744 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [May 1, 1902. 
unutilised either in tanning in the country or 
in exporting the tanning agents, The same could 
be said of matter suitable for dyeing and for 
varnishing. 
ROOTS. 
Ginger, turmeric and the kina {Curcuma 
angustifoUa) were plentiful in parts. Tliere was 
noli much difference in the product known as the 
arrowroot ot commerce which was exported fiom 
Europe and the arrowroot made from the kina 
cultivation would improve the quality of the 
bulb. 
CARDAMOMS AND CINNAMON. 
These were valuable products, and there was a 
host of others (some of which were mentioned) 
which could be traded in. The importance of 
obtaining useful botanical specimens was dwelt 
upon. 
SOAPS. 
There were things requisite for the manufacture 
of soap, viz., fats, oils and alkaline, all three 
obtainable in Travancore. Lemon grass oil was 
in great demand, and though there was some 
business done in it, it was not nearly so large 
as it could be made, 
MINERALS. 
There was gold in Travancore, but noli in 
paying quantities. At Shencotta, there was iron 
ore, and pig iron could be made, for there was 
an abundance of charcoal. Mica abounded and, 
lastly, plumbago, which was so successfully worked 
by the Morgan Crucible Co. 
ANIMAL PRODUCTS. 
Honey was abundant and apiculture was a 
field for a new departure, as well as that of 
the rearing of silkworms. There were a large 
number of trees on which silkworms fed. 
The lecturer said Travancore was unique, inas- 
much as she contained within her boundaries 
variations of climate and soil in which most 
things wanted by the civilised world could be 
obtained. Rubber had thrived in Travancore. 
and new varieties were b. und to do well. Camphor 
cultivation was worth a trial. The lecturer 
concluded by saying thai the rising young men 
of the day should try and strike out a new 
line for themselves in industrial matter. «. Govern 
ment service was a good thing, but all could 
not be Government servant.?. — Cor.— ilf. Mail, 
March 21. _ 
KUBBEK DEVELOPMENT IN BOLIVIA. 
Daring the year ended 1st July 19U0, the go- 
vernment of Bolivia granted new concessions. for 
working rubber as follows :— ' 
Cf'tradas 
Department of La Paz 7264 
Department of Santa Cruz 9590 
Depaitment of Cochabaraba .. 500 
Total 17,354 
Since each esi9'ac^«; is supposed to embrace 156 
rubber trees, these concessions would account for 
2,603. 100 trees brought under private control 
within a year. It is understood, how'ever, that 
many small rubber properties in Bolivia are for 
sale,' due probably to a luck of working capita 
on the part of i he concession awes, while perhaps 
some of them ha ve been located only with a view 
lb selling them. 
A sUitemciit has reached The India Rubber 
W*rld that the following amounts of rubber paid 
export duties (15 per cent ad valorem) at the 
Bolivian custom house in the Acre river district — 
lately in dispute between Bolivia and Brazil — 
between January 29 and April 16, 1901, and were 
shipped via Para : 
Pounds 
Goma elastica (fine rubber) 2,954,879 
Sernamby (coaise rubber) 328,275 
Caucho 13,728 
Total 3,296,882 
India Rubber World, March 1. 
LESSHR PRODUCTS OF THE COCONUT 
TREE. 
There is really no part of the cooount tree which 
doei not lerve man for tome economic purpose. At 
the Bame time conBidaruble ignorance prevails re- 
garding certain minor products of this palm, and 
the purposes to which the natives apply them. For 
instance, the soft, downy light brown cotton, at the 
outiide of the lower part of the compound leaves of 
th« tree, is very popnlxr with physicians an3 house- 
wiYBB, for there is nothing to beat it in stannching 
blood from a wound. The mature cotton ig a strong 
weblike tissue of fibres, bearing some resemblance to 
coarie cloth. Toddy drawers use it as a strainer 
while in some parts of country it is woven into very 
tolerable wearing apparel, chiefly used by fishermen. 
Then, the roots are largely used by the natives for 
tooth and paint brushes, and are also sometimes 
chewed with betel as a substitute for arecanut. They 
have still more valuable uses, for the native vydian 
prescribes a decoction of coconut roots with ginger 
and jaggery in cases of fever. When fresh oil is add- 
ed the mixture is prescribed as a gargle for sore 
mouth or throat. The shell of the coconut takes a 
high polish and can be" turned " in a most remark- 
able manner. It can also be converted into good 
buttons. Another minor product is the water inside 
the kernel. The supply diminishes as the fruit ap- 
proaches maturity. There is no more, delicious 
summer beverage. The water may be drimk freely 
without any deleterious effect, and the natives esteem 
it as a good purifier of the blood. Bricklayers use it in 
the preparation of a fine whitewash, and when a little 
of it is mixed with the water in which castor seeds 
are boiled the quality of the castor oil is highly im- 
proved. For the curing of tobacco, a little of the 
water sprinkled on the leaves improves them and 
adds to their flavour. The spathe or tough fibrous 
eovering of the blossom makes rough but ser- 
viceable headgear, water buckets, light boxes, 
iheathes for knives, and when soaked in water! 
a coarse cordage which is substituted for ordinary 
rope for thatching houses. The flower, which poss- 
esses a powerfully astringent property, is used in 
natire medicine. We have then the cabbage at the 
summit of the tree. This is a tender vegetable, which 
may be prepared in various ways, and is especially 
good for pickle, but it can be obtained only at the 
cost of ttie tree, and r native must be driven to 
great extremities before he cots down a coconut tree 
The finer midribs of the leaves are made into tooth 
picks, coarse pins, brooms, bird cages, and neat blinds 
while the larger midribs of the compound leaves are 
occasionally substituted for the paddles of small canoes 
and boats Fine strong cordage is also obtained from 
them. In short, the numerous useful products of this 
palm reminds us of Lndovico rii Varihema's dictum • 
"Ten useful things are deiived from this tree; the 
first utility is wood to burn, nuts to eat, rope's for 
maritime uavigatini: ; Ihiu stuffs, which, when thev 
are dried, appear to be made of silk; charcoal in 
the greatest perfection, wine, water, oil, and sugar 
