844 
THE TROPICAL AGRlOULTUKlST. [May 2, 1892. 
there were other and very valuable products of 
which the world's supply just now was really 
less than the demand, for which Peru 
was evidently most admirably fitted, notably for 
coffee and cacao; and I was quite sure that when 
ttie Oeylon and Indian planters read the Report 
(shortly to appear, of my friends Messrs. Eoss 
and Sinclair who had learned planting in Ceylon — 
the best school in the world for tropical agri- 
culturist — before I reached the island, that the 
interest of many of them would be awakened, in 
respect of cofiee eepeeially. For coffee in Ceylon 
and India has failed and is failing, as also to a 
great extent in Java, and even in Brazil the top 
of the tide seems to have been reached, while 
there was evidently a preat field for this product 
and others equally profitable in Peru- I could not 
but look forward, therefore, with great interest to 
the financing and development of planting opera- 
tions in the wide, rich forestlands along the Peru 
vian tributaries of the Amazon. 
Both Mr. Boss and myself were well received. 
Mr. Watts, a practical Wiltshire farmer who 
had been in Peru, came next with most valuable 
testimony to the great value of live stock m that 
country. 
The meeting concluded with an interesting fpeech 
from Mr. Maekham proposing and conveying the 
thanks of the meeting to the lecturer. He men- 
tioned that Mr. Pezet's grandfather was one of 
the foremost patriots of his day and indeed fell 
a martyr to the freedom of his country. 
I had the pleasure afterwards of being introduced 
to Mr. Markham, with some pleasant talk during 
which I ventured to urge that he should use his 
official influence to make known the great value 
of cheap quinine for use among the millions of 
China, especially among those who were enslaved 
to, or using, or be^^inning to acquire the taste for, 
opium. He agreed that something had to be done 
in this direction, though gradually the use of 
quinine was being extended through the Treaty 
Ports in China. 
In this connection I have to mention that Mr. 
EoBB has been elected an Honorary Member of 
the Royal Geographical^ Society of Lima. 
CINCHONA CTILTOBE IN EC0ADOK. 
I had an enquiry from the Colonial Office the 
other day for information respecting " Cinchona 
in Oeylon," made on behalf of the President of 
EoLg dor, I referred the authorities to our pub- 
lications—the "Cinchona Planters' Manual," • Hand- 
book and Directory " and Tropical Agriculturist ; 
but chancing to lay my hands on one of my " Agri- 
cultural Reviews " reprinted from the Handbook of 
1888, I added to it the latest statistical informa- 
tion and sent it on as the best means of at once 
showing the Ecuador President the foolishness of 
attempting the cultivation of cinchona at the 
present time. In acknowledgment of the little 
book, I have the following : — 
Downing Street, March 7th, 1892. 
Sill, — I am directed by Lord Knutsford to thank you 
for the copy of your " Iloview of the Planting and 
Agricultural luduBtrioa of Ceylon " which you have 
been HO good aa to Boud to this office with the figures 
relating to cinchona planting corrected to date. 
The book has been sent to the li'oreign Office for 
tranHmiKHion to the Prcsidoit of Ecuador, who has 
exprcHHod a winh to receive any reports or statistics 
bearing on the subject. — I am, sir, your obedient ser- 
vant, EuwAtiu Eaim'ield. 
Johu EcrgUHOU, iihiq. 
Quinine-making in Ecuadoe.— In South America, 
according to a French report, the first step has 
been taken towards the manufacture of quinine on 
the spot, M. Manuel Jijon has set up a factory 
at Quito, which supplies the whole of Ecuador, 
and has begun to export a product which has a 
very good appearance. The sulphuric acid necessary 
is manufactured on the spot from native sulphur.— 
Chemiat and Druggist. 
Aqeicdltdral Advancement in Lower Peeak. — 
An Acbb op Jungle okth $250 in Three Yeaks.— 
We hear that an acre of land in Teluk Anson 
was sold the other day for |250 hard cash. This 
land was allotted by the Perak Government to an 
Indian immigrant brought over at Government 
expense, and was all jungle three years ago. The 
man arrived in Perak penniless ; he is now worth 
$250, less the amount he repaid to Government aa 
advances. This is another instance of the result 
of the care and energy displayed by the Lower 
Perak auihorities in the matter of agricultural ad- 
vancement, and is a proof that Indians as agrioul- 
turiets will do well if looked after. We also learn 
that about 1,300 acres of land, in the same district, 
have recently been taken up by Chinese and Malays 
for padi planting, and that operations on them 
will shortly ocmmence, — Pinang Gazette, March 25. 
Speaking at an .Agricultural College in England 
the other day, the Rev. Canon Bagot made some 
interesting remarks upon the subject of milk. He 
eaid that he was a specimen of a man who had 
been brought up on skim milk. He never tasted 
a drop of pure milk from the time he was one 
year old until he was fifteen. It was skim milk 
for breakfast, for dinner, and for supper, along 
with oatmeal porridge, and potatoes, and, sometimes 
a bit of meat. Skim milk was more suitable for 
infants than whole milk because it contained less 
fat. Yet m London hundreds of gallons of skim 
milk were daily poured into the sewers because 
people would not buy it. A factory had, however 
been started for making laotite, a smbstance resem- 
bling ivory, from skim miik. The water was 
expelled from the milk, and the solid matter was 
first compressed and then turned in a lathe into 
various shapes. The numerous dairies that are 
being started all over India, and notably in Bombay 
as the result of the travelling Dairy Exhibition that 
visited this country a year ago, might take the 
hint if they have difficulty in disposing of their 
separated milk," — Indian Agriculturist.,, 
The Tea Districts of Cachar and Assam 
are not favourable for railway construction. Sir 
Bradford Leslie, in his paper on Indian Bridges, 
remarks : — 
Further to the eastward are the fertile districts of 
Assam and Cachar, which for many years to come 
must be served from the railway system of the rest 
of India by the great Brahmapootra river. With the 
hills in close proximity on either side, and with » 
very heavy rainfall, the rivers of these districts are 
numerous and formidable ; the plains are covered with 
a network of creeks and water-oonrees, which make it 
a very amphibious sort of country in the rainy season. 
Should it become neceBsary in' the future to carry land 
commnnications across the Ganges or Brahmapootra 
rivers in Lower Bengal, the question will arise 
whether tniireUing may not be cheaper than bridging. 
In the case of a tunnel, a great portion, if not the 
whole length, would have to be made through perme- 
able strats. Any permanent; structure for crossing 
these rivers involves the necessity for fixing and 
controlling its ccuree at the site of the structure. 
Although not impossible, this might prove a costly 
undertaking, and it therefore seems probable that the 
present system of working the railway traffic across 
the lower reaches of the Ganges and the Brahmapootra 
by ferries must continue.-'/ncfw Engmer, 
