564 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [February i, 1892. 
Preservation of Coconut Trees. — Under 
this heading the following Order in Counoil has been 
issued by the Perak Government :— 
Whereas the provisions contained in Government 
notification No. 99 of 25th September, 1888, have 
proved insnfiieient to prevent the destruction of coco- 
nut trees by beetles, the following is added to the 
abovementioDed notification. 1. All owners and occu- 
piers of land in the vicinity of coconut plantations are 
required to burn the dead stems of all palm loaves that 
may been their land, as it is in these stems that the 
beetles generally breed. Further, they are forbicfden 
to accumulate heaps of decaying vegetable matter, old 
attaps, and the refu?e of sugarcane or Indian corn, and 
where these have accumulated they are to take imme- 
diate steps for their removal or destruction, preferably 
by fire. 2. Any person neglecting to comply with the 
provisions of Section 1 of this Order in Oonncil shall be 
liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding SIO for the 
first and not exceeding $50 for a second or subsequent 
offence. 
The Madras Season Reports. — The distress in 
this Presidency is becoming more and more concen- 
trated evei-y week. Chingleput and North Arcot are 
now reported to be out of the area of anxiety, at 
least for the present, and Kurnool, Bellary, Anantapnr 
and Cuddapah have taken thoir place. The season 
telegrams in last night's Gazette for the week ending 
the 12th inet. report heavy falls of rain ia Tanjore 
and South Arcot, and good falls in Trichinopoly, 
Ohingleput, eastern parts of North Arcot and sauthern 
portions of Nellore. And since these reports woro 
sent in we learn that large amounts of rain have 
been registered all rcund Maiiras and down south, 
that many tanks in North Arcot, Chingleput end 
Nellore have now a full supply, while most of the 
rest have a fair supply. The rain, however, did not 
extend far inland, and drought is now being severely 
felt in many parts of the centrB,lly situated districts. 
In Kurnool, Bellary and Anantapur the dry sowings 
up to November were 768,000 acres deficient. Cattle, 
too, are now suffering severely in Bellary and 
Anantapur. Prices have further risen during the 
week. Last Wednesday we showed how dangerously 
high they were, and we regret to observe that tho 
scarcity rate for rice has now been reached in 
Vizsgapatam, and for dry grains in Nellore, Kurnool 
ftad Salem. Curiously enough, there continues to be 
a decrease in the numbers on relief works and in 
famine kitchens, but when relief operations have been 
thoroughly started in the Ceded districts wo may 
expect large and sudden iocreaees. — M. Mail, Deo. 16. 
Public Companies and Estates in British 
North Borneo. — To Mr. Henry Walker, Commissioner 
of Lands, we are indebted for an interesting return 
BO entitled. Of the 28 companies the British North 
Borneo Company is beyond all compare the most 
important, with 2 milltonB sterling of capital, and 
20 millions of acres of land, — that is to say 5 
millions beyond the area of Ceylon I This Company 
will of course take ap all possible enterprises. 
The rest are all tobacco companies, excepting one 
lor gold mining, one for mining rights and planting, 
two for hotel and stores, two for planting, saw- 
mills, Ac, and one various. Thero is no coffee, 
tea or cacao company : all save those mentioned 
are tobacco companies. Tobacco shows tho same 
preponderance in the lists of private estates. Of 
45 in the Myburgh district two are for timber, 
two various, leaving 41 for tobacco. In Darvel 
Bay 6 estates all grow tobacco. In Alcock Pro- 
vince thero are 10 estates, all tobacco, except one 
Liberian coffee and one coffee iind cacao. In 
Dewhurst Province 6 estates all grow tobacco, and 
60 with 12 estates in Martin Province. This being 
BO we are not surprised to find that the names 
of the managers are nearly all Dutch and German : 
there is little more than a score of English names 
to fully three score foreign. The tracts ot land 
monopolized by companies and individuai:J are 
enormouB, ranging after tho 20 millions of the I 
great Company, from 60,000 acres downwards. The 
smallest acreage held by any public company is 
3 577. One holding of 300 acres for Liberian 
coffee looks quiie exceptional amongst the big 
figures. We trust British North Borneo will prosper, 
although at present the British element does not 
preponderate in the enterprise of the colony, , 
A French Duty on Qkoundnutb. — An article 
which appeared in the Madras Mail on Saturday 
evening, the 5th instant, announcing that a telegram 
hud been received from Franco during the day, to 
the f.ffeot that the Senate had voted a duty of 3 
francs per 100 kilos (210 lb.) on groundnuts and 
gingelly seed imported into France, from any port 
except Pondicherry, caused an immense amount 
of excitement, for a time, and operators in the 
produce, of all classes of the tralBo, rejoiced greatly, 
at the good tidings which were to spoil Madras 
and Ouddalore of their present groundnut and 
gingelly seed export trade, to the great advantage 
of the French port : it was settled, there and then, 
that the whole of the products, in question, 
exported from the Coromandel coast to France 
must, in future, be shipped from Karrikal or 
Pondicherry, while that from Bombay would go to 
Mah6. But the news was too good to last ; and a 
very few hours after the distribution of the Mail, 
the extraordinary news was authoritively contradicted. 
It is true that a duty of 3 francs per 100 kilos 
has been voted by the Senate, but exemption applies 
only when the products are grown on French soil, 
and as there is no space in the Franco-Indian 
territories for producing groundnuts and gingelly 
seed for export, beyond perhaps 10,000 or at most 
15,000 bags per year, the fair capital of French 
India is not likely, therefore, to be much benefited 
by the new import duty. — Car. 
Emigration of Coolies from Ganjam to the 
Indian Tea Districts. — Eeeent articles which we 
have extracted from the Pioneer seems to show that 
the Assam planters are not so favourably situated 
in regard to cheap labour as Mr. Skrine's resolution 
assumed. Northern and Eastern India not being 
equal to thoir, wants, they are now drawing labour 
from Ganjam in the Madras Presidency, where 
diiSculties oppose themselves to recruiting which 
are thus stated in a Memorial to Lord Wenlook : — 
We, the undersigned, agents for emigration of coolies 
to the Indian tea districts, beff respectfully to bring 
to your Lordship's notice the great inconvenience to 
which tbe coolies are put, and also the extra heavy 
expenses incurred by us in sending our coolies from 
Gopilpore to Ohatrapore or Berhampore for registra- 
tion. On the 21st of February labt, we applied to 
E. C. Johnston, Esq , O. S., Protector of Labourers, 
to forward our appeal to your Lordship's Government 
to allow registration to be done at Gopalpore, the 
port af embarkation, but the concession was not granted. 
We take this opportunity of approaching your Lordship 
with this our appeal to grant us the concession asked 
for, namely that an office of registration may be 
extended to Gopalpore, as the coolies have to travel 
thirteen miles each way, in all a distance of 26 miles, 
for registration at Cliabrapore, at which place rfgis- 
trationis more expe litioucly done than at Berhampore. 
We would alfo point out to your Excellency the dis- 
advantage to emi.sraiils, especially w omen and children, 
hsving to travel 26 miles, and their inability on such a 
journey to obtain properly cooked food previous to 
their undertaking a sea voyage to Calcutta. This state 
of matters is the more to be regretted, seeing that emi 
gration is increatiog every year, and that thousands 
of coolies are expected to emigrate from Ganjam during 
the current recruiting season. If deemed necessary, 
we are willing to pay cost of or fees for any extra 
estabhshment Government may think necessary for 
registration at Gopalpore. In conclusion, we fervently 
hope that your Excellency will take our humble petition 
into kind consideration. Gopalpore, Ganjam, Nov. 1891. 
