416 
THE TROPI0A.L. AGRICULTUREST. 
[Dec, 2, 1901 
THE TEAK TRADE OP NORTHERN 
SIAM. 
The British capital inve.-led in the teak forest'* of 
Noftheru Siam is about I «o inillioiis sUnling, ;iiid 
three-tiichs of the total le ik Uiult- ot Uieeoun'ry 
is in Britiish hands, the bulk of Lhe leiuainder 
belonging to Chinese and Siamese. British for- 
esters and British companies were the pioneers of 
the trade, and those now concerned in it have lately- 
been caused some anxiety by a change in the old 
conditions and the concentration of the forest ad- 
ministration as well as the establishment of new 
rules by the autliorities at Bangkok. There are 
two main channels for the trade one down the 
Salwin to Moulmein, the other by the Me-nam and 
its tributaries to Bangkok. The tiniL-er floated 
down by Llie former, where the rains are plentiful 
and the valley deep, reaches its desti- 
nation in a raoni'h or two ; by t,he Me-nam V.Jlpy 
the time taken is often more than a year. Never- 
theless, the trade by the iSahvin, accor<ling to the 
last report of the 'British Consul at Chieng-mai 
(Zirame), has steadily decreased in the last three 
years, probably because of the indiscriminate 
felling of the Burmese and Shan foresters prior to 
the new leases of 1897, since which time the work 
of extraction has been restricted and controlled by 
the leases, as well as by a British firm which finan- 
ces the foresters. This firm has spent a large sum 
in making the new arrangements, and the increased 
inaccessibility of the timber causes a large and 
permanent outlay, so that some years must elapse 
before the returns will be commensurate with the 
outlay. On the Me-nam side there was a large and 
well-aistributed rainfall, which floated out of the 
streams a large number of logs ias the stripped 
trunks are called), which had accumulated for 
years awaiting a favourable floating season, so 
that 120,000 full-sized logs, valued at about £3 a 
log, reached Bangkok, the largest number in any 
previous year having been 73,000 in 1893. These 
Iocs having thus got beyond the boundaries of 
the forests, escaped confiscation under the provi- 
sion that timber lying witliin the boundaries on 
the expiration of the lease becomes the lessor's 
property, and this gave great relief to the British 
companies and traders engaged in the staple in- 
dustry of Norttiern Sian),who would otherwise have 
suffered heavy losses. But, on the whole, under 
the new leases and the new regulations for forest 
conservancy, the Consul's opinion is that if the 
re<?ulKtions are enforced with impartiality against 
alfcoucerDed, " British foresters and traders are 
entitled to anticipate, if not the same profits as 
heretofore, at least a maintenance in the future of 
the same proportion of the teak trade in their 
hands as in the past." Last year the value of the 
teak sent down the Salwin to Burma was over 
£75,000, that sent down the Me-nam and its 
tributaries about £350,000.— London Times, 
Oct. 25. 
PLUMBAGO IN TRAVANCORE. 
"C.' wiites as follows in Capital: — 
Tn a recent order of the Madras Government 
reviiiwing the Adminisfcrntion Keport of the 
Traviuieore .State for 1899 1900. a i lii>;e-!ifie refer- 
ence is all that is miide to the nnpfirtant pluin- 
ba"0 industry which has been introtluced into the 
country, mines being for some time past in excel- 
leut working at Vellanad, a place about 1.5 miles 
from Trevandruin. They have timbered shafts 
underground, are worked by Cornish miners, and 
turn out more than a hundred tons of plumbago 
each month. Last year, 1,600 tons were shipped 
tr- EuiOfie. At present the main disadvantage is 
witli .egard to the existing arrangements for 
shippins. Shippervi, including those of plumbago, 
have frequently to semi their goods a hundied and 
forty miles to Cochin for shipment. This is 
certainly a lamentable state of altairs. Recently, 
the facilities which Quilon offers for the construc- 
tion of a harbour have been ventilated, antl the 
Travancore Durbar might do worse than examine 
the question seriously. We believe that the 
plumbago indu.stry in Travancore has now emerged 
from the experimencal .stage a'.id is justifyint' the 
enterprise of its promoters. The existence of the 
mineral in the couQtry was established long ago 
by the late (General CuUen, a former tiriti-n 
llesident, nut it wanted the boldness and enter- 
iii iseof Euroijeans to luuiid an industry out ol it. 
Th'>reare s.aid to be more tlian one or t wo licjio-its 
of the miner.ii within i he State, bui in the mines 
which are now working, though the plumbago is 
not always easy to find, experience has shown that 
good "pockets" exist to a paying extent. The 
plumbago is taken out in irregular lumps, stored 
in an open shed, broken up into small pieces, and 
all its sand, etc., separated. It is then washed, 
cleaned and sorted, and after a further process of 
picking and sorting, is packed for shipment. The 
shafts which descend to a depth of about 150 feet 
are well timbered, and the mines solidly and safely 
constructed. Labour is cheap in the Travancore 
State, and no difiiculty, we believe, is experienced 
in obtaining a sufficient number of men, women 
and children for work, underground and on the 
surface, in the different departments of the 
industry. In fact, the labourers on the mines have 
already ai;tained so much skill that tliose who 
are employed to sort the mineral after it has been 
washed are well able to differentiate the ore and 
to select from the entire mass the particular ore 
which is called '' needle plumbago " and which 
fetches a higher price than the ordinary ore. The 
enterprise is a most laudable one, and it is for the 
Travancore Durbar to render it all possible 
reasonable assistance. — M. Mail, Nov. 15. 
PLANTI^:G NOTES. 
The Tea Campaign in France — In a 
letter from Mr, Renton, dated Grand Hotel, 
Calais, October 27th, are very glad to read : — 
'•Our demonstration goes on right merrily. 
At Boulogne, Dunkerque and here we have 
now got several depots besides those at 
Havre, Rouen, Caen, Dieppe, etc. Those shops 
may not sell much tea, but the result of 
those ' degustatioos ' will be that in course 
of time we will knock China tea out of 
France." 
Tea Pruning,— This is the subject of a 
special article which we quote from " Tea " on 
page 407. It advocates the appointment of a 
scientific enquirer to give authfuity for 
any necessary change in the system of prun- 
ing and the remarks that are made will, no 
doubt, receive the attention of till wlio ntend 
to make of pruning a special study The 
prtictice that prevails in Ceylon coines in 
for special mention, and the advice is given 
to prune only htUf the gtirden. Many other 
useful hints are thrown out. 
