94 
THE TROPJOAL AQTOOOT-TOmST. [August i, 1891. 
lime and sulphur cure sufficient to clear an 
estate of the fungus, but :i soon returned and was 
as virulent as ever. Hope for .loffee would, therefore, 
seem to rest in the gradual \7earing out and final 
diBBppearanoe of the disease. — Ed. -4.] 
PLANTING IN PERAK. 
Perak, notwithstanding its productive soil i>nd Buita. 
bility for planting enterprise, shows no great progreaa 
in the cultivation of the ground. The difficulty of 
procuring labour has been a sore hindrance in the 
way, but there is of course some little prospect of 
this check bein^ partly removed if the Straits Govern- 
ment will do anything with the Labour Commission 
report other than pigeouholing it. One great obstacle 
however arises from the short leasehold tenure of the 
land available, and there are other minor discourage- 
ments in the way ot selectors. The Perak Govern- 
ment, to attract pioneering planters, have issued a 
circular, which we published some days ago, throw- 
ing open land on more liberal terms, but ou con- 
ditions which hold good only for the first ten appli- 
cants who can pass master. The chief feature of the 
new departuie lies in the granting of leases in per- 
petuity with no premium and a quit rent of 20 cents an 
acre after ten years free occupation, the area under 
lease being 1,000 acres in one block or in blocks of not 
legs than 500 acres. Tha tenour of the circular infers 
that perpetual leases will be given ouly to the first ten 
approved applicants, but the principle once admitted 
calls for wider application. The privileged tea would 
enjoy an invidious distinction which will only stir bad 
blood. Now that the idea of abort leaseholds has been 
attacked, the Perak Government would best consult its 
interest by makins; the principle of long leasehold of 
universal application. Under perpetual leases with low 
rents, and ample securities against monopoly, the agri- 
cultural land of Perak should attract planters of the 
right stamp. — Straits Times, May 16fch. 
PRECIOUS STONES. 
Large quantities of inferior rubies and sapphires 
always find their way from Siam to Oeylon, the 
dealers generally mixing them with better qualities 
of the same descriptions obtained in the island either 
for export to the London and Paris markets or for 
sale locally. Of late, the so-called alexandrite 
has been introduced here from Siam principally in 
the rough state. This stone (probably chrysoberyl) 
hag all the appearance of the Oeylon alexandrite, but 
it does not display the brilliant red of the genuine 
article when exposed to artificial light. Anyhow I under- 
stand that large sales have been made e,t extravagant 
prioea, and even experts have bee n deceived to some 
extent. The stones find their way to the gem districts 
where dealers from all parts congregate, and are more 
readily purchased undjr the impression that they 
come from the adjoining pits. The home of the 
Ceylon alexandrite is the WeligamaKorale; and hitherto 
all the best finds have been secured from this district 
alone. — Cor 
Sulphate of Copper and Potato Disease.— There 
is no question that the disease may be controlled by 
the use of copper solutions, but, judging from the 
prevalent apathv in such matters, it is questionable 
whether our growers wil think it worth their while 
to take any steps in the matter. In the Reports of 
the Oonnectiout Agricultural Experiment Station we 
find a report of an experiment, in which five rows 
were treated on August 10, other rows remaining 
untreated. The sprayed rows remained gre«n, whilst 
the otheri were dead and black. On September 24, 
■when the tubers were lifted, those which had been 
trea'ed were practicclly free from disease, while the 
others wore considerably decayed. The untreated rows 
yielded 3J bushels per row, those sprayed supplied 6 
\i\iih«\i.— Gardeners' Chronicle. 
CINNAJMON; QUALITY V. QUANTITY. 
The question raised by our Veyangoda correspon- 
dent m Tuesday's (March 3rd) issue, as to the wisdom of 
the policy ot manufacturing fine Cinnamon, after the 
manner that has became fashionable, is deserving the 
serious attention of Proprietors. It is well known in 
the trade that, under the influence of competition, 
quilled bark has become finer and finer for years paet, 
untill now, as many as forty quills of the finest quality 
go to a lb., as against, perhaps, half that number 
between 10 to 15 years ago. The labour of making 
40 quills is, of course, greater than that of making 
20, and the scale of remuneration to peelers has in- 
creased, in some estates at least, in proportion. In 
mofet, however, the maximum rate of 16 cents per lb. 
for the finest quality holds, and the earning.* of the 
peelers — which always seemed to us excessive by the 
light of the prices which their manufactures fetch — 
have decreased. Through the influence of competition 
and of advances, thoy have been obliged to adapt them- 
selves to circumstances, and now practically do double 
work for the old wages. The quesuon raised is not, 
however, one of wages, or of the margin of profit 
left to those who pay high rates to secure fine Cin- 
namon; but of the effect of the system on the property. 
Skill alone cannot produce quills over 3 feet long which 
average 40 to the lb. The bark to be manipulated 
must be fine and tender. Does not the cutting down 
of tender shoots affect the vigour, if not the vitality, 
of the buah, and thus reduce the proiuctiveuess of 
the estate? It is reasonable to suppose that these 
results would follow, though we are unable to say 
whether the estimate of our correspondent is cor- 
rect, that the productiveness of estates has fallen 
off from 20 to 40 per cent within the last 15 to 20 
years. If there has been such a decrease, the ques- 
tion may arise, to what extent fine cutting has to 
answer for it, and to what extent the mode of cultiva- 
tion adopted. Nowhere, so far as we know, is Cin- 
namon regularly manured. All that the bashes receive 
are the leaves and the weeds which are buried. The 
equivalent of the sticks and the bark that are removed, 
seaionatter season, is not returned ; and in these oircnm- 
stancesoonldtheproductiveness of estates be maintained? 
Confining ourselves to the eft'ect of deterioration 
from fine cutting, the financial question is by no 
means as easily disposed of as would be the case with 
products for which there is a growing demand. The 
productiveness of an estate is maintained, not for the 
honour and glory of large crops, but for the larger 
profits it would yield the proprietor. In the case of 
Cinnamon, an appreciable increase in the output of 
the bark — say to the extent of 20 to 40 per cent., 
suggested as the falling off — might prove a very doubt- 
ful benefit. The over production of Cinnamon is a 
fact, and is chiefly responsible for the fall in prices ; 
it is also a fact that the increasing fineness of quills 
has not led to any advance of prices. On the con- 
trary, the finest qualities, which entail double the 
labour in preparation as compared with 20 years ago, 
realise only about a half the prices which the corres- 
ponding qualities fetched then. The lower qualities 
hardly leave any margin of profit. If the abondonment 
of fine cutting should result in larger crops, the 
immediate effect ot an addition of 20 to 40 per cent 
to our Cinnamon exports would probably be a further 
drop in prices by about 20 to 40 per cent. In these 
circumstances, we are unable to say that proprietors 
are doing unwisely in aiming at high prices for their 
crops, instead of endeavouring to main ain a productive- 
ness which would not add to the value of their lands. 
It in quite conceivable that larger exports and still 
lower prices may lead to the abandonment of the worst 
lands; but even if little gardens worked by their 
owners will not always be deemed profitable and 
therefore maintained, the combination to secure 
that end is hardly within the bounds of practical 
politics Abandonment of patches may follow as well 
from the present system. The question discussed, 
however, points to the double disadvantage of Cinna- 
mon cultivation. Its profits are not large, and the 
mode of earning them threatens diminishing profits! 
—Local " Examiner." 
