March 1, 1902.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICUL rURIST. 
m 
halt of the buyers. Apart from this I have pleasure 
in seeing excellent results from the artificial 
manuring done last year which has been rather 
slow in showinw itself, but that is the way coffee 
grows slow and sure." 
250 ACRES OF TEA FOR R3,000. 
The Sapakati Tea Co., Ld., was put up for pub- 
lic anction on the first instant by Messrs Macken- 
zie, Lyall and Co., in the Exchange Commercial 
salerooms. The estate, which is situated at Sib- 
saunr in Assam, consists of three blocks of land 
comprising 578 12/100 acres 433 39/100 acres and 
50 acres, respectively, the first two blocks being 
held under two freehold grants from (xovernnient 
and the last mentioned block being held under a 
pottafrom Government. Out of the above area 
250 acres are planted with tea wliich is in full 
bearing, and there are the usual buildings and 
machinery customary for the working of a tea 
estate. The attendance at the sale was by no 
means large, and the bidding was anytliing but 
brisk, Babu Hurish Chandra Baglii started with 
a bid tor Rl, 000, which rose very slowly to R5,500, 
for whicli price the estate was knocked down to Mr 
W C Aldam, of Messrs Cresswell ami Co., tea 
hrokere.— Indian Planters' Gazette, Feb. 8, 
MAJOR WYLLIE AND THE BURMA 
RUBBER PLANTATION. 
PROPERTY TO BE WORTH £7,000 A YEAR. 
Major Wyllie, Cantonment Magistrate, 
Rangoon, whose services have been placed 
at the disposal of the Punjab Government, 
leaves by the Calcutta mail steamer on 
Monday for Mianmir. Last year on the 
occasion of the Duvbar held by the Lieut. - 
Governor, Major Wyllie's valuable services 
in connection with the rubber plantation were 
referred to by Sir Frederic Fryer. In this 
connection it may be of interest to know that 
no less than 14,000 rubber trees have been 
planted at Cambay of whicli about 7,000 have 
already been planted out, the remainder being 
kept in the nursery. In the ordinary course 
these trees would also have been planted out, 
but Government propose to extend the plan- 
tation so !is to take the whole of the land 
occupied by the Rifle Range at Kokine and 
the land behind it known as the "Danger 
zone " The trees can be planted at about 
435 to the acre, and if the value ten years 
hence of 32 acres of land with the trees 
thereon were to be calculated it would amount 
to something like seven thousand pounds per 
annum. The para rubber trees are said to 
yield approximately ten shillings' worth of 
rubber each tree per annum for probably 3) 
or 4') years after their tenth year of growth. 
The figures, if correct, no doubt represent a 
very substantial yearly revenue to Govern- 
ment in the tiitnve,— Rangoon Gazette, Feb. 8, 
Basic Superphosphate (writes Mr. John 
Hughes under date, 3lst January) is turning 
out a great success. Notices of it have ap- 
peared in numerous papers giving satis- 
tactory accounts of its results as well as its 
good composition, 
PLANTING NOTES. 
Value of Lime on Land — H A P, Pennsyl- 
vania, writes to the Ajuerican Agriculturist :— 
Ihe value of lime consists in changing the 
chemical and physical character of the soil. By 
so doing it stimulates the development of the 
latent mineral plant food, promotes decomposi- 
tion and renders available organic matter, form- 
ing compounds whieii attract ammonia from the 
atmosphere. Whether it will pay to liine or not 
depends laigelv on the nature and composition 
ot tiie sol!. Tiiis should be worked out by the 
individual after cons-ulting the ofHcers of the 
state experiment, station.— P/oHrMijr Opinion, 
January 25. 
Cinchona Bark Shipments from Java. 
—The New York Drug Reporter this 
month gives the shipments of cinchona 
bark from Java to Europe during the last 
three years as follows :— 1899, f-,905,150 kilos; 
1900, 5,451,500 kilos, and 1901, 6,399,700, kilos. 
Commenting on these figure the sam» journal 
gays :— 
It will ba sesn by the above figures that the 
shipments from Java during 1901 were much heavier 
than those during either of the other years men- 
tioned, but notwithstanding this large increase, 
practically all of the bark that has come forward 
has been taken by makers of quinine, and most of 
the manufactured article is said to Lave gone int» 
consumption. 
From the Chemist and Dniyyist we loarn that 
Messrs. 0 F Boehringer and Sohne, of Waldhof, have 
issued a leaflet of interesting statistics regarding 
quioine and ciBohona. It gives the imports of cin- 
chona into the U.K. for the past four years, exports 
from Java, stocks of bark at London and Amsterdam, 
range of unit and average percentage of qninin* 
in manufacturers' bark offered at Amsterdam. Fluo- 
tuations in " official" quinine in 1901 are shown, 
also the estimated coatents ot quinine in the bark 
sold at London aud Amsterdam, and stocks of 
quinine in London. 
British Guiana and Sugar Bounties.— The 
Demerara Argoai/ is very outspoken on this 
suliject : — 
If at the next conference Britain makes it clearly 
understood that she is prepared to enforce her views 
on the injustice of coutinental bounties to the extent 
of adopting duties to counteract their effect, iu tha 
same way as the United States and India have done, 
there will be some chance of the representatives of 
the Powers coming to an amicable and satisfactory 
arrangement— but we fear not otherwise. This is a 
matter that affects not merely the West Indies ; it is 
one of vital importance to the United Kingdom and 
to the Empire as a whole. " Trade follows the flag," 
we are told by politicians at home, but this is only 
true to a certain extent. If the " flag " encourages 
the ti-ade of the country on which it is placed, re- 
ciprocity is the natural result; but our experience in 
this respect has been that tha Home Government's 
policy of laissez faire has been to encourage trade 
between the United States and this colony at the 
expense of our commercial relations with the mother 
country. In this connection it is interesting to note 
that ten years ago our imports from the United 
Kingdom amounted to £927,397, while last year they had 
dwindled to £762,187. On the other hand, the imports 
from the Uidted States in 1891 amounted to £374,936, 
and last year they showed an increase to £381,356, 
These figures are significant enough, and it is bnt 
natural that the inhabitants of one country should 
encourage trade with the country that provides it 
with a market for its products. 
