Oct. 1, 1901.] THE TROPICAL AGEICULTtTRIST. 
247 
improvement of cinchona trees, which now yield sur- 
prisingly high percentages of alkaloids, and also by the 
Vilmorius of Paris in connection with the production 
of new varieties of the sugar beet-root which yield 
high percentages of sugar, might also be done iu con- 
nection with rubber trees with probably equally 
encouraging resnlts iu course of time. 
It will be observed that only a small beginning has 
been made to discover the bes' rubber-yielding tree 
or trees in each of the plantations named, and to pro- 
pagate them by cuttings. This should, however, also 
be done in the case of all plantations or groups of the 
trees in the district or even beyond it. The yield of 
latex by the progeny of the be=t trees, planted in order 
in one garden, would, in turn, have to be compared ; 
and by working on the lines of intentive selection, 
propagation and cultivation of only the very best latex- 
yielding trees it is reasonable to hope that, iu course 
of time, a variety of the tree yieMing a really pay- 
ing percentage of rubber may be evolved. 
These principles will no doubt also apply to all 
other species of rubber-yielding trees. 
51. For the sake of convenience it may here be 
mentioned that, in February 1901, the Curator tapped 
a tree of Plumeria acutifoUa, Poiret, at Gadbrook, 
Nellacotta, Wynaad, and obtained a small cake of 
rubber from it. A report on the quality .and value of 
this rubber will be obtained in due course. 
oil, poonac, copra, &c...Tn the year 1900 
443,959 cwt. coconut oil were exported and 
362,467 copra, the latter mostly to Russia. 
Poonac is largely sent to Germany where 
it is used as fodder." [Fibres and kitul 
fibre are then enlarged on], ..Also precious 
stones and talc, i'rotu which latter lamp 
glasses, cylinders and shields are now made. 
CEYLON EXHIBITS IN THE BREMEN 
MUSEUM. 
Tha Weser Zeitung has a full notice of 
the additions recently introduced into the 
Museum of the great trading centre, Bremen, 
from Ceylon. This journal writes : " The pro- 
ducts from this pearl of the British Colonial 
possessions are almost all beautiful samples, 
well laid out ; especially noteworthy are the 
tea, spices, cinnamon, pepper, vanilla, carda- 
moms and the products of the coconut ; 
there is also a fine collection of specimens 
of graphite and mica. The trade of Ceylon 
with Germany, though small, is increasing. In 
shipping intercourse Germany stands second. 
In the year 1899 oi^ly 132 German ships en- 
tered the Colombo harbour with a tonnage 
of 336,530 tons ; but with the duplicating of 
the East Asian Postal line and further ex- 
tensions of freight lines to Hamburg the 
rate must have been greatly increased. 
Germany's export to Ceylon was in 1898 
1"7 million rupees, in 1899 2 million rupees, 
while the imports from Ceylon rose in the 
same time from 3'8 million to 4'75 million. 
Tea occupies the first place among the ex- 
ports of Ceylon... [Then follow figures to show 
how tea has taken the place of cofl:'ee....Tea 
production has increased so rapidly that just 
now over-production is feared, especially of 
the lower grades. Already many methods 
have been tried to bring down excessive pro- 
duction... the 10 p.c. limit, &c. Tea culti- 
vation is carried on, increasinglyj on scienti- 
fic principles, with the assistance of English 
and other European chemists. Manures 
scientifically selected are largely imported 
into the isL^nd. 
"But the cultivation of cacao, bark (cin 
chona) and cinnamon have all gone back, of 
the latter large quantities still go to Ger- 
many. If we include the chips used for the 
extract of oil, a larger quantity goes to 
Germany than e^^en to England.... The pro- 
ducts of the coconut palm have greatly risen 
in importance for exports, i.e. coir fibre, 
VENEZUELA PEARL FISHERIES. 
The United States Consul at Maracaibo, in 
a recent report, says the principal pearl beds 
are at El Tirana, north east, and Macanao, 
north-west, of Margarita. About 2,000 men 
find constant employment in this trade. The 
fishers use meal scoops which are dragged 
over the oyster beds, and when filled are 
brought to the surface, where the shells are 
opened and carefully examined. The pearls 
are very fine in quality, beautiful in lustre, 
and run from white to yellow ; occasionally a 
black one, priceless in value, is brought to 
the surface. One white pearl of large size 
and good quality was recently sold in Mar- 
garita for £354. The value of pearls found 
near Margarita is estimated at about £180,000 
per year. Most of these pearls go to the Paris 
market, which sellers claim to be best. — 
Globe, Aug. 9. 
QUALITY OF CARDAMOMS. 
Messrs. R C Cowley and J P Calford have 
made investigations into the quality of carda- 
moms and have aimed at the followiiig results : 
Malabar. 
SO <D 
§.2 
70 
80 
30 
J dark 57 ) 
1 light 13 1 
55 
25 
ght 13 
5 
8-5 to 9 
45 
20 
80 
3- 3 2-9 
4- 5 _ 
Number of fruits in 10 
gmes 
Percentage proportion 
of pericarp 
Percentage proportion 
of seed 
Percentage of ash from 
dark seed 
Percentage of ash from 
light seed 
Percentage of ash from 
pericarp 13 y.j ^.g 
They say that lime predominated in the pericarps 
of all varieties to such an extent iliat an admixture 
of twenty pei cent of pericarp with .seed would 
be readily dibtu.guished by precipitation as oxalate 
from acetic acid solution of ash. Two-thirds the 
ash of Malabar pericarps is soluble in acetic acid 
but of the seed ash le.ss than one-half is soluble' 
and tliis portion is mainly potassium salts. Man! 
ganese and iron are present in all varieties but 
in Mysores tlie proportion is very small. Cobalt 
was not found. It is suggested "that the yield of 
volatile oil might be a useful test. (1) They con- 
ckule that an ash determination of the seed is 
per se of questionable value as an index of quality 
(2) The mineral constituents are not constant (3) 
The large proportion of lime in pericarps is cha- 
racteristic of all varieties. 4 The a.sh percentac^e 
of hglit-coloured seed is always higher than that 
of dark because of the imperfect development 
of matter. The refereiice to lime is somewhat 
astonishing in the face of the general deficiencv 
of this ingredient in South Indian soils.-- 
— Planting Opinion, August 24, 
