Dec. 2, 1901.1 
THE TEOPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
S85 
5s. 4d. In 1899 the prism too low, for next year 
shows a rise from 5s. 4d, to 6s. aud so we caa go on 
ad inlinitum. 
The above seems to disclose of two fallacies, viz — 
that exchange cau be a factor in the lixiug of tfbe gold 
price — it at most, can only be a fact r for accepting 
or rejecting the fixed gold price during, say, 
a month or two ; the other fallacy is that 
of Dr Assis Brazil, and of many others, viz, 
that Importers and Retail dealers can combine 
to sell at fa.ntastio rates. The import price, as we 
have seen, depends on the sanguine or doleful view 
of the probable effect of supply or demand, and the 
Co£f=e market is not yet nor is it likely to be 
collared by any one Tt'ust, so supply and demand 
hold the field. As for the fantastic difference 
between the price of Coiiee hers and its retail price, 
this is naturally accounted for by the actual cost of 
retail distribution. A corollary can easily be 
deduced from all this, viz. that speculation cau 
have much less to do with the price of Coffee 
than is often supposed to be the case. — 
Brazilian Eevieiu Sept. 3. 
THE BOTANIC GARDENS AND 
GUTTAPERCHA. 
The expedition to the hilly districts of the 
8 W of Ceylon for determining the yield 
of guttapercha from indigenous species of 
Sapotaceae is meeting with undouhted success. 
The party consists of Mr Herbert Wright, 
the Scientific Assistant and Acting Curator 
of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Feradeniya, 
together '.vith forest guide, plant collectors, 
interpreter, appu, and twenty coolies who 
are well loaded with boxeS' containing the 
necessary herbarium, paper, collecting utensils, 
preservatives, and general scientific instru- 
nients. Mr Herbert Wright, writing to 
a Colombo friend, states; — ''Hinidoonkanda is 
just the ijlace I anticipated. 'J he soilis very 
poor, there is plenty of water, and an al- 
titude of 2,200 ft. Under such conditions you 
will not be surprised to learn that I found 
over 70 trees of the particular species 
required, and some of which attain consider- 
able dimensions. There is plenty of gutta- 
percha in these trees and I could go on 
collecting for three montfis quite comfortably. 
Should the samples prove of high commercial 
value, it will be an easy matter to collect 
many thousands of seeds and seedlings of this 
species from Hinidoon alone, to say nothing 
of Kittulgalla, p]ratua, Singhe Raja, and 
Hewesse where I know this species to abound. 
Tiie vegetation here is a perfect treat con- 
sisting of huge woody climbers, epiphytic 
ferns, abundance of pitcher plants, and that 
pretty leaved orchid — the finest in Ceylon — 
Anactochilus regalis, or Wana-raja of the 
Sinhalese. I had a fine stroke of good fortune 
with Diospyros oppositigolia, a species of 
ebony limited to, and almost extinct in, 
Ceylon. I did not find it until the 11th day 
and had well-nigh lost all hope of ever 
seeing it. Dr Trimen never saw it and 
Dr Thwaites described it as very rare. I 
managed to get male and female flowers, 
fruit and timber. You will remember that 
hitherto the female flower and fruit were 
unknown, I shall have to disagree with the 
opinion of Dr Thwaites about the value of 
the timber of this species which he asserted 
was equal to that of the Calamander. It is 
a plain white wood, and the trunk fi-ecjiiently 
quite hollow. It grows alongside trees of 
Calamander and the appearance cf the bark 
and the arboresceni habit is the same for 
both species. Hence the source of error is 
obvious. 
» We have some very pleasant evenings when 
the weather is fine, and to see the glare of 
a roaring fire and hear the crackling of the 
Ijranches reminds one of other days along 
the west coast of Scotland; altogether it is 
a rough happy life and well worth time 
3^nd money to experience." 
THE SEYCHEILES, 
The revenue of Seychelles last year was 
the largest ever collected, and amounted to 
R399,311, while the expenditure was K351,919. 
The revenue has gone on steadilv increasing 
of recent years, and in the laslt"36 years it 
has increased more than seven-fod, while the 
expenditure has in most years been less than 
the revenue, and has invariably been so since 
1896. Customs duties foi'm more than half 
the total revenue. The value of the imports 
last year was,. R908,911 and the exports 
Rl. 036,161. The chief exports are vaanilla and 
coconut oil; snmU- quantites of guhno and 
tortoise-shell are ^Iso sent abroad, w ile rice, 
coal, cotton goods and sugar are the chief 
imports. The United Kingdom sends over 
a third of these, India nearly a third, Mauri 
tins about a sixth, and France the remainder 
In the preparation of vanilla, coiiee, cocoa, 
and tobacco, the extraction of coconut oil', 
the manufacture of aloe fibre and lime-juice'i' 
the making of preserv»e* and pickles, the ex- 
tension of the fruit industry, and the deve- 
lopment of the fisheries the colony offers full 
scope for the energies of its people. Seventy- 
four islands are included in the administration 
of a total area of 218 square miles ; the chief 
is Mahe with an area of 5oh square miles, 
and nearly the whole of the land in all the 
islands is in private hands. The population 
was estunated at 20,275 at the close of the 
year, and has almost trebled in the last 50 
years. The administrator of the colony, from 
whose report for the past year these facts 
and figures are taken, says that, in spite of 
the excellent chmate, the islands are not 
adapted for white labourers, though Euro- 
peans do well as managers of estates and 
owners of property. Residents can lead an 
outdoor hte without fearing the usual effects 
ot exposure in tropical countries. "For a man 
of energy, perseverance, and temperate habits 
Seychelles affords as good an openino- as 
any other tropical colony. But he must be 
provided with sufficient capital to enable him 
to buy land outright and to wait until the 
crops give a return. He must i live on his 
estate, and make himself acquainted with 
the peculiarities of each vanilla vine as well 
as those of his labourers. He must be ready 
to learn and to make use of his knowledo-e 
when acquired. He should not rely, as maiVv 
planters do, on the somewhat capricious re- 
turn wnich a vanilla plantation o-ives but 
endeavour to plant up his estate with other 
tropical products for which the climate and 
soil of Seychelles are well-suited. He should 
in fact, be guided by the same principles 
