December i, i8qo.] 
THE TROPICAL AQRICULTURfST. 
463 
Trusting the ventilation of this subjeot may prove 
more profitable than iny experiments in the ventila- 
tion of the soil, I am, sir, your obedient servant, 
PERVERT. 
[We shall look for an expression of opinion by 
other practical men who have had experience in 
“ forking.” — E d. T. 
THE WATCH COMPASS. 
Deae Sir, — I think the Yankee who taught us 
the use of the watch as a compass was a genuine 
son of his country, and wise as well as ’cute. To 
dwellers in northern latitudes the sun is always 
south at noon, hence his selection of the south 
point. The one thing to be guarded against is — 
not to hold the watch horizontal, but so that the 
hour-hand points directly at the sun. In northern 
countries the sun is never vertical, and therefore 
tliere the watch could never be “ made to point 
upwards directly towards the sun, and made to 
revolve round the hand <S:o., &o.” In sub tropical 
countries, however, this is possible and readers the 
watch of little value as a compass in March and 
April, and in September and October or until the 
sun attains a sufficient north or south declination 
to throw a shadow of the hour-hand on to the 
watch face. It is this shadow which guides the 
observer in holding his watoh, and enables him 
to find approximately all the points of the compass. 
The watch will thus adjust itself to the plane of 
the sun’s daily path. In Ceylon from April to 
August the hour-hand should bo made to point 
directly atoay from the sun as indicated by its 
shadow. At least it is but approximate and does 
not show mean noon, but so far as it goes it is 
an interesting fact, and may often be useful. The 
rim of the watoh face, when held as directed, is 
a small circle concentric to the plane of the sun’s 
daily path ; or, when laid flat, concentric to the 
horizon. Hence, when seeking an “explanation,’' 
I imagined the offing reduced to the size of the 
watoh, or the watoh face enlarged to the size of 
the offing. But by keeping the hour hand point- 
ing to the sun (as it must be for correct results 
in all latitudes above 25°N) the sun’s motion is 
seen to be quite regular. ASTRO. 
Coffee. IN the Neilgherbies. — The 3Iadras Mail 
article on coffee planting in these hills remarks 
that the coneumption by the natives of India is 
increasing, and if it becomes general the local price 
of coffee must rise considerably. It will appear that 
the prospects of ocffee cultivation in India on 
good soil are encouraging. The only country in 
which it seems possible to cultivate coffee more 
ecnomioally than in India is Africa, but com- 
petition from that quarter must take time. — 
pioneer. 
Agriculture a “ Mercantile Undertaking.” — 
In connection with the question of a loan under 
the Agriculturists’ Loans Act, which the Collector 
of the Nilgiris had granted to a coffee planter, 
the Board of Revenue recently made the astounding 
statement that the lo.rn had been illegally granted 
under the Act because “the land on which coffee 
is planted does not fall within the designation of 
arable. Ooffes-planting is rather a mercanlile un- 
dertaking than an agricultural operation, and it is 
obvious that any mea-ure which would tend to 
make Government a sleeping partner in such a 
mercantile undertaking is undesirable.” It is satis- 
factory to note that Government does not share 
this extraordinary view, and is of the opinion that 
land on which coffee is planted comes within the 
designation of arable land contained in the Act 
in question . — Madras Mail, Nov. 20th. 
Sale of Tea Oompanv’s Shares.— W e hear today 
of the sale of 50 shares in the Yatideria Tea Com- 
pany for 3140— a very fir e price considering that this 
Company is quite a young one and has not yet paid 
a dividend. The shares are KlOO fully paid up, and 
the price paid shows how confident investers are that 
the pos tion of the company is a strong one. The 
first dividend is shortly expected, audit will be a good 
one we believe. — Local “ Times.’’ 
Startling Fibre Statistics.— The American peo- 
p'e are no less profuse in clothing than in food. 
The country is a favored land ia fibre production. 
More than ^300,000,000 is the comfortable sum which 
represents the present fibre product, in the form of 
cotton, wool hemp and flax. There is also experi- 
inentul production of silk, ramie, sisa), jute and many 
others suited to the climate, some of which will ul- 
timately become the foundatiou of industries. More 
tlian half of the material for the cotton factories of 
the world is grown here, and a third of that ia 
manufactured aud mostly consumed at home. If 
65,000,000 people require one-sixth of the cotton 
manufactured in Eu''ope and America for the 
113-^ of nearly 450,000,000 inhabitants of these con- 
tinents, and of tlie millions in India, China, Japan 
and other .jountries oh aining supplies from tlie fact- 
ories of Christendom, the disparity in con.suraptioii 
between th s and other countries must be great 
indeed . — Agricultural Journal. 
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