618 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[March 1, 1902. 
Our Pearl Fisheries.— We read in an 
Indian paper that the Government of India 
finds that it cannot spare the ll.I.M.S. 
"Investigator," for the use of vphich the 
Ceylon Government had appUed " to ex- 
amine the pearl fisheries" here— or hanks, 
rather— till the end of May next. 
Tea for Boston : Wakening up.— A 
Boston corespondent writes on the loth Jan.: 
—"In today's Herald I saw an advertise- 
ment tor a good vian to demonstrate Ceylon 
Tea." Benighted Boston is evidently going to 
be enlightened, though it does seem queer, 
that so late in the day " the hub of the 
univer.=ie" requires the elementary and "first 
aid demonstration." It should have been 
past that long ago. 
Tea Company Meetings.— Four Tea Com- 
pany meetings were held in Colonjbo last 
month. High Forests declai ed a final dividend 
of 2i per lent making 5 per cent for the year, 
and the Chairman (Mr. J G Wardrop) in 
submitting the report dealt with the various 
points in it showing tn/er a/ia how the crop 
had exceeded that of the previous year by 
80,000 lb. but that the prices realised were 
dis.ippointing. It is gratifying to know that 
satisfactory progress has been made in the 
matter of securing an outlet road from the 
estate to the railway. The dividend declared 
by the Kalutara Company for the year is 
2^ per cent and after writing off a large 
amoimt for depreciation, a substantial sum is 
carried forward to the current season's 
working. Increasing attention is being paid 
to the cultivation of rubber. The directors 
of Ruanwella Company have also seriously 
taken up the question of rubber planting 
and we trust their experiment will be 
attended with complete success. The dividend 
declared todjiy was 3 per cent for the year. 
Gangawatte Estates Company declai-ed a 
final dividend of 4 per cent making 7 per 
cent for the year. 
Milk, Coffee, and Cocoa Prepakations — 
" Zoeco " will soon, we calculate, be permanently 
engraved on the tablets of the public niernory, 
not only because it is a name which •' sticks," 
but because it is associated with three first- 
cl;i8s preparations, viz., "Zoeco" coffee and milk, 
"Zoeco" cliocolate and milk, and "Zoeco" 
milk proteids with cocoa. We do not name 
these in this order tor any particular leason, 
a.s the three constitute a trinity of merit, 
but speaking of the first, we find it is a 
preparation, two tea-spoons of which yield with 
hardly any trouble a fine cup of cof- 
fee-cmn-milk possessing the true flavour of the 
former. The chocolate and milk combination ex- 
hibits nourishing and stimulating materials in a 
readily assimilable form, and with it, by simple 
f'iluiion, a refreshing beverage is made. In the 
milk proteids with cocoa we liave the albuminoids 
ot milk declared by scientists to be as nourish- 
ing as those of meat, concentrated in natural 
solution and in a form ttiat affords a quick and 
nutritive meal. We recognise in the " Zoeco" pre- 
paratioiis a superiority in appearance and flavour ; 
we are assured they have a high standard of nutri- 
trive value, and that they are permanent even in 
the hottest climate, and they are put up in neat 
lound tins. — B, and C. Druggist, Jan, 24» 
Coconut Prices.— Our Veyangoda correspond- 
ent writes :—" The coconuts of Dr. William 
Dias' Yakkale estate in Henaratgoda, are re- 
ported to have been sold at R.56-25 per 1000. 
Dr. Dias i.<» the retired Colonial Surgeon of the 
Southern Province who, since his retirement, 
has been devoting himself zealously to the im- 
provement of his estates with most gratifying 
results which have astonished his^ neighbours," 
Has the price we have named been beaten this 
season ? Or ever ? 
The Over production of Sugar.— It is 
not tea alone that is suffering from over- 
production. Another necessary article of 
diet, sugar, which has been artificially 
fostered in some quarters by bounties, is 
feeling the pressure of an inadequate de- 
mand We lead that the German Sugar 
Industry is confronted by a serious crisis, 
the gravity of which is becoming more and 
more ajiparent. Acc(uding to iiiarket ex- 
perts, the surplus at the end of the sugar 
year, will be about 2,665,U0J tons, against 
075,000 tons htst year. The same suggestion 
as was made in regard to tea— the reduc- 
tion of the acreage by 10 per cent— has 
been under the consideration of German 
sugar producers ; but it is now felt that 
the reduction must be by 20 per cent ! 
Meanwhile, as in the case of tea, steps 
are being taken by the German Sugar 
Syndicate, to promote consumption, by 
offering premiums to dealers showing 
the largest sales, and by allowing special 
prices to chocolate manufacturers who would 
bind themselves to use only Syndicate sugar. 
The similarity in the troubles which tea 
an'l sugar havp to face, is further disclosed 
in the enhanced Duty of which both are appre- 
hensive ! 
Planting in Ceylon.— Mr. C. E. Emerson 
writes from Dean.stone, Rangala, Ceylon, Nov- 
ember 11th, 1901 to his old College periodical 
Colonia as follows : — 
" Many thanks for the Colonia, which I read with 
great interest, es-pecially the letters from Way, 
Cartwriglit and Cettier, and blushed to find that 
an entire page had been given to my first im- 
pressions of Oeylon. No doubt Fairlie has told 
you that I have secured a billet here in Medema- 
hanewara, rather a lonely di.strict, but a healthy 
climate and a superb view across the low country 
to Batticaloa, some 60 miles distant on the east 
coast. The estate is in tea and cardamoms, 278 
acres of the former and about 200 of the latter. 
Cardamoms, unlike tea, will only grow in certain 
parts of the island, and in this small valley the 
majority of the whole crop of the island is cured 
and bleached. My brother, at the volunteer camp 
at Urugasinanhandiya, met Thorne, who had just 
returned from his s-^ay at the College; through 
him I heaid of the death of the Director. I must 
offer you my sineerest condolences on the loss of 
one whose memory will always remain in the 
minds of old Colonials as a wise, coun.selling and 
sympathetic father of the College. The descrip- 
tion in Colonia of the river Ore brings back vivid 
memories of sailing and boating days, of Oxford 
and Butley creek. 1 shall always retain a keen 
interest in the College. Floreat Colonia." 
