620 
THE TROPICAL AQRICULTURiST. 
[March i, 1892. 
put before the banana' growers of the WsRt Indieti' 
who send thousands of pounds w orth of this fruif (o 
Eugland each year, any system which will do for tl^e 
bananas what is now done for tlia fig, the grape, or 
the Ccrinth, commonly koown as " dried currar tfi," 
or who can encoeed in treating th it fruit as well r.a 
peaches, apricots, and prunellas now are, will find 
himself the possessor of a wealth-producinR inven- 
tion. And (he same raiiy bo safely predicted of any 
eysfem which will succeed in putting into the m»fil 
or flour state a fair portion of the marvellous una- 
taining and nourishing powers which makes the 
banana the king among fruits. The imprcvements 
which this century has seen, that lead up from 'ho 
rude mandioca meal of the Br:zi'iau native to the 
beautiful pearl tapioca of commerce, have developed 
for the csigsavs, Manihot utilissima, a foreign 
consQmptioa which now runs high into the millions 
of dollars annually. Tiie same period has seen the 
crude black cacao of the Carribbfes and northern South 
America develop into the chocolate, breakfast rocos, 
and broma of today, and now the tree Theohroma 
cacao Ties with coffee in yielding nourishment and 
producing wealth in many countries. So may it he 
with the banana, if inventive skill will but turn its 
at'ention in that direction. — H, and C. Mail, Jan. 1. 

THE TAMBKACHERY ESTATES 
COMPANY. 
The tenth annual meeting of the shareholders of 
the above company was held on Monday at the Can- 
non Str^t Hotel E. C. Mr. James Labouchere in 
the chair. The notice convening the meeting having 
been read. 
The Chairman Bubmited the report for adoption. The 
directors reported that the profit and loss account showed 
a loss on the season's working of .€3,166 lis lOd and 
after deduoiiiig the amount brought forward from the 
previous year, £1,147 12-i 41 the beLince carried for- 
ward to the present year's accuuut is £2,016 19s 6r). 
The expenditure of the sessou showed a considerable 
diminution on that of the previous year, and the aban- 
donment of unprofitable land and the reiiuction of 
staff would eual)le the current seitson's outlay to be 
further reduced to about £5,000. The Loudon expenses 
would also bo considerably reduced. Tho directcre 
regretted that their sppesl for the tubscription of 
debentures resulted in applicfitions for £1,600 only, 
and as it was absolutely necessary to pay off the 
balance of loan, £1,750, secure! by the Nclimunda 
Estate, now the most valuable estate of the company, 
they trusted shareholders would at once, in their own 
interest, come forward with further subfcriptions, and 
thereby enable this estate to he included in the 
security for the debentures. To furnish also a little 
working capital, which is imperatively required, 
a further sum of £3,400 should he subscribed, 
and the directors would be glad to receive 
applications. The hopes of the directors, based 
at the time upon actual results, that the 
entire capital of company would by this time have 
been in course of rapid redemption by the proceeds of 
bark alone, had been utterly fahificd by the excessive 
proluction of Ceylon and latterly Java, and there ap- 
peared to be little hope of improvement in prices until 
supplies showed a material falling off. This was 
generally expected to be the case in two or three years, 
and the directors were therefore anxious to keep up 
the planting of cinchonas, particularly Ledgeriauas, as 
far as means would allow, in order to have a reserve 
in band when needed. It was important to utilise 
somo of the spare laud if the company with a view 
to profit, most of it being f'Uiiable for tea. The success 
obtained in Ceylon and Travancore by planting old 
coffee estates with tea, olfered every inducement to 
extend its cultivation in Wyiiaitd, and the directors 
hoped early in tlio cominif yiar to bo in a position to 
place a defiuito scheme before tho Hhareholders. The 
season in BouLhoru India has aRaiii been one of 
abnormal weather. To this oiiuso must be attributed 
some injury to the preKout crop of coffee by heavy 
iftiuB iu July aud hicptember. The first eetim^te of j 
70 tons would not be reslised, and the directors could 
only hope for 60 to 65 tons, and about 135,000 lb. bark. 
"J'he coffee had beeu fold for errisTsI at 943. per cwt. 
landed terme, and at this price should more than cover 
tho outlav of the year, 'leaving the bark available 
against the deficit brought forward. 
The mo'ion for adoption having been seconded by 
Mr. H. Tolpntt, it was agreed to, and the proceedings 
terminated with the usual vote of thanks.— AT. and 
C. Mail, J an. 1. 

USEFUL FOR HOUSEKEEPERS. 
TABLE or MEASURES. 
Two pepper spoonfuls make one salt spoonful. 
Two salt spoonfuls one coffee spoonful. 
Three teaspoonfuls one tablespoonful. 
Four tablespoonfuls one wine glass. 
Two wine glassfuls one gill. 
Two gills one cupful. 
Two oupfuls one pint. 
Twenty-five drops of liquid make one teaspoonful. 
One tablespoonful of salt one ounce. 
One tablespoonful (heaping) of brown or granulated 
sugar one ounce. 
Two tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar one omice. — 
Florida Agriovl twist. 
The jarrah wood of Western Australia has lately 
been ooming ini;o great favour in Europe, principally 
for street paving purposes. Jarrah is a good wood 
as hard and durable as oak, and it will be found 
of use in other ways than for the laying of 
streets. It has a deep rich colour, something like 
mahogany or very old oak, and is very suited for 
carviiag and panelling. There is only one other 
wood at the Antipodes which is superior to it— ■ 
the Fijian vest, but this is comparatively scarce 
and hard to get at. It grows abundantly enough 
in the thick forests on the large island of Vanua 
Levu. — Colonies and India, Deo. 26th. 
Winding up of the Ceylon Tobacco Com- 
pany, {Ltd.): "Ending in Smoke"? — As a sombre 
contrast to the bright and cheerful reports of the 
various Ceylon tea companies published from time 
to time, the report of the [un] " happy despatch" 
of the tobacco company is startling. Personally 
we are no believer in tobscoo culture: we object to 
fertile soil being rendered barren that men may 
puff smoke in their neighbours' faces and taint 
the pure air of heaven. We cannot affeot grief, 
therefore, at the collapse of the attempt to grow 
the natcotio on a large scale. But really it was 
not grown on a large scale ; its cultivation according 
to the figures being so small in proportion to 
tea and other products that the name of To- 
bacoo Company seems inappropriate. Cooonuts, 
Liberian coffee, tea and cacao preponderated ; 
and with so much cultivation and so much valu- 
able land, the mismanagement which has ended 
in the necessity of winding up must on the part 
of the Manager or the Directors or both have been 
lamentable and discreditable. The esse i? a dis- 
grace to the colony and calculated to injure its 
interests. The blame therefore ought to be definitely 
fixed on some person or persons, and not left to be 
vaguely inferred. Mr. Borron's absurd theory, that 
Directors can be personally estimable and yet 
blameahle for such discreditable consequences as 
have resulted from what ought (tobacco out of the 
question) to have been a successful enterprise, will 
not bo accepted. Did Mr. logleton do justice to 
the interests entrusted to him ? If not what sur- 
veillance did the Directors exercise ? In view 
of the extraordinary report, people will be sure 
to ask such c|[uestioiiB. 
