192 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[September i, 1890. 
211. to 39^ per ton). A rough Agave fibre from Bombay 
(probably repared by hand) was valued last December 
at \5l. to nl. per ton. Mauritius hemp prepared by 
machinery, Furcrcea Giyardca (known as the green 
aloe or green Agave), was valued : good 34?. to 35?. 
per ton ; fair, 33?, per ten ; common 30?, per ton. — 
Proceedings of the Agricultural and Horticultnral Society 
of India. 
« 
Fuel PL.t.NTATioN inMysoiie. — The Forest Depart- 
ment of the Mysore State supplies the Mysore 
State Railway with fuel, and the Inspector-General 
of Forest Plantations, having in view the increasing 
demand of the railway and the mills in the province, 
has made arrangements for maintainig fuel planta- 
tions on a large scale. — Indian Engineer. 
Tea Machineby. — The Commercial Co. in Slave Is- 
land are adding extensively to their engineering estab- 
lishment, by means of extending their workshops 
*c. The work of this particular branch of their busi- 
ness has been steadily increasing owing to the great 
demand for Mr. John Brown’s patent tea machinery 
which has sprung up of late, so much so, that the 
Engineer in charge of the workshop, Mr. W. Pottie, 
is now turning out as many as ten and twelve patent 
dessicators per month, which occupies three European 
Engineers travelling about the tea districts from estate 
to estate supervising the erection of them. — Cor. 
The Price of Land in California. — A writer in 
Bradstreet's, in concluding a senes of articles on the 
various fruit industries of California, has given 
some remarkable figures respecting the price of 
land in that State. At Riverside, which is one of 
the centres of the orange trade, the prices are 
almost fabulous. A choice grove was lately in the 
market there at £600 an acre, and £400 would be 
called an under-valuation. At Pomona, where 
oranges, lemons, peaches, apricots, prunes, and 
nectarines are grown, the upset price for land 
suited for growing fruit is £40 an acre. About 
Tresno, the centre of the raisin production, the 
prices are the same. But when the profits are 
considered these prices are, perhaps, none too 
high. Twenty pound to £50 an acre is the usual 
average, and the cost in labour is very small. The 
3,000 acres under oranges around Riverside last 
year yielded an average of £50 an acre, including 
orchards not yet bearing. One grower in San 
Bernardino county put his case in this way : — “ I 
came to this place in the spring of 1882, purchased 
40 acres of land and planted it all in orange trees, 
and muscat grapes. The third year from planting 
the orange trees bore about £10 worth of fruit to 
the acre, the fourth year about £25 per acre and 
last year the orchard produced £60 per acre. Many 
people are making from two to three times that 
amount.” Another who grows raisins says “My 
20 acres of raisin vines yielded me this year 50 tons 
of raisins, which I sold for £1,000 or £50 an acre. 
I have five acres of orchard the proceeds of which 
I also marketed green for £60, but my trees were 
young, this being the first year of hearing. I do not 
work ray land mysel:, but hire r.li my labour. My 
one Chinaman takes care of the ploughs and culti- 
vat'^R mv foriy acres, and doe; ah the work with 
the exception of harvesting and pruning, when I 
have several Chinamen to help him.” But the 
writer concludes by warning his readers that frud- 
growing on an extensive scale for commercial purposes 
is a pursuit for the wealthy and not for the poor 
man. No land can be got under £20 an acre ; the 
cost of planting is considerable, and then follows a 
period of from three to five years of waiting for the 
first crop. Brains, energy and capital are all needed 
and the chief of these is capital. — London Times. 
[There is a largo market for the fruit close at 
hand, while the competition of foreign fruit is now 
prevented by heavy protective duties.— Eu. T. A.] 
The Use of India-rubber for erasing pencil 
marks was first suggested in or just prior to 1752 
by an academician named Magellan, a descendant 
of the great navigator. — A. F. Press. 
Teasikn are, we understand, losing heavily at 
present, and we have been assured that no more 
picking will take place in the country, owing to the 
discouraging state of the market . — Foochow Echo, in 
China Mail. July 17th. 
How They Raise Bananas in Honduras. — It seems 
that theyplant them there 18 by 18 feet, wbicb is a very 
wide distance apart, and a great waste of land. Here the 
Chinese rarely plant them more than irom s x to eight 
feet apart each way, and produce Irom each hill two 
large bunches annually lor three or four tars. A good 
specimen cf a small Chinese banana patch mayrn w be 
seen opposite Mr. Paul Nmmann’s re-idence on King 
street. They are planted six feet apart, with not a 
missing hill in the entire patch. They allow but two 
stalks to the hill, and when the fruit is ueaily ripe 
•suckers are permitted to grow, so that they are en.bled 
to get two large buuches from each hill every ten or 
twelvemonths. At the end of the lou”hyear, having 
taken off three good crops of from 500 to 600 bunches 
to the acre, they plow up the land and rejilant w'ith new 
roots, generally manuring the ground well before 
plowing. — Honolulu Planters’ Monthly. 
Agricultural Company op M.aubitids. — The an- 
nual meeting of the shareholders in this company 
was held at the offices in Change Alley on June 
30th. Mr. J. Longride presided, and in moving 
the adoption of 'the report said the company had 
been very prosperous during the past year, despite 
the state of the sugar market and the exchanges. 
There was scarcely anything in the accounts which 
required notice. Their debenture capital had in- 
creased during the twelve months by about 9,000?. 
The stock of sugar in hand this year only amounted 
to 16,000?., against about 50,000? in the last account. 
Of course that was an asset which they could not 
absolutely estimate, but that which they did form 
on last year’s stock was more than rea ised. There 
was a net profit of 7,599?. for the 12 months, the 
largest ever made. They proposed now to pay a 
final dividend of Is per share, making 10 per cent 
for the year. They would put 2,000? to the general 
reserve, bringing it up to 40,000?. ; 2,000?. to the 
exchange reserve, making the total of that fund 
50,000?. ; and carrying forward 1,993?. Lieut. -Col. 
F. Thurburn seconded the adoption of the rexiort, 
which was agreed to unanimously. — 0. Mail. 
Coolies in Ooorg. — In Conrg the Coffee planters 
have as mnch difficulty in obtaining coolie labour as 
the tea planters have in Assam, .and last year’s cri- 
minal administration threw some'eurious light on the 
caution that has to be exercised in dealing with per- 
verse coolies. Second class Magistrates in the Coorg 
district were some time ago impowered to try cases 
of breach of contract, and the immediate result of 
the increased facilities thus afforded was a marked 
increase in the number of prosecutions of coolies who 
had obtained advances on contract deeds and then 
failed to comply with the terms of their agreement. 
It might bo supno.sc'd, says the Englishman, that the 
justic of these proceedings would cemm ud them- 
selves to the coolies, who do n. t, s a rule, deliberately 
contemplate breaking their agreement.-, a.' rho time of 
.signatuf', but rather yield t ' temptation afterwards, 
when tilings do not look so promising as ‘hey had 
hoped. The Ooorg coolies, however, do not take this 
view of the case. They regard the prosecutions as a 
serious risk attending emigration to the coffee estates, 
and the effects of efforts of the Government to assist the 
planters has been a serious increase in the difficulties 
of obtaining coolie labour. It seems hard to the 
planters that they should be unable to recover advances 
for which no work has been done, yet the fact remains 
that the prosecutions necessary for bringing to justice 
those who offend are likely to defeat the very objects 
which the prosecutors have in view.— Jfhc/rrts Times, 
July 15th, 
