Feb. 1, 1902.] THE TEOPICAL 
AGRICCJLTURIST. 
657- 
main agricultural staple. Owing to the continued 
depression of the coffee market, the Liberian Coffee 
Estates of this Peninsula have been almost without 
exception planted up with Para Rubber, in the same 
way that Cinchona and Tea were planted, with such 
successful results to that Colony, on the Coffe* 
Estates in Ceylon ; at the same time, a considerable 
area of virgin forest has also been brought under 
cultivation with this product in the Federated Malay 
States. 
That in the Botanical Gardens of Ceylon and 
the Malay FeninsuU, Para Rubber tiees, of a 
sufficiently mature age, exist in sufficient num- 
bers to render it apparently unnecessary for 
the institution of an experimental garden of any- 
thing likfa the dimensions as that which forms the 
subject of this memorial. That your Memorialists 
directly contribute to the revenue of the Federated 
Malay States, by paying an ad vtilorem export duty 
of 2^ per cent, on all agricultural products, in addi- 
tion to payment of rents and premiums for land ; 
that fiurther, in certain cases, special arrangements 
have been made with the Government whereby it 
ia incumbent upon land owners to plant up the 
whole of their cnncessiims with rubber within a 
period of ten years. That your Memorialists sub- 
mit that the production of so large an amount of 
Para Rubber by the Government of India must re- 
sult in serious competition with private growers, 
who have, under already existing circumstances, to 
contend against an enormous supply from the indi- 
genous rubbers of other countrie;i 
—Ed. T.A.\ 
TEA MACHINERY PATENTS : " WANTED 
TO KNOW." 
Sir, — How long have Mr. Jackson's patents 
yet to run ? Is not the time limit 14 years 
unless it be proved that the patentee has 
not received adequate remuneration, which 
could hardly be said in the case of Mr. 
Jackson's Rollers ? For instance, atpi'esenta 
Rapid Roller cost £160 f.o.b. Contrast the 
metal and work in a roller with an elabo- 
rate machine such as an oil engine of, say, 
10 horse-power, at about the same price. 
Surely, the time limit must he near at hand, 
for Down draft Siroccos, Rapid Rollers, 
Venetian and Britannia dryers ? If memory 
serves me right, I possessed a Down -draft 
Sirocco in 1888 and also a Rapid Roller! 
PRO BONO PUBLICO. 
fWe met a gentleman the other day who 
said he put in Abbotsford (old) Factory, the 
first of Jackson's Dryers introduced into 
Ceylon ?— What strikes us about our corre- 
spondent's query is that Jackson's is not 
the only Tea Roller ; are any others much 
cheaper?— Ed. T.A.] 
"THE INDIAN AND EASTERN 
ENGINEER." 
Calcutta, Jan. 16. 
Dear Sir, — We are sending you herewith 
a copy of our January special issue which 
deals particularly with the Jamalpur Loco- 
motive works of the East Indian Railway. — 
Yours truly, 
THE EDITOR. 
[We have received the periodical referred 
to above and have been particularly struck 
with the enterprise displayed by the pub- 
lishers in the production of the magazine. 
Printed on fine art paper, it is profusely 
illustrated, many of the pictures being full- 
page engravmgs excellently brought out. 
ihe special contribution of the months issue 
deals with the Jamalpur Locomotive works 
of the East Indian Railway. The article is 
well written, and the many illustratioMs ^ive 
one an ample idea of the magnittule of the 
workshops of this Eastern Railway. Of very 
special interest is a half page illustration 
showing a substantial number of men-^ 
"Jaiualpur's Representatives in South Africa' 
—who formed a maxim gun detachment 
with " Lumsden's Horse " in the earlier stu'^es 
of the Transvaal war. The advertisements 
too, we notice, are displayed in a perfectly 
artistic and up-to-date manner. We cono-ra- 
tulate the publishers on thus keeping abreast 
of the times.— Ed. T.A.] 
TEA MACHINERY AND PATENTS. 
o X J'l'"- 22. 
DEAR Sir —r see by your foot note to my 
letter published in your issue of 16th Janu- 
ary that you think that I am invidious in 
singling out Mr. Jackpon and Messrs. 
Davidson s patents. This is not so ; all 1 wish 
to do IS to ascertain if these or other tea 
machinery patents hare lapsed. If so the 
same machine could be turned out by local 
firms at probably a saving of neatly 60 per 
cent and yet give a handsome profit to 
the manvfacturm- and place the machines 
Avithin the means of many a planter who 
like myself, is sore-pressed for capita] and the 
necessary machinery to cope with increased 
crops but starvation prices. It is commonly 
reported that Mr. Jackson's royalty is nearer 
£100 than £50 on each full sized Rapid 
Roller. -Yours faithfully, dear sir 
, , PRO BONO PUBLICO. 
I We have heard a rumour that both 
Messrs. Jackson and Brown's patents have 
had a period added to them, to make up 
for the time spent in litigation.— Ed. T.^.j 
PEARL OYSTERS OFF CROW ISLAND- 
TRINCOMALEE. 
Harbour Road, Trincomalee, Jan 26th. 
Dear Sir,- I send you part of an oyster, 
and the smallest pearl, out of two, found 
m one of them. These oysters, of various 
sizes, have lately drifted in abundance 
on the shores of "Crow Island" 
opposite the late " Crawford Cutch Com- 
pany Mills " I believe them to be from some 
disturbed beds driven by the tide during 
the recent heavy rains and the overflowing 
of the Mahaweliganga, or from some 
ot the numerous bays outside and within 
the harbour. 'J'he pearl oysters at Kinniyai 
Bay are large oval ones, and glossy through- 
out the outside when polished, like the in- 
ternal layers, but these are quite unlike them 
Professor Herd man might do well to ex- 
periment on our coast.— Yours faithfully 
P,, . J. B. COLOMB. 
[It is certainly Professor Herdman's in- 
tention to visit Trincomalee and that very 
soon too. We shall have pleasure in sending 
him the shell forwarded by our correspondenk 
—a small thin one doubtless of Placona 
placenta? -And the pearl, a little beauty.— 
Ed. T,A.\ 
