November i, 1890 .I 
THE TROPTOM- At3Rmt51.TUmST. 
381 
To brighten carpets, wipe them with warm water 
in which has been poured a few drops of ammonia. 
One or two tablespoonfuls of ammonia added to 
a nail of water will clean windows better than soap. 
A few drops in a cupful of wann water, applied 
CBrefully, will remove spots from painting and chromo->. 
Grea.se spots maybe taken out with weak ammonia 
in water ; lay soft white paper over and iron with 
a hot iron, , . , , , • ■ -i. 
When acid of any kind gets on clothing, spirits 
of ammonia will kill it. Apply chlorofo-m to re- 
store the color. . v. • v.*. 
Keep nickel, silver ornaments, and mounts bright 
by rubbing with woolen cloth saturated in spirits of 
ammonia. , , , u 
Old brass may be cleaned to look like new by 
pouring s'rong ammonia on it, and scrubbing with 
a scrub brush ; rinse in clear water. 
A tablespoonful of ammonia in a gallon ot ''arm 
water will often restore colors in carpets ; it will 
also remove whitewash from them. ^ 
Ye'low stains left by sewing machine oil, on white, 
may be removed by rubbing tlm spot with a cloth 
wet. with ammonia, before washing with soap* 
Equal parts of ammonia and turpentine will take 
paint out of clothing, even if it be bard and dry. 
Saturate the spot as often as nocessaiy, and wash 
out in toap suds. . . , 
Put a teaspoonful of ammonia in a quart of water, 
wash your brusbe.s a* d combs in tliis, and all grease 
and dirt will disappear. Kinse, shake, an I dry in 
the sun or by the tire. 
If those who perspire freely would use a little am- 
niouia ill >hs water tliey bathe in every day, it wouM 
keep their flesh clean and tweet, doing away with 
ai.y disagreeable odor. 
Flannels and blankets may be foaUed in a pail ot 
water containing one tablespooni ul of animouia and 
a little suds. Rub as lirllo as possible, and will be 
will e and clean and will not shrink. 
One teaspooiiful of aniinonia to a teacupful of 
water will clean gold or silver jewellery ; a few drops 
of clear aqua ammonia rubbed on the uiidorside of 
diamonds will clean thorn immediately, 'iiiaking them 
very bril’iant . — Scientific Anieyicau. 
THE MODEL DUKE ESTATE, 
TAVOY, BURMA. 
Dear Sir, — In your paper of the 5th irstaut I see 
you have written a long leader on '' Exotics,’' which 
does your paper great credit, aiul will be read with 
interest by all those interested in new products. 
But you have been led into a mistake by the report 
on the experimental cultivation in Mergui, who li I 
shall be much obliged to you if you will correct. You 
say in your first paragraph that you cannot alb w i he 
fact of the iKst Tea being prnduced in low. r Tenas. 
eerim, by the officers of the Forest Department;, to 
pass unnotice.d. Now, 1 beg to inform you that the 
172 plants remaining in the Mergui garden were made 
a present of by me to the “ Local Government,” through 
Mr. Palmer, then in charge of the Mergui garden. I 
gave over 300 splendid hybrid plants to Mr. Palmer 
in July 1881), and the remaining 173, are what have 
succeeded to grow, with the treatment they have 
received since ! In October 1885, I got two niannds 
of Tea seed from Seaforth, Ceylon, a place opened 
up and planted by me. 
The seed was selected from the finest trees on Sea- 
forth and forwarded on here by Sir Graeme Elphin- 
stone to me, so that I know 1 have the best liybiid 
that could be produced in /ndia, as I myself got th« 
Seaforth Tea seed from there. This I shall prove to 
you by facts. 
All the same, the greatest credit is due to Mr. 
Palmer, aud Capt. now Major, Butler, who fir.-.t started 
the garden. Capt Butler first started a sm.ill place 
ou his owu account, which drew the attention of Sir 
Charles Bernard when down there. Capt. Butler pro- 
uoed good tobacco, '• Coffee Arabica,” and had a few 
arieties of other products, wliicli drew the attention 
f Uni worthy Chief Commissioner, and when he saw 
what scuccess Capt. Butler had attained, he gave a 
grant at once to start on Government account, on a 
small scale, so that Capt. Butler had a good 3 years’ 
start ahead of me here. 
When I came here Mr. Palmer took charge of the 
garden and took the greatest interest in it. I went 
down twice to Mergui, when he was in charge, and 
gave him advice what to do, which he carried out 
to the letter, and with good results. Mr. Palmer went 
down and lived for months in the garden and worked 
hard, for which I fear he never got the credit. 
I went down last year and saw the garden ; the 
oldest coffee was simply splendid and bearing a 
heavy crop. The gentleman in charge asked me to 
estimate the same, and I pub it down at the lowest 
figure, viz. 8 cwt. per. acre; but many of the trees 
were bearing a yood rotmd ton per acre. The trees had 
been neglected, and not handled out after last year’s 
crop. Of course this means discredit to no one, as 
oflioers being changed .so often, they do rot know 
better. Planting, like anything else, is very simple 
when once you know it. 
The Liberian Coffee is a decided success. I have 
trees here now feeA hiyh and S7 feet in circum- 
ference. and loaded with a crop of fine bright Jolayen 
resembling a young Jack tree. I have planted up in 
all, in mixed products, 39 acres. I have Liberian 
Coffee, Tea, Dlvi Divi. Annal.to, “ Bixa Orellana,” 
OrotoM Oil trees. Pepper Nigrum, Pepper Cubeb, 
Vaiiila, Rubber ot three varieties viz. Hevea, Oeara 
and the “ Tavoy Rope Rubber,” indigenous to Tavoy 
district, Cocoa, and Jacks of three varieties, viz, 
Penang, hybrid and common. The .Tack is a most 
valuable shade tree, as well as other value in itself, 
also mangoes of different kinds, oranges, lime and 
lemons. Leeches, guavas of 3 varieties, China and 
common plantains of 8 different kinds, also the 
China Banana, coconuts, and betelnut trees, now in 
bearing. Chestnuts just beginning to bear, fine large 
trees of a good kind, “ Cotton ” Pernambuco, or what 
is better known as “ kidney cotton.” One tree gave 
me over 3 lb. ot produce this year ! Cocoa must have 
shade to be a decided success, but this will be over- 
come in time, as the soil and climate are perfection 
for all the products now enumerated. Tobacco I have 
grown from Sumatra seed, and produced a fine, deli- 
cate, well marked leaf. Indigo grows wild in the 
Tavoy district. Cardamoms also grow wild here. This 
.shows that the Tavoy district is to be the “ Eldorado ” 
for planters. Silvestre, formerly Editor of the Indigo 
Gazette, while down here prospecting, found the indigo 
plant growing wild near fS'iadouny and brought some 
in and manufactured a small piece. He took the same 
away with him. Silvestre came here to prospect, 
which I hope to bear more of it soon. 
Coffee, Liberian, is to be one of the greatest suc- 
cesses in this district, and Tea, and rtoco, also Arabian 
Coffee will grow at bislier elevation. I never predicted, 
or said that Arabian Coffee wou'd succeed at a low 
elevation, aud it is onlv a matter of time aud a selected 
variety from India, Mysore. To gain this end we only 
want roads up the mountain sides. I planted about 
7 or 8 acres with Arabian Coffee here, but of 
course I had not sufficient elevation. It grew fine. I 
got the seed from Mr. Petley in the Toungoo Hills, so 
that I might be clear of leaf disease. It gave a good 
crop, in fact too much the second year, and then 
went out. I sent home a hundredweight in 1887 to 
Mr. Marlin Leake in London, aud it was well reported 
u])on and sold at a fair price. 
You will see by this, Mr. Editor, some of the difficulties 
a planter has to contend with in the beginning in a 
new country. No one has any idea of the many losses 
and di-appointments one has to contend with at 
first, even to pet seed in a fit state to plant, often 
rotten before I saw it, seed sent ou to Calcutta, 
from Calcutta to Rangoon, and from thence to here, 
and often delayed en-roufe. 
Wlien the thing is once set agoing there's no more 
such risks and losses. 
The pioneer has the great battle, and .should he 
not succeed in all, he gets all the blame and lots ot 
kicks behind his back. They do not oomo forward 
