167 
September i, 1890.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST^ 
Patent Stone in Penang. — A Penang paper says ; 
“ We understand that the floor of the General 
Hospital has been recently laid with Indian patent 
stone by a representative of the Indian Patent 
Stone Co., Ld., of Calcutta. This new material, 
which is being largely used in India, is composed of 
iron slag mixed with a small quantity of cement, and 
is especially suitable for flooring purposes, having 
a smooth surface and being very hard and durable. 
Among its other advantages are its non-absorbent 
properties, which is so very desirable from a sanitary 
point of view.” — Indian Engineer, July .5th. 
The Height op an Olive Tree is usually 
twenty feet, but it is sometimes as high as fifty 
feet and it reaches an almost fabulous age. One 
lately destroyed at Beaulieu had a recorded age 
of five centuries and it was thirty-six feet in 
circumference. The olive tree is exceedingly pro- 
lific under cultivation ; the fruit yields about 70 
per cent of its weight (exclusive of kernel) in 
oil. Italy is said to produce 33,000,000 and 
France 7,000,000 gallons of oil annually. The tree 
does not vegetate readily beyond 2,000 feet altitude 
or 45 degrees of latitude. — South of India Ohserver. 
Ceylon Tea CJ.sed in the T1ou.se of Commons. 
— Mrs. Florence Fenwick-Miller, writing in the 
Illustrated London News of 28th June, says : — 
An interesting little pamphlet on the culture and 
preparation of tea has just been issued by the United 
Kingdom Tea Company, of 21, Mincing-lane, who have 
recently received the appointment of Teamen to H. R. H. 
the Prince of Wales, incidentally lo is mentioned in 
the pamphlet that tea as supplied to the House of Com- 
mons refreshment-room, a mixture of Ceylon and 
Darjeeling, can be had for no more than two shillings 
the pound. What a change from the prices within the 
memory of most of ns, and yet more from those of a 
century ago 1 It is hard to realise how our ancestresses 
existed without that delightful beverage, which, as Mrs. 
Frank Leslie says, “ the English woma,n regards as a 
panacea for all ills, from headache to heartiche.” Yet 
it is quite certain that when the same tea that we now 
get for two shillings was sixty shillings per pound, only 
millionaires could afford to have “ a good cup ” every 
afternoon. 
Japanese Lacquer. — The wood used in Japan for 
lacquer work is a light coniferous one known as hinol i, 
and is prepared to receive the lacquer in various ways. 
For inferior work it is covered with paper, but in the 
finer qualities of lacquer work paper is not used. The 
wood is tirst carefully smoothed, all joints and im- 
perfections are filled, as with putty, with the raw 
tough lacquer mixed with rice paste, which soon hardens 
so that it can scarcely be cut with a knife. The whole, 
is then covered with .a mixture of interior lacquer 
and coarse yellow powder, and is left a few days in the 
open air to dry, after which it is placed in a moist- 
air closet to harden. A hard, gritty suf.aee is thus 
obtained for the next coat. The next process is to 
cover the whole with two evenly spr -ad coats of 
lacquer mixed with a fine ochre powder, so as to 
get an even, smooth-grained surface for the subsequent 
work. This is rubbed down with a s^oue and the parts 
which are not to leceive any decoration, are ready for 
the finishing application of the lacquer. The other 
parts are covered with two coats of black lacquer the 
fir.st, applied with a broad brush, dries, with a brilliant, 
reflecting surface ; when this is quite hard the second 
coat is applied, and on thi.s the designs are impressed. 
In Waka«a-ware there is no painting or drawing ; the 
white decoration is applied by dropping egg-shell 
powder skilfully by hand liere and there, and other 
designs are produced by pressing various forms of 
leaves on *he soft surface. To get the surface com- 
pletely smooth again is the next rperation, anl then 
a transparent lacquer, e iloured yellow, is applied witli 
the object of affording a yellow ground for the gold 
which is to follow. This is c wered by successive coats 
of the same lacquer until a smooth surface is again 
obtained, beneath which are the gold and decorations. 
— Indian Engineci'. 
Cultivation of Egyptian Cotton. — The cultivation 
of Egyptian cotton is to be tried in the Ludhiana 
district in the Punjab. The Executive Engineer of 
the Division will superintend the expeiiment. — 
Indian Eginecr. 
A New Bark for Cleansing Wool, &c.— At a 
recent meeting of the Linnean Society Mr. T. Christy 
exhibited specimens of the bark of QuillaioL saponaria, 
from Chili. An extract of this bark has been used 
for some time for cleansing silk and wool, and in 
special prepa'-ations for cleaning gloves, &c. It is 
however, stated that it will solidify the hydrocarbon 
oils, even benzoline, and thus insure safe transport 
on a long voyage. The addition of a small quantity 
of citric acid renders them liquid again . — Public Opinion. 
The Sugar Trade of Mauritius. — In hi.s 
report on the Mauritius Blue Book for 1888, just 
issued, Sir J. Pope Hennessy remarks that Mauri- 
tius is, as far as he can judge, the most flourishing 
sugar-producing colony of the British Empire. The 
total value of the exports of the produce of the Colony 
in the year in question was E30,335,545, showing an 
increase of EG, 000, 000 against the previous year, and 
of the total sum R28,754,798 represented the value of 
the sugar exported, including E15,000,000 the values 
of the sugar sold in India, R7, 000, 000 in Australia, 
R2, 000,000 in Cape Colony, R2, 000,000 in the United 
Kingdom, and Rl, 000, 000 in the United States. The 
relative greater prosperity of the sugar trade of Mauri- 
tius compared with that of the West Indian islands is 
partly owing to the Mauritius planters having the com- 
mand of the Indian and Australian markets, which 
are too remote from the West Indies for comnetitiou 
by the planters there. The greater facility for ob- 
taining cooly labour from India is also pro- 
bably an advantage. The most important ecno- 
mic difference between Mauritius and the VVest 
Indies, however, is the fact that nearly all the owners 
and managers of the sugar estates are natives of the 
island in the former case, absenteeism being much 
more characteristic of the West Indies. The great 
fall in the price of sugar in recent years has been 
met by the Mauritius planter, to some extent, by 
means of a prudent reduction of expenses and the 
adoption of improved processes so as to increase the 
yield of sugar from the cane. — II. cf C. Mail. 
Manila Tobacco. — The American Consul at Mani'a 
in the course of a recent report on tobacco cultivation 
in the Phi ippines, remarks that the abandonment of 
the Government monopoly in 1882 gave the trade a 
great stimulus by the investment of private cnpital 
ill it and a more equitable system of dealing with the 
native cultivators. There has therefore been a marked 
increase in the production. Formely each unmar iej 
native was requirred to .set out 4,000 plants a yiar, 
and each married man 8, COO, lhe crop to be de'ivered 
to the officials at a standard price, which was just 50 
per cent, below that now paid. The gross revenue 
received from the mauopoly was about £800,000 per 
annum. At present there is a licence tax of about 
£20 a year for manufacturing tobacco. The principal 
company engaged in the trade now is the Conipania 
General, which owns large tobacco estates, has a 
capital of about three millions st rling, employs 10 000 
hands, and iiroduces 80,000,000 cigar.s, 4')0,000,000 
cigate'-tes, and 5,000,000 lb. of cut tobacco annually-. 
It is a Spanish conqvni,'; there are also two largo 
German firms, six Spanish, and a number of Chinese. 
The best tobacc s come fiom the provinces of Cagayan 
and Isabela, in Luz ni, the annual produce frnm these 
being 60,000 to 1 00 000 tons. The method of cultivating 
and curing differs but little from that followed in 
other tobacco-producing countries. All Manila tobacco 
is made into cigars and cig.aret'es. plug, fine cut, 
or pips tobacco being unknown there. It is classified 
ill .six grades according to the size and quality of 
the leaves. The total area of land under tobacco is 
about 60.000 vems. Last year the total export of 
cigars was 112,074,000, cf which 26,715,000 wi nt to 
Sp in and 17,871, OnO to Great Britain and the British 
possessions. In 1887 the total export araoun>cd to 
121,350 tons, and in 1838 to 181,548 tons. — London Times, 
