I2S 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST- 
[August i, 1890 
Bennett on Tea as Indigenous to Ceylon. 
— “ Old Eesideot ” writes : — ‘‘ As it is highly 
improbable that even as a garden plant the 
true tea existed at Batticaloa, it does not seem 
likely that Crawford could have sent Bennett 
a specimen of real tea in flower, or that Bennett’s 
sketch was made on such a specimen. The strong 
suspicion is that instead of sketching Crawford’s 
specimen he copied a picture of the true tea plant 
and then wrote positively of its existence in Ceylon.” 
Java: The Export of Tea from Java is 
officially reported as follows ; — 
lb. lb. 
1882 ... 5,900,400 1886 ... 7,385,400 
1883 ... 5,852,000 1887 ... 7,036,800 
1884 ... 5,572,600 1888 ... 7,477,800 
1886 ... 5,328,400 1889 ... 7,682,400 
Java does not therefore make much progress as a 
tea-producing country, and her tea is also of poor 
quality still, notwithstanding the introduction of 
late years of good Assam seed, and of machinery 
for preparation. 
Irrigation and Sanitation. — A n interesting 
point m the recent report of Colonel Skipwith on the 
irrigation of the North-Western Provinces is the result 
of a deputation made last January to examine the 
country between the Bast Kali Nadi and the Burh 
ganga, in order to ascertain, as far as possible, the ex- 
tent the saturation level bad been raised by the Pateh- 
garh Branch Canal, and to report on the measures 
necessary to relieve the land suffering from swamping. 
The report, which is now in the Press, ought to be of 
general as well as special value, for the problem of 
which it treats is one of the most difficult with which 
the irrigation authorities have to deal. Thqre are 
many districts where a succession of dry seasons would 
bring starvation on thepeople were they not served'with 
canal water, but where, also, if canals be constructed and 
there come one or two seasons of excessive rain, the 
land becomes water-logged, and fever and sickness are 
stimulated. The construction of canals being neces- 
sary, the question is how to keep down the water-level 
in rainy seasons. The problem is mainly one for 
drainage experts to settle, but the solution is of the 
greatest importance to the cultivating community. 
^Indian Engineer, May 31st. 
Edel Consumption on Indian Eailways. — One of 
the heaviest items in the working expenses of Indian 
Eailways has been that of fuel and consequently 
the railway authorities have endeavoured from time 
to time in every possible way to reduce this ex- 
penditure. Mr. 0. E. Phipps, the Acting Locomotive 
Superintendent of the Madras Bailway, has recently 
devised a means of securing economy in fuel ex- 
penditure, and his experiments in this direction on 
three of Sharp Stewart’s engines hauling the mail 
trains during the past few months have been com- 
paratively successful. Mr. Phipps’ expedient consists 
of a small masonry arch of fire bricks of the 
thickness of three bricks, erected on brass plugs 
just underneath the last row of tubes of the engine, 
in the copper fire-box of the locomotive, as also 
the provision of a double damper. The result of this 
is that the heat which heretofore passed off quiokly 
is now thrown back by the arch and re-utilised 
before quitting the engine’s fire-box ; and as a 
resultant the consumption of fuel is less. After 
some further experiments Mr. Phipps it is under- 
stood, will take out a patent. But not alone on 
locomotives has Mr. Phipps’ attention been engaged 
in regard to the consumption of fuel but also in 
respect of stationary engines at the Perambore 
Workshops. Hitherto the saw-dust from the saw 
mills at the workshops was either given away or 
sold for a trille. Mr. Phipps is now utilising the 
saw-dust lor fuel in a stationary engine at the shops, 
and has succeeded in raising with it 80 lb. of steam, 
a quantity sufficient to work the saw mills there. — 
Indian ilnginaar, June 7 th. 
North Borneo Tobacco. — The report of the 
Labuk Planting Company, Limited, to be laid 
before the first ordinary general meeting of its 
shareholders at Hongkong on the 5th, slated that 
250 fields were under cultivation for this year’s 
crop, which is expected to be large and good, 
provided the weather prove favourable. — Straits 
Times, May 18th. 
Nithe Deposits. — Caves containing deposits of earth 
with from 4 to 30 cent, of calcium nitrate and 5 to 60 
per cent, of calcium phosphate are common in Venezuela 
not only in the littoral mountain chains, but also on the 
flanks of the Cordillera of the Andes. In these deposits 
are embedded remains of mammali«n bones, preserving 
their form, but so friable as to fall to powder when 
they are extracted. They consist solely of calcium 
phosphate ; the gelatine has been nitrified and dis- 
solved out, and the calcium carbonate of the bone has 
been used up in neutralising the nitric acid produced. 
The nitric ferment is found in abundance throughout the 
deposits in a very well-developed form. Some of these 
deposits are ten metres thick.— /oar. Soc. CJievi. Tnd, 
Cotton Growing amongst the Don Cossacks. — 
The persistance with which Eussia struggles to 
make the country self-contained and the people 
a self- sustained one is a phenomenon which has 
long been noted, and to the permanence of which 
contributory evidence of the most recent date is 
seldom wanting. Our Consul at Taganrog reports 
that trials were made during the past year’s season 
for growing cotton in the Don Cossack territory, and, 
as the results received were very favourable, further 
experiments will be made by members of the Agri- 
cultural Society during the present year. It thus 
appears that Eussia has by no means abandoned her 
intentions in these districts ef her widely extended 
territory. — Textile Mercury. 
Cadbdonian Balsam. — At a recent meeting of the 
French Socidte de Therapeutique, Dr. Borne called 
attention to the advantages presented by a prepa- 
ration that he had named “ baume oalddonien,” 
and which appeared to consist of a solution of 
Kauri gum in an equal weight of 90 per cent 
alcohol. He stated that it had been used with great 
success in the treatment of wounds and ulcers of 
all kinds. When applied to a well cleansed and 
dried wound it causes a very slight, but brief 
sensation of burning, but after a few moments the 
solvent evaporates, and the resin is left as a very 
adherent varnish, which is not affected by friction 
or contact with water. The preparation can also 
be used advantageously for fixed bandages in the 
place of the soluble silicate. It was also said to be 
superior to tincture of benzoin for the obturation 
of the cavities in carious teeth. Lastly, a liniment 
made with equal quantities of baume caledonien and 
olive oil was recommended as an application to 
burns. — Oil, Paint and Drug Reporter, 
Notes on Agriculture in Balasoee. — Wild Paddy, 
— Mr. Oleghorn presented a drawing of wild paddy, 
which is very common in Orisa where it constitutes a 
serious evil. It flowers at the same time as the cul- 
tivated kinds, and appears to cross fertilize them to 
such an extent, that in a few years the cultivators 
have to import fresh stock from other districts. The 
wild paddy is not readily distinguishable from cultivated 
kinds in appearance, but it sheds its seeds so readily 
that it cannot be harvested; and this peculiarity is im- 
parted to the kinds which it cross tertihzes. When 
importing fresh stock the cultivators select kinds with 
stems of a different color to that which they had in cul- 
tivation. Thus assuming that a light colored stem 
paddy has been cultivated, and deteriorated from cross 
fertilising ; the stock chosen is dark stemmed, when tliis 
in turn deteriorates, light stem kinds are reverted 
to the difference in color being of material assistance 
in weeding out undesirable kinds. As Mr. Oleghorn 
has left Balasore, members on the spot will be asked 
to further investigate the subject, — Agricultural o,nd 
ILorticultuvul Sociclg of India, 
