Januarv t, 1892.] 
THr. TROPICAL AQRIOULTUFl!ST. 
483 
to any enterprise conneetp.d with it. The follow- 
me extraot refers to a new venture of thekiod : — 
Th« British North Borneo Development Corpora- 
tion (L'mited) is a new corapnny, with a capital ot 
£300 000, divin'ed into 299,500 Ordinary sba-ea of ±1 
each and 500 Founders' share of ^1 each. The pre.ei^t 
is an issue of 200,000 Ordinary shares and b&O 
Founders' shares, of which 29.650 Ordin^Ty shares and 
S50 Founders' share will be issued as fnlly paitl to the 
vendor in part pavment of the purohaas-money, and 
the balance of 170,350 Ordinary shares are now 
efferpd for subscription, The company has been 
formed for the purpose of acquitin.? and developing 
several concessions of lands and other advantages im 
British North Borneo, at and ne^r Sandakan, capital 
of that country, 
—London Cor. 
THE JAFFNA TOBACCO TRADE AND THE 
GOVERNMENT OF TRAVANCORE 
We quote the following from the Hindu Organ 
We referred at some length, in our issue of the 
28th ultimo, to the wretched plight into which the 
Jaffna toliacco trade with Travancore has been rediioed 
by the Government of that State, reducing the duty 
on Coimbatore tobacco without at the same time re- 
ancinc the duty ou Jaffna tobacco also. Not content 
with the ininry thus caused to the Jnffua tcbaooo, 
that Government, according to recent intelligence 
received here, is now enforcing •without any previous 
notice or warninu', anotlu r new order, equally prejudi- 
cial to the interests of the Jiiffna tobacco. It has 
been the naractico hitherto to store the tobacco im- 
ported into Travancore in the several Government 
baukahalls and to weigh it for duty when it is sold 
and rrmoved away from them. Tlic native Govorn- 
roent now insist that the tob'vo"o Fhonld bo weighed 
inimediatolv after lauding in tbe cnstnms, and that the 
duty should be paid acoordin;,' to this weight, and 
not as heretofore aooording to the weight at the time 
01 its removal from the liflni<Bliall.'i. Tbe Jaffna tobacco 
is prepared here to suit ihe Tr ivancore market, moiE- 
tcned with tea watur, and it will not becmne dry and 
fit for consumption till ntter some months of its landing 
♦here. In the meantime, every bale will be reduced 
several pounds in weight. The merchants are, there- 
fore, Bgitinst cuttom and long; continued practice, nolw 
forced to pay duty for weight which dors not aotu«lny 
exisk at the time of its removal from the Government 
banUuhaUs. JudRing from these proeoedinge, it fcems 
that the Government of Travancore are determined 
to favonr the Ooimbatore to!..iicco at the expense ot 
tbe Jaflfna product The merchants who suffer theRe 
wrongs at the hermit of that Government are IJri-isli 
Bubjects, who have been enticed by the iust and equal 
laws that bad prevailed tb're to invest their all io that 
trad<^, but viho now find themselves in a helpless con- 
dition, those lows being suddenly altered to compafs 
their ruin. Wo feel sure that if the whole case were 
properly tail bofnro the Colonial Government, a 
strong tepreaenfcaf ion will bo sent by tl em to the 
Government of India preti>fltiug sijainst these question, 
able proceedings of the native State. 
SO.AIE ACCOUJ<T OF THE i\LTMEG AND ITS 
CULTIVATION. 
By Thomas Oxlev, Esq., A. B., 
Senior Surgeon of tim Settlement of Piince of H'a/es' 
Inland, Singapore and Malacca. 
(From the "Journal of the Indian Archipelago and 
Kasterii. Asia.") 
((^ovtinued from page 464.) 
But although mauuriua i% the chiclVst clement in 
successful cultivalio:', there are many oiliur matters 
t'ov the Planter to atleud to duriiia; the pv^riod that 
bi< trefs are growing. All bad grasses must \n: care- 
fully kent out. of tli'i vlantat;on, at le.isl from 
between the troei. and the liarni'.css grasses rather 
{■iie,)urageil as Ibey keep tbe surface cool. I have 
seen the retlected rays ot lUc sun I'loui an nncoveriul 
whitish soil, legnlsrly scorch up the letives .iltVough 
the plant was covered Over on two sides and the top 
by the usual artificial shade. The trunk of the tree 
ought to be carcfuUy_ washed with soap and water 
once a jeir to keep it clear ot mos=, this lia.s been 
ridiculed as being a work of supereroga'ion ;— let those 
who tbink po, omit the operation. Pa-asitical plants 
of the genus Loranthus are very apt to attach 
themee'ves to (he branches, and if not removed do 
great injury, in fact if altogether? unattended to, they 
will in time de-troy tbe tree. The enemies ot the 
Nutmeg tree are fortunately not numerous, but they 
have a few; white ants among Ihe number, Iknow 
of no remedy for those but cleanly and good culti- 
vation, they seldom if ever attack a vigorous plant ; 
it i 8 upon the first symptoms of decay that 
they c,:mimen06 their depredations, — their nests may 
surround a tree and their small tunnels pierce the 
earth in every direction about its roots without the 
plnnt giving any indications ot decay, hut whenever 
1 have discovered them in such localities I have 
always endeavoured and often successfully, to dislodge 
th'm by a do'e of a solution of pig dung, an article 
apparently not at all to their taste, although fresh 
cow duug is a strong source of attraction, another 
reason to those I have already given for using this 
latter substance in a perfectly decomposed state when 
it can be well mixed up with the soil, and appears 
no longer to hsve an attraction for those destructive 
insec ts, which cannot be too jea'ou.sly watched, for 
when oace they attack a tree the case is hopeless. 
The first notice a planter has i,s the withering of the 
leaves, and when he comes to examine he generally 
finds it necessary to dia; up and uproot vte plant nt 
once, rather than leave it; as a nidus for tho'e 
voracious depredators; every planter must lay his 
account to Josiug occasional treea by fhem, but ho 
who has his ground clearest and mo?t free of old roots 
and stumpsof treo,3 will lose fewest. There are several 
species of iufects which lay their eggs ou the leaves 
but they are not al! of equal importance ; that which 
manifests itself by the discolorization of the leaf, atd 
the larv;e of which are embedded in the su'istance 
and i.ot 0:1 tlie surface, appears tbe worst, but all 
ought to be csrefuUy watched and removed or they 
rapidly sprtal and cause great htvoo amongst the 
trees. For this purpose it is necessary *o wash the 
leaves with a decioction of Tuba root, and syringe 
them by means of a bamboo with Chunam and wat( r 
of the consistence ot white wash, this adheres to the 
leaves and will remain even after several heavy 
showers giving for the time rather an unsightly 
appearance to the tree, but making amends by cleari.ig 
it of the larvte already aUnded to; another nuisance 
is the nest of the large red ant ; these collect and 
glu9 tbe leaves together forming a cavity for the 
deposition of their Iarv£e. All leaves thus made use 
of turn yellow and die; they do not that I have 
observed otherwise injure tbe tree, but trtes so infested 
do not bear well and the ants hi'e the colleotors 
severely, and indeed any person incautions enough to 
brush against the tree. The best mode of dos'roying 
tliem is to hang a portion ef some animal substmce 
such as the entrails of a fowl or the like to the end 
of a pole, the opposite extremity of which is allowed 
to pas.s through the branches, the ants will run alon^ 
the pole and Collect in immense quantities around the 
bait, when by a lighted faogot they oan be burned 
by thousands This operatio;i repeated a, couple of 
times a day for a week or so, will rid the tree of the 
invaders, their nests should bi brukeu up by the 
collectors as they go their rounds, but ftiis they are 
very unwilling to do seeing that there are few insects 
more roady to revenge themselves, and the coolies 
never fi il of a cool bitui;; whenever they try th'=! 
experiment of disturiiing thi m. I have row made the 
plante- tolerably we'l a.vareof vihtt he has to do a-id 
of m''st of thc^ difficulties be has io enc^Uii'er. I 
shall now endeavour to give some no . ion of the prices 
of labour and material, and spoak of the work best 
dor.e by co-.tract and tli'it which one had better 
perform with the labourers on the estito. 
The first operations of clo'jrin^j giound and digging 
the holes caa be doue more olioaply liy .[{contract 
labor than liy men on month'y hiio, very little 
