2o 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST, [July i, 1891. 
the spurious cubebs that 150 bags of th m were 
imported into Amsceruam last year, and wtro sold 
at 33, per lb., this being the limit fixed by the 
growers in Java. It is from the Ea&t Ooast of Java 
thftt they are imported. Fai«i Drug Jteporter. 

IMPORTANT SALE OF FOEEST LAND. 
Today (May 18th) an important sale of virgm forest 
and took place in the premises of Metsrs. Geo. 
Armitagf^ & Co. regarding which the following letter 
will be read with interest :— 
Office of the Colonial SecretRry, 
Colombo, May 18th, 1891. 
To Messrs. Geo. Armitage & Co. 
Gentlemen,-~With reftreuce to my telegram of the 
29th ultimo, in which I desired to know, on behalf of 
the Government, the lowest price at which the forest 
land in Udapuasellawa belonginij; to the estate of the 
late BIr. 0. H. de Soyas would bo sold, and to your 
reply that the owners iusiBted on the land beiug dis- 
posed of at auction, I am desired to inform you that 
the GovecLiment, after due consideration, has concuned 
with you :c thinking that the couise proposed by you 
is the fairest way of ascertaining the true market value 
of the land, and of securing that value for the estate in 
question. . 
2. The Government has been urged to acquire the 
land for public purposes, and some intending purchasers 
have offered to abstain from bidding if the Govern- 
ment would announce its intention of acquiring the 
land. 
The Government has theref ire determined not to 
announce its intention, or to interfere with the sale 
till the auction is over. 
3. The Government has however determined on the 
acquisition of the land for puhlio purposes, and a 
formal notice to that effect will duly appear in the 
Government Gazette. 
4. I shall be obliged by your causing this deoieion 
to be announced by reading this letter at the 
conclusion of the public sile, in order that the 
highest bidders .vlio will receive ten per centum on 
their respective hl's may not bft put to any further 
icconvenituue or oxpensa. 
I shi.ll be further obliged bp your furnishing me 
with the names of the highest bidders for each lot, 
in order that I may phico myself in direct communi- 
cation with them. — I am, Gentlemen, your obedient 
Bervant, H. W. Gbben. Asst. Oolonial Secretary. 
The following is the result of the sale : — 
Lot. Purchaser. Extent Price Total. 
acres, per acre. 
(1) Hon. J. J. Grinlinton 162 0 0 lil54-32 E25,000 
(2) Hon. J. J.Griuhuton 149 3 0 B153-33 B23,000 
(3^ T. B. Oampbell 142 0 0 K151'40 li21,500 
(4) K. Macandrew 209 0 0 E150-71 E31,500 
Total .... 662 3 0 11152 RlOl.OOO 
It was at the close of the sale an- 
nounced the Government; would take up the lots 
for public purposes ; and regarding this a man of 
business expresses the opinion—"! think the Go- 
vernment have done quite right and that the best 
way of arriving at the value was a public auction. 
Goverumfent wid not be urif/enerous to the purchaser. 
This they have clearly indicated. Had Gcvernment 
said they were going to purchase I don't think 
thoy would have obtained the lota for less than 
B260 per acre." 
The following is the'advertised description of tho 
property : — " 002 acres fine virgin forest in Udapuseel- 
lawa bounded by St. Leonards, Eagaba, Goatfell, 
Hcatherselt, Denmark Hill, Graeelyn and Coneygar 
eatatcH. ThcRO blocks of laud afljoin each other 
and are paid to contain very fine timber trees. 
Tho land itBoIl is v<ry Buitabl>j for the cultivation 
of tea, and ov/ing to tho climate, elevation and 
extensive views obtained from t)ie properties they 
would wako ozoollont rusidcnlial estatcB. Owing 
to riumernus applications for the above blocks of 
land, it has been decided to put them np to 
auction at our sale room, No, 4, Queen's Street, 
Fort, Colombo, at 3 p. m. on the 18th of May 
1891." The property belongs to the estate of the 
late Mr. C. H. De Soysa. 
PLANTING' IN PEEAK. 
The Government of Perak, being desirous of enconra- 
ging agriculture in the State, draws attention by oir- 
cuhir to the existence of large areus of virgia land 
available for both hill and low country cultivation, and 
to the following, among other, advantages which the 
State holds out to intending planters. 
(a ) Proximity to Singapore and Penaug — two dsys' 
B'.eam from the former aud six hours from the latter, 
(4.) The country is traversed by good metalled cart- 
roads. 
(c.) Taiping, the capital, is oomiected with its port, 
at Port Weld, by a short railway. A railway oonnect- 
ing tho Piirt of Teluk Anson with the iuiaad districts of 
Bating Padang and Kiuta is under construction. 
(d.) Arrangements have been in force for seven years 
with the Government of India, admitting of the intro- 
duotiou of indentured Indiau labour. 
(e.) Arabian coffee has given satisfactory results on 
an estate of about 1,000 acres, opened by Sir Graeme 
Elphinstone, iu the Kuala Kangsa District, while Mr. 
Heslop Hill's Liberian c jffee estate of about 300 aorea 
in the same district is most promising. 
(/) Attached is a return showing remarkable crops 
of Liberiau coffee on Messrs. Hill and Eathborne'a 
estates in neighbouring States of the Malay Peninsula. 
ig.) Tea grown by Government as an experiment, 
and shipped to Bugland, has been favourably reported 
on by Loudon brokers. 
(h.) The Government of the State is carried on 
under the advica of a British Eesideut, with a staff of 
European Officers, and under the auporvisiou of his 
Excellency the Governor of the Straits Seitlements. 
rhe Government is prepared to grant the following 
special terms to the tirat teu approved applications who 
shall apply after this data, that is to say : — Lease or 
leases in perpetuity for 1,000 acres iu one block or in 
blocks of not leea than 600 acres each. No premium ! 
quit-rent 20 cents an acre after two years' free occupa- 
tion. The Government reserves the right of levying 
an export duty on produce, which may not exceed 2§ 
perotnt ad valorem. If selected with road frontage 
the depth to be three times the frontage ; bona fide 
comencement to open to be made within 12 months 
from Government approval of selection; coat of demar- 
cation and survey (to be mide when raquired by 
Government) and registration fees to be borne by les- 
sess. If desired by applicatious, a premium of §3 an 
acre and no quit-rent will be accepted. 
Miueritls are reserved, and, with the above excep- 
tions, the land would be subject to the general land 
legnliitions of the State, which will be forwarded on 
appiicatiou to the State Commissioner of Lands, 
Taiping, to whom all oommuDicxtions in connection 
with this Circular should be addressed. — Straits Times. 
,> 
CEYLON TEA IN liUSSlA— ME. EOGIVUE'S 
MISSION— COCONUT BUTTEE. 
London, May 1, 
During the week the Secretary of the Ceylon 
Association in London has received from Mr, Bogivne 
copy of a letter just addressed by him to jour 
Planters' Association, From the date of that letter, 
April 25th, it appears almost certain that it cannot 
reach Ceylon before this letter- of mine should do 
and I shall not, therefore, be " carrying coals to 
Newcastle" by just mentioning to you the leading 
particulars of what your CommisBioner in Eussia 
has written, although you will no doubt be supplied 
with the full text of his letter very shortly after 
its receipt. 
