132 
THE TROPICAL AGEICULTURIST. 
fM.VY 1, 1902. 
Distribiition of Biutish Impoets of Cevlon Tea during tlic past three years, taken from 
the BoAKD OF Trade Retudns.— 
Year. 
HomQ 
Consumption. 
n^n ( Villi livi-'""^ 
ill Euiopc 
(chiefly Kufisia). 
To 
U. S. of America. 
To British 
N. America. 
To Other 
Countries. 
1901 .. 
1900 .. 
1899 .. 
90.82.5. .519 lbs. 
92 'l?! ' 009 „ 
85,137,915 ,, 
10,. 0-23, 203 lbs. 
8.-187,963 „ 
7,265,266 ,, 
2,504,299 lbs. 
987,500 ., 
1,391,931 ., 
2,390,894 lbs. 
2.131,367 ,, 
2,084,865 ,, 
3,154.250 lbs. • 
2,168,585 ,, 
1,402,361 ,, 
Home Consvmption of Indian and Ceyloi? Tea compared with that of Chika and Other 
CouNTHiEK last year, five years, and ten years previously taken from the Board or Trade Returns : — 
1901. 1896. 1891. 
Percentage of total. Pereentf<ge of total. Percentage of total. 
148 000 000 lbs. 57-81 123,000,000 lbs. 54- 99,000,000 lbs. 48-9 
91 '000,000 ,, 35-55 80,500,000 ,, 35-2 51,000,000 ,, 
17000, 000 ,, G-64 24,500,000 ,, lO'S 52,500,000 ,, 
Indian 
Ceyi.on 
China, &c. 
25-3 
25-8 
Total 
228,000.000 lbs 
202,500,000 lbs. 
256,000,000 lbs. 
Rk-Exi'0Rts of Indian and Cei'lon Tea compared with that of China and Othee Countries 
last year, five years and ten years ago taken from the Board of Trade Returns :— 
1901. 1896. 1891. 
Percentage of total. Percentage of total. Percentage of total. 
13.2:''G,3(;7 lbs. .30-50 4,.399,640 lbs, 13- 3,419.-533 lbs. 10-15 
]S>.,:.'Ch, ,, 41-70 8,490,663 ,, 25- 2,121,446 ,, 6-30 
]i'.0S9.772 ,, 27-80 21,131,.503 ,, 62- 28,171,164 ,, 83-55 
Indian 
Ceylon 
China, &c. 
Total 
43,388.845 lbs. 
34,027,806 lbs. 
33,712,143 lbs. 
FORESTS AND CLTMATE. 
Tripoli was formerly a laud of crops and woo^s. Now 
it is a desert containing ruins of the Puaic and 
Roman periods. M. Mehier de i\Ionthuisieulx, after 
traversing deserts of moving sand and awful stony 
roads, has visited Jebel Iffren, a mountain rich in 
traces of the Roman occupation, otherwise poor indeed 
— not a tree, not a blade of grass. The principal ruins 
are those of the ancient town of Sabratha, and those 
"f Leptia Magna, the old Punic and Roman capital. 
These ruins show the former importance of the great 
emporium. The dead cities, formerly superb, are now 
humbled beneath the sands of the desert. During tbg 
Punic era the sands were not given to wandering, 
the earth was teeming with vegetable life. More 
in the interior may be found interesting remains of 
the old Roman towns on the plateau of Torouhna; these 
contain numerous constructions somewhat in the form 
of a portico, and with considerable certainty may be 
described as oil factories. The country was formerly 
covered with olive trees : Tripoli was one of the great 
granaries of the Roman Empire, an abundant source 
of corn, of oil, and of wine. 
'- To-day the whole region hns become sterile, be- 
cause of the disappearance of the great forests in the 
interior which held up the water and distributed it by 
the river-full." At present this former granary of 
Europe contains a misei-able and scattered population 
living or stnrvinf?, on a few lean patches of barley 
or alfalfa. M. Mehier thinks that the rest of Tripoli 
will soon bo in the same fitate as Sabratha, Leptis, 
Oca, and the rest, for without forests water disappearg, 
and without water man disappears,— i?'/-o?K an article 
y Rot4KK Duci^iir, 1 [cad of tlie Cochin-Ckina Forest 
Department, hi ?//s "Revue dea Bans et Foresta."— 
Indian Forester. 
PLANTING NOTES, 
Cold Stobage of Fbuit. — Various experiments 
have been made in France as regards storing fruit, 
flowers, and vegetables, in ice chambers. M. Loiseau, 
President of the Montreuil Seine Societe d'Horticulture, 
showed at the autumn exhibition of the National Hor- 
ticultural Society at Grand Palais some Peaches that 
had kept perfectly in a refrigerator built according to 
the plans of M. Donane, of Paris. The Peaches had 
been kept in the chamber fifty-three and fifty-eight 
days, and represented the varieties Mignonne, Bonouv- 
rier, Belle Beauce, Imperiale, Alexis Lepere, and 
Galatide. A wholesale dealer offered four francs each 
for them. The experiments will be continued. — 
Gardeners' Chronicle. 
" Rubber Cultivation in West Africa.'' — This 
handbook is by Mr. J. H. Holland, Curator of the 
Botanic Oardens, Old Calabar, Southern Nigeria. It 
contains mention of six of the principal vubbers of the 
world : Fara, Ceara, African Vine, African Tree, Cen- 
tral American, and Assam, representing the three 
natural orders Enphorbiaceae, Apocynncese, and Urti- 
caceai. Para rubber is not successful in West Africa ; 
Ceara grows in some districts, but is a failure as a rub- 
ber producer, as also is Central American. Assam, 
after ten years' trial, does not yield so well as when 
growing naturally. Ij.indolphias, from their climbing 
habit, are not well adapted for cultivation. The 
native tree (Fuutumia clastica) possesses many qualtiea 
to recommend it. The rubber is of good quality. The 
book before ua includes five large and useful plates.— 
Gardeners' Chronicle, " 
