
tion to their staple, tobacco. A grain of 
comfort this for coffee and tea planters 
suffering from over-production. 
Tea Companies' Capital.— From the latest 
Investors' Guardian we see that as much 
as £484,500 sterling was registered in new- 
tea companies during the first six months 
of 1901, as against £18,000 in the same 
period, 1900, and £420,000, 1899. We quute as 
follows : — 
"With the depression which has been the chi»f 
oharacterisfcic of" the business of tea compaiaies and 
from which not even the most soundly established 
have escaped, it; is rather snrpiising to find a sirm of 
nearly £500,000 to the credit of this year against only 
j£18,obo in the first six months of 1900. It would 
appear as if some were possessed with sublime 
' confidence in the future of the tea industry which no 
depth of present depression can affect." 
No capital was registered for Scotch or Irish 
tea companies this year or last ; and only 
£3,000, in Irish, was invested for the period 
inim 
Pine Hill Estates Company.— In these 
times of depression even 4 per cent must lie 
regarded as a fairly good dividend on tea 
property, and we are pleased to notice from 
the report of the Pine Hill Estates Company 
meeting today that this amount has been 
declared. We congratulate all concerned. 
Cacao Growing in Samoa.— For Mr. Moors' 
long and interesting letter on this subject, see 
our last weekly issue and next T.A. We have 
given answers to certain questiocs in editorial 
notes to the letter. It will be observed that 
Mr R. Carruthers expected to get 22 cwti. 
of cocoa per acre altogether in one year's 
crop, having got 17 from the Spring return 
and more looked for in October. 
Pemba Rubber. — Various species of rubber 
vines grow wild all over the island, but can hardly 
be said to exist in paying quantity. The late Mr 
Robertson, of His His'hness's Agricultural Depart- 
ment, devoted some attention to the rubber vines 
duriDg a visit which he paid to Pemba in the course 
of lust year. He established some fifteen workmeu 
at Ghazi, a district in the north of the island, 
where the vines exist inconsiderable number, their 
duty being to clear away the dense growth of 
useless regetation and generally to look after the 
vines. There appears to be no reason why rubber 
should not be successfi Uy cultirated here, and it 
certainly is one of the most paying of crops. — 
India-ituhbtr Trades' Journal, July 22. 
The Fig Trade of Smyrna.— Figs form one 
of rhe most important items of export from 
Smyrna and a description of the trade is contained 
in the last report of the British Vice-Consul at that 
place. The chief markets for Smyrna figs are the 
United Kingdom and the United States, some of 
the Continental countries also taking small 
quantities. The district in which the fruit is 
grown lies wholly along the Smyrna- Aidan railway. 
There are two kinds of figs, both growing on the 
same tree— that for eating and that for aistilling. 
The fruit grown on the plains is larger and richer 
in saccharine matter, but on the other hand the 
trees hers suffer frequently from excess of mois- 
ture, while those on the higher ground escape the 
consequences of wet seasons. The fruit ripens 
about the middle of August, when it is picked and 
dried in the open air for a few days. It is then 
packed in sacks of about 2501b. each on camels and 
sent to the nearest station, whence it is conveyed 
by train to Caravan Bridge, Smyrna, and so to the 
purchasers in that town. The arrival of the first 
camel-load there celebrated as a popular festival 
for the washing, drying and packing give employ- 
ment to thousands of families. The dried tigs for 
food are sold before the end of November, after 
which the sales are almost wholly those of figs for 
distilling ; some of the latter are sent to Austria, 
where they are used as a substitute for chicory. 
Last year the crop amounted 4o 65,000 loads of 
5001b. each, the usual price being £1 to £1 5.s, per 
load. Another agricultural product of the Smyrna 
district, which forms an important item of export, 
is valonia, the cup of the acorn, which is of great 
value in tanning, as it gives weight and eonsister- 
cy to the leather, while the colour which resiil.s 
is very last. The oaks which bear the acoi ii.- ,i p 
beaten with long sticks duriisg the autumn and 
the valonia dried in the sun nnd then sent to 
Smyrna, v/here it is graded. Last year the export 
from Smyrna amounted to 68,000 tons, of the value 
®f £2 6«. to £3 6s. perfeOH iLasdon Times, July 2. 
