Feb. 1, 1902.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
543 
obtained contains a large proportion of water ; five 
hundred pounds of grass yields two pounds of 
pure oil when the still is carefully worked, but if 
the grass in the cauldron is allowed to burn, it 
communicates d dark colour to the oil. 
With better apparatus, and a nioie scientific 
method of distilling, there is much room for im- 
provement and every possibility of success. It 
niight be worth while, for experiment, to reserve 
ior departmental working a certain area and to 
carefully supervise the le ults. 
A. D. Bhoet, Forest "ilanger. 
Hoshangabad, Sept. 13, 19l)l. 
— Indian Forester. 
ANDAMANS, 
The work of the Forest Department in the 
Andamans is shortly described in the following 
extract from the Government of India Resolu- 
tion : — 
" Forest operations in the Andaman Islands 
are mainly confined to the extraction of produce, 
and are limited in extent by the amount of convict 
labour that can be placed at the disposal of tlie 
Department. A large proportion of the available 
labour is employed in meeting the requirements 
of the settlement in timber, fuel and gurjan oi), 
which are considerable, so tliat only a compara- 
tively small quantity of timber can be extracted 
for export. A trade has been established in Lon- 
don for Andaman paclauk, but the demand is 
greater than the present supply, and it is be- 
lieved that koko (Albizsia Lebbek) and other 
Andaman timbers would find a ready sale if 
they could be placed on the market in sufficient 
quantities. It is therefore important that ad- 
vantage should be taken of labour-saving appli- 
ances whenever practicable, and experiments in 
this direction should be persevered with." 
The labour-saving appliances alluded to are a 
tram line which was extended 150 yards during 
ing the year, a timber sledge road, the outlay on 
which is said to have been out of all proportion 
to its usefulness, and a wire ropeway which was 
not a success. Nevertheless the experience gained 
will prove useful, and as the steep hillsides of the 
Andaman valleys are said to be well adapted to 
a system of wire ropeways, this form of extrac- 
tion is to be persevered in. There were no 
breaches of Forest Rules, and tire protection 
measures are unnecessary owing to the heavy 
rainfall andabsenceof herbaceous growth. Natural 
reproduction was unfavourable owing to short 
rainfall ; and an area of 5 acres, which was 
sown with padauk and ironwood, was for the 
me as reason practically a failure ; on the other 
hand, twenty-nine acres of maritime swamp were 
successfully re-stocked with mangrove seedlings. 
The Department supplied the Settlement with 
25,484 tons of firewood and 5,773 lb of gurjan 
{Dipterocarpus) oil, the latter presumably for 
lighting. In Burma its use for this purpose 
almost entirely ceased many years ago owing to 
the cheapness of kerosine oil. The quantity of 
timber extracted was5,808 tons, of which 2,446 tons 
were padauk. The average rate per ton realised 
for padauk squares in Calcutta was R195 or 
nearly double the price obtained in the previous 
year In the London market this timber real- 
ised 6s 6d a cubic foot, koko {Albizzia Lehbek) 
and black chuglam (Terminalia bralata), 4s 6d 
gach, and tmBg^Gin^ye (Artocarpus c/mplachal) 
is. There appears to be a demand for all these 
species, which the Department is not at present 
prepared to meet owing to the labour difficulty. 
" Specimens of choice padauk taken from the 
junction of bole and main branch and from 
stumps, including crown of root, were sent to 
the Faris Exhibition. The branch and root pieces 
were cut into veneer on arrival at destination, 
anfl tlie latter were much admired, being valued 
at 9d to 2-j per square foot, 1 16tli of au inch 
thick." Probably many other Indian species 
could be profitably disposed of if woiked up in 
this way. The revenue tor the year was 
R2,9I,115 and the surplus Rl,49,309,— the highest 
but one on lecord.— Indian Forester. 
GERMAN SUGAR INDUSTRY, 
Evidence continues to be forthcoming 
that the German sugar industry is confronted 
by a serious crisis, America has for the 
moment disappeared from the market as a 
buyer, and this has broken prices again. 
It seems evident, too, that the year's pro- 
duction on the Continent will be considerably 
greater than the estimate. Market experts 
calculate that there will be a surplus stock 
at the end of the sugar year amounting to 
2,665,000 tons against 975,000 tons for the 
last season. Under the circumstances, it is 
already claimed that the reduction of 10 
per cent in the acreage next year, as pro- 
posed by German producers, will prove in- 
adequate ; and that a 20 per cent reduction 
will be necessary. The German Sugar Syn- 
dicate is taking steps to promote consump- 
tion. At a meeting of the Syndicate the 
other day it was decided to give premiums 
to dealers showing the lai'gest sales ; and it 
was also voted to make special prices to choco- 
late manufacturers who would bind them- 
selves to use only syndicate sugnv.— Madras 
Mail, Jan. 22. 
BAD ADVICE TO THE CHANCELLOR 
OF THE EXCHEQUER, 
WHY SHOULD TEA AND SUGAR BE TAXED. 
(From the Speaker, Jan. 4th.) 
When " II G" comes to advise the Chancellor 
of the Exchequer as to what should be the new 
taxes, he flounders, as he did last year, into the 
marsh of protection. The military occupation of 
South Africa is undoubtedly, he s^^ys, a new 
burden, and the whole army mr4st therefore be 
increased in number and efficiency. Consequently 
"expenditure must be permanently increased," 
and " no reduction of the so called war taxation 
is to be contemplated." " li G" next proceeds 
to declare, without adducing any proof, that " aa 
increase of direct taxes is out of the question, 
because direct taxes are necessary as a reserve 
for emergencies, unless the rate is very low./ 
This is great nonsense, considering that the 
income-tax is not yet as high as in 1856, 
when the war expenditure, and therefore 
the emergency, was only about one-third 
what it now is, and " R. G." makes absurdity 
doubly absurd when he tells us that " the 
knotty question will perhaps be whether some 
new taxes of this kind (i.e., taxes on food) should 
not be imposed in order to diminish the excessive 
