578 
THr-' TROPICAL AQRiOULTURiST. 
[Februarv 2, 1S91. 
that of cacao : after six most promising years 
during which the trees flourished under all con- 
ditions, a sudden niystn’ioua scourge as bad if 
not worse as the coffee disease has devastated 
the most flourishing plantations, destroying one- 
third of the trees and leaving the balance in such 
a lingering condition that the very small average 
production in place of rapidly increasing has 
remained stagnant and has been reduced last 
year by 3,00u ewt. 
If the crop oomes from a much smaller acreage 
as the humourous “ E. E." asserts, the amount of 
land which the scourge has laid bare is increased, 
which does not better the aspect of the cultivation, 
Ingenious “E. E.” has forestalled my intention, but 
leaving Trinidad and the Celebes apart, does he know 
that the crop of the Puerto Cabello* * District in 
Venezuela, chiefly sold in France and Spain, comes up 
to the average 1 mentioned (6 owt.) as also the one 
of the Catholic Eepublic of Ecuador, the export of 
which has varied from 310,000 to 340,000 ewt. a 
year for the last decade, besides the local con- 
sumption which is very general amongst the ooe 
million inhabitants of Spanish descent. 
The pleasant “B. E.” speaks of the “ fatal mistakes 
in the early days of the enterprise. ” If he would 
clearly point these out to his ignorant brethren 
they might get up a subscription perhaps equal to 
the snug sinecure of £2,000 for which he hankers. 
“ Ne faut-il pas essayer pour rdussir ?" 
If exposing blunders is synonymous to throwing 
mu 1 prefer doing this than to bolster up a lan- 
guishing industry to make it appear an 
ELDORADO. 
[Dots our present oorrespondent not allow that 
Ceylon planters of cacao having discovered the 
proper management of shade, are in a better way 
now than some years ago ? Wo were recommended 
the other day to visit Gonambd as an example of 
the great improvement eifected in cacao planta- 
tions. — E d. T. a.] 
TEA LEAD vs. PAPER LINING. 
January 16th. 
Sir, — I do not want to find more fault with 
“ Planter ” than I can help, because he has done us 
a service in commencing the ventilation of this 
subject. His quotation of Colombo price of lead 
however at R13 50 per owt. is not quite fair. I paid 
last month R300 for a ton, and see that another 
firm charged R310 for the same lead mentioned by 
“Planter.” This would make 83o per chest instead 
of 72c. A committee of enquiry into inventions 
would be of great service. B. L. 
■ ii f ii wm ip n-i K mi —i iW — ■eg : 
Tea in Assam. —A t the close of last year the num- 
ber of tea gardens borne on the District registers in 
Assam was 868. The number of gardens opened 
during the year was eight, and three were removed 
from the registers, of which one was closed and two 
amalgamated. The area of land held by tea planters 
is said to have increased from 955,499 to 1,000,665 
acres. This increase, appears to have been 
largely due to revised figures of area having been 
submitted by some gardens, and it is impossible to 
tell what the real extension of tea planting 
amounted to. — M. Mail, 3a,n. 6th. 
*tThe apostle of Tropical Agriculture “Peppercorn’’ 
who occabionnlly impirta instruction to the Ceylon 
planters, recently wrote under a misapprehei sion that 
the earthing of cacao was easily deticted in the 
market and considortd a fVanil. It will surpri-c bun 
to learn that lliis highf.st priced cacao is always un- 
mistakably earthod . In France and Spain I know 
the ear bed kinds generally to Uopref-rrfd by maim- 
ficlurers. In Bordeanx the price ranges from 176 to 
190 frs. per 50 kilos of the I’uerio-Cabello cacao at the 
public sales. (£7 to £7 121 , per ewt.)— B. /i 
Hydrochloeate of Cocaine. — The Madras Gov- 
ernment is not at present prepared to instiiu'e 
any experiments in the manufacture of this article 
as suggested by Dr. M-cuamara. 
Coconuts and Cinnamon. — Kadirana, Jan. 3rd. — 
There has been no ram since the l2th of last 
month, and a nasty dry wind is blowing, inducing 
colds, fevers, rheumatism and aches generally. 
This state of things and a bud with blossom just 
appearing, makes peeling of cinnamon difficult. 
Some estates have already stopped w'ork and the 
others will soon have to follow. The rainfall for 
1890 is 63-46 inches, being 31 inches less than the 
average for the previous four years. This does not 
look well for cinnamon and coconut crops next 
year, and both I fear are bound to be much below 
the average. 
The Profits on Cattle Spice.— The profits from 
the mamifacture of ca’ile food, as shown in the 
prospectus of a well known Cattle Spice and Poultry 
Fo'.d Company, are almost on as liberal a fcde as 
those drawn from patent medicines. A business 
which mai uf Aetures a ton cf stuff for £6 6s 4d, 
and sells it for £27 9s 2d, is the sort of thing evi ry- 
bocly would like to be in. But, apparently, the 
opportnoity is not to b« given to many to share in 
the profits, for. though £60,000 of the capital of the 
company is nominally ottered to the public, more 
than half of it is to be applied for by the directors 
and th> ir friends. — Financial F'ews. [The above we 
repr duce f >r reasons which will be obvious to the 
reader. Such profits are extortionate. — S. D, & Co.] 
Utilizing the Power in Water Mains. — The 
Now York Engineering Record says ; — “ J. Gibson, 
of Ayr, Scotland, proposes to utilize the power in 
wat( rpipes under pressure by forming a by-piass 
or junction with the w-.ter main, through which 
the whole or aoy part of the water in the main 
may pass. In this by-pass is p aoed a spiral 
motor, the spindle of which projects through the 
elbow of the by-pass, so that it can be connected 
to a machine, to be driven without any loss of 
water. It is proposed to place suitable stopi-valves 
in the supply-pipe and by-pass in order to regulate 
She quantity of water passing through the by-pass, 
and alto to permit of repairs to the motor being 
made.” — Bradstrect's. 
Binny’s Coffee Works — There is no localised 
centre of industry so busy at the present than the 
well known and long established Coffee Curing Works 
of Messrs. Binny and Co., situated close to the Can- 
tonment Railway Station. Operations are in full 
swing just now, and the inside of the buildings afford 
a pleasant end practical illustration of successful 
work carried out in a systematic and well conducted 
manner. Coffee from all parts of the Mysore 
Province — and outside too — is pouring in, and the 
various provisions of drying, peeling, sizing, 
sorting, garbling and packing for the home market 
are carried out with a precision and arrangement, 
entailing an order and supervision, which reflects 
much credit on the establishment. Many years’ 
experience in these matters have led to the intro- 
duction of many improvements in the machinery 
and the internal arrangsments of labour which 
have resulted in the curing from Binny’s Works 
being classed among the best seen in the London 
Market, and Mysore coffee has during the past 
seasons maintained selling figures which must be 
very encouraging to all concerned The coffee works 
give employment during the season to over one 
thousand hands, and from the liberal treatment 
accorded to the operations, we believe, that while 
it is sometimes difiioult to get labour in the open 
market the coffee works never experience a dearth of 
hands.— Battf/alore Spectator, 
