July i, 1891.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
79 
for using cattle duni? for fuel, it is evident that of all 
measures for the benefit of tlie people the plnnting of 
wooiIb in the dry interior regions of the contineut is a 
work of the most urgent importance. 
KoBuBT H. Elliot. 
Ootacamund, May 31fit. 
We have written frequently and oopiously on the 
subjeot discussed in Mr. Eobert Elliot's letter, 
given above, and we see no reason to 
alter or modify our long-formed opinions. 
The present season has afforded additional proof 
that denudation of forest and its replacement 
by cultivated plants in the mountain and rainy 
region of Ceylon (in the track o£ the monsoons) 
have not lessened the averaga rainfall over such 
region the thousandth part of an inch. The 
culture of the ground, too, enabliiig it to 
absorb much of the moisture which falls, liaa 
largely prevented floods, which, however, oc- 
curred at intervals in a very formidable faehion, 
when the forest stood unviolated by the woodman's 
axe. The forest existed in luxuriance on the 
mountains and plains of (he south-west portion 
of Ceylon, because the region was rainy. In the 
dry and arid parts of the country forest was 
and is either absent, or stunted and peculiar, 
according to quality of soil and contiguity to 
rivers, streams, canals or tanks. We doubt if the 
afforestation of such dry and arid regions, however 
desirable it may be,— and most desirable it is. — 
will increase the actual rainfall by a decimal of an 
inch. But apart from their value, otherwise, forests 
conserve such moisture as may he deposited or 
may exist, and fo they modify temperature and 
the conditions of climate generally. Let forests 
be judiciously conserved and judiciouply extended, 
by a:l means, therefore ; but let there be no 
extravagant expectation that the great dynamical 
laws of nature can be revolutionized by man's 
puny efforts. Forest is plenti'ul because rain is 
plentiful, but the converse of the proposition is 
not true. Plentiful rain will not follow abundant 
forest. Over a large portion of Ceylon and much 
larger portions of India, natural forest is scarce 
or absent, because of the paucity of rain. To 
produce forest artificially in such regions is difQoult 
but not impossible. Success will secure many 
beneficial consequences : amongst the rest economy 
of moisture by reducing floods and evaporation. 
But we are utterly sceptical as to any appreciable 
inerease of the deposit of rain from the Btmosphere, 
by any process of afforestation which can be car- 
ried out. 
Indian Tea in Paeis.— Mr. Thomas Lough* tells 
me, says the corresf ondent of a contemporary, that 
the experiment of opening a tea pavilion in Paris 
has suoopeded beyond all his anticipations. Two 
more establishments are about to be started by 
the same enterprising company, one in the Champs 
Elystes, midway between the Palais de 1' Industrie 
and the Ara de Triomphe, and the other on the 
Boulevard Bonnes-Nouvelles, the centre of the 
theatre quarter. It is gratifying to find that the 
fastidious Parisians are taking so kindly to Indian 
tea. Did I ever tell you about a curious remark 
made to me by a Frenchman in Paris a few 
mon'hs ago? We were talking about the growth 
of tea drinking in the gay capital. My friend 
observed, " Oh yes, I drink tea and like it, but 
I am not like you English, / don't drink it with 
my dinner V This gentleman was the leading 
official in a wellknown banking house, near the 
Place de I'Opera, and pridfld himself on his 
knowledge of our v/a.ys— Madras Timea. 
' Whose prooeeuing do net fiua favour iu Oeylou. — 
Ed. T.A. 
The Government Coffee Crop this year for Java 
is estimated at pikola 351,268. — Singapore Free Press. 
Tannin Writing Ink.— Dissolve 15 drams tanoin 
in 17 < z5. water (Ch. & Dr.), add a m xture of 1 oz. 
10 per cent, s ikuion ot percbloriiie of iron, 12 drops 
fulptiuric acid, and 12J ozs. water, dissolve in this mix 
ture 5 drams of deep black dye. — E. — Pharmaceutical 
Era. 
Teeatment of Ingrown Nail. — Da. Purckhauer 
{Therapeutic Gazette, Am. Jour. Med. Science) raoiRtens 
the surtiice of the diseased nail with a lukf-wanii 
40 per cent, solution of caustic po'ash and then 
Stripes ofFthe softened upper layer with a sharp-edged 
piece of glass. A.fter a second iipplication tho scraping 
is continued until the nail is as thin as a sheet 
of pipe-. It is then lifted up from the soft parts 
with forceps and the di.sea^ed parts are excised. 
— Phar'naceuticat Era. 
Tea at £30 per Pound. — Of course there is no 
reason why tbere sbould be auy limit to the price 
offered for g:old(-n-tip tea if the buyers think that by 
spending their money that way they get more fun 
from an advertisemtiut point of view. As mentioned 
last week by our Commis-ioner in the Line, a little 
box of tea weighiug 5 lb. net, and oontaining silver- 
leaf flowery Pekoe, from the Kellie Eiftate in Oeylon, 
was sold on Thursday at £30 per lb., or equal to 
about 37s per ounce. Tho lot was knocked down to 
Messrs. Hawes ^ Co., tea brokers, who bought it for 
Mr. Owen Eil wards, dealer, of King William Street.— 
//. and 0 Hail. 
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