258 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [Oct. I. 1901. 
Green Tea Syndicate.— We direct nt- 
teation to a letterfrom Mr. Drummond Deane 
(see page 203) with a good deal of interesting 
inforrnatioa in respect of Green Tea la regard 
to the Syndicate, our correspondent should 
know that scarcity of capital, and the difficulty 
of reconciling contending mercantile interests 
stand in the way of its local formation, 
however desirable in theory it may appear 
to be. 
Sailing Through a Sea of Bananas.— 
Captain Fairant, of the London-owned steamer 
Ahtborough, on his arrival at New Orleans told a 
remarkable incident of the passage. He thought 
he had lost his reckoning in Crooked Island 
Passage, and had steered into a banana plantation. 
The blue waters of the passage threw a shade of 
green over them ahead of the vessel, when the 
Aldborough, which was going at about nine knots 
speed, began to throw bunches of bananas from 
each bow. It was then seen that what appeared to 
be an emerald sea was a perfect sea of bananas 
surrounding the vessel. The crew tried to hook 
them with anything at hand, the coal-heavers 
bringing coal-baskets into requisition but with all 
their efforts none were captured. Captain Farraiit 
could not account for the bananas in the sea until 
it was know that the Norwegian steamer "Ulier" 
had been ashore and had jettisoned about two- 
thirds of her cargo of bananas before she could be 
floated.— PeriA Herald, Aug. 23, 
Glasgow Exhibition, Blackman Export 
Company, Ltd. — i he Blackman Company's Ex- 
hibit covering 700 sq. feet is an interesting one. 
Seventeen of their well-known Blackman Fans 
are shown in motion, the largest of which, 96 
inches in diameter, is driven from the shafting 
overhead by means of a belt ; others varying 
from 72" to 12" in diameter are driven direct 
by electric current, these Fans being combined 
with Electric ^'lotors of the Company's own manu- 
facture, especially designed for this class of work. 
Four of the Fans deliver air, warm or cold at 
pleasure, from the four sides of the upper part 
of a central co umn or Kiosk, which is a promi- 
nent feature of the Stand, On this Stand there 
is also a Model Drying Installation consisting of 
a drying compartment arranged in conjunction 
with a Blacknian Electric Fan 24" in diameter and 
suitable Radiators for heating the air. The main 
advantages gained by the Blackman System of 
drying is that almost every class of material and 
produce is effectively and rapidly treated with 
the greatest economy both in cost of drying and 
in the space occupied by the drying chambers, 
whilst the quality of the material so dried is 
much superior to that baked or stewed in closed 
stoves. Twenty-four Blackman Electric Fans are 
used for ventilating the restaurants in different 
parts of the Exhibition. Messrs. McKillip and 
McKenzie have 14 of them, from 24" to 42" in 
diameter, in Restaurants Nos. 1, 2 and S, where 
their cooling and ventilating effect is highly 
appreciated. Four others of similar sizes are used 
by Mr. Jenkins in Restaurant No. 5 ; two more 
in the Indian Theatre, and two in the Bermaline 
Moilel Bakery. An imposing addition to the 
Exhibit is a large assortment of Keith's patent 
Hyrdraulic Rams and Pumps, Heating Apparatus, 
and High Pressure (jlas Lamps of great brilli- 
ancy, for wi'.icli the Blackman Export Company, 
Ltd.,' of 70, Finsbury Pavement, London, E.C. 
are the Exporting Agents. 
" Db. Koch's Mode of Treating Malaria" 
—says a local medical authority—" should be 
given a trial. We have rot yet learnt whence 
the organisms come, when the ground is 
turned up. This is not satisfactorily dis- 
covered. We hope to arrive at it soon." 
VANiLL.i. — Although only a email snpply offered at 
auction the demand was pjor, and only part sold, at 
about Is decline, as follows Seychelles : 7 to 8 
inches, 153 to 18.?; 3 to 7 itiche?, lis to 15a 6d ; and 
common splits, 3s 6d to 10s 6d per lb. Maur tins: 
good, 7i to 8| inches, 20.? ; 6J to 7 inches, 18j 6d to 
)9?; 6 to 6i inches, 15? to 17s 6d ; and common 
splits, IDs to 15s 6d. liourbou : fair, 5i to 7 inches, 
15s to 15s 61. The export of vanilla from Mexico 
decreased considerably both in quantity and value 
during 1900, as the frosts and rains in the early paid 
of the year and the want of the latter at the proper 
season spoilt the plant.s, and the crop was subse- 
quently lost. The quantity exported was 60,921 lb, 
as against 133,675 lb iu 1809, and the values were 
respectively 02,565/ and 181.547^ Vanilla is now re- 
ceiving the attention of many of the American 
ngiicultural companies whose properties are in the 
State of Vera (^rnz, and it is quite probable that the 
exports during 1901 will, under normal conditions, be 
greater than lin 190Q~Cheinist 4 and Druqqist, 
Aug. 24. 
Plants and Electricity.--M. Berthelot an- 
nounces he has proved that the development of 
plants is affected by eU-ciricity. He has been 
carrying out the experiments at his country seat 
at Meudon, near Paris. A tower nearly 90 feet 
higii is erected in the grounds, which AI Berthe- 
lot has been using for experimenting on the 
influence of natural electricity in transferring to 
])lanis free nitrogen from the atmosphere, and 
also for studying the variations produced on 
l)lants by altitude. One of M Berthelot's experi- 
ments was directed to proving that a plant 
submitted to the influence ot electric waves 
absorbs more nitrogen than another pla it placed 
under the same conditions, but not influenced 
by electricity. ±A Berthelot considers lie is justi- 
fied in supposing that he has fully demonstrated 
that free nitrogen in the atmo.>sphere plays an 
important part in the lite of plants, on the 
ground that crops of vegetables are obtained in 
high altitudes without the use of artificial 
manure, owing to the greater tension of the 
e\iiCtncitY. —Chemist and Druggist, Aug. 10. 
Mb. R. V. Webster's Letter from Hono- 
lulu— on page 253— offers a wondeful comment 
on the speeches in favourof the Tea Commis- 
sioner at the recent meeting. To our evening 
contemporary, with whom Mr. Webster used 
to be a far greater favorite than Mr. 
Mackenzie, this contribution ought to 
prove perfectly delightful reading. The 
*' Thirty Committee " will now see what 
one of their Agents thinks of the other's work 
We verily believe Mr. Webster is perfectly 
right as to secret partial payments to cer- 
tain favorites, enraginq9-10lhiiofthe American 
tea dealers against the very name 0/ " Ceylon 
tea." We said this would be the result of 
the secret policy, at the beginning, and have 
repeated our opinion at intervals ever since. 
Ceylon tea, in fact, would have been in a 
far better position in the United States, if 
not a single secret or partial payment had 
ever been made : a million of rupees have, 
probably, gone for worse fchan nathing. 
