Mat I, i8qi.] THE TROPICAL AQRSOULTURSST. 771 
STOCK of Ceylon tea in Bonded Warehouses at the 
close of the i>ast five years ; — 
1890. 1889, 1888. 
8 621.824 lbs. 6,303,954 lbs. 5,129,978 lb?. 
1887. 1886. 
3,149,430 lbs. 1,660,460 lbs. 
Board of Trade Returns of Imports and Home Con- 
sumption of Tea from all Countries during the past 
five years : — 
1890, 1889. 1888. 
From lbs. lbs. lbs. 
Brit East Indies 146,260,642 127,160,409 113,004,692 
.. China 73,635,351 88,848,574 105.424,271 
Other Countries 4,758,378 5,693,677 5,189,515 
Imports ... 224,654,371 221.602,660 223,618,478 
TT Consumption *194,008,492 1T85,621,800 185,556,214 
From 
Brit. Bast Indies 
,, China 
Other Countries 
1887. 
lbs. 
97,830,117 
119,739,116 
5,194,054 
1886. 
lbs. 
80,987,361 
145,111,596 
4,796,345 
Imports 222.763,287 230,895,292 
Home Consumption... 183,635,886 178,894,161 
* Of this total 101,961,666 lbs. were Indian, 34,616, 
469 lb. Ceylon, 54,873,592 lb. China, and 2,656.745 lb. 
from other countries. , 
t Of this total 124,408,798 lb. were British East 
Indian, 59,513,397 lbs. China, and 1,699,600 lb. from 
other countries. 
Exports of Tea (of all kinds) during the past five 
^®^'l890. 1889. 1888. 1887. 1886. 
lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. 
*36 967,137 35,661,900 37,956,810 34,741,390 44,413,050 
*’ Of ibis total 2,624 679 lbs. were Indian, 1,431,931 lbs 
Ceylon, 31,493,125 lb. China, and 1,417,502 lb. olUor 
countries. , - . 
Stock of Tea (of all kin<3s) in Bonded Warehouses at 
the close of the past five years;— 
1890. 1889. 1888. 188/. 1886, 
lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. 
103,229,153 109,907.332 110,805,783 113,027,688 109,678,467 
The Repoets fbom Deli, the tobacco country on 
the north-east coast of Sumatra, aro still very 
favourable for the tobacco cultivation, and it is ex- 
pected that the present crop will be the largest one 
ever harvested in Deli . — Colonies and India, 
New Steam Fuel foe Locomotives.— It is 
stated that a substitute for coal in the raising of 
steam purposes is now being_ auooeasfully carried 
out on one of the leading lines of railway, and 
that two eminent London engineers have patented 
a system by which a ton of residual oil costing 
£3 10s may be made to create 8,000-horse power 
for a space of one hour, and gerieraliy to do 
twenty times the work of coal. It is also stated 
that the experiments made by the Great Eastern 
Railway have turned out most suooessful, and 
that Mr. Holden, the locomotive superintendent 
of the line, has patented an injector in connec- 
tion with the fluid, and that it is now being used 
on about a dozen locomotive engines as an auxiliary 
to ooftl. The fluid, it is stated, is tar, to which 
is added some green oil from tar works, and the 
cost is three half-pence per gallon. Each engine 
use 3 about 12lb. of ooal and one gallon, or 11 lb. 
of fluid fuel per train mile, as against 34 lb. of 
ooal. The relative cost, it appears, is rather less 
than ooal at the present price of both, but the 
value of the injector, it is asserted, is seen especially 
on gradients, when steam can bo got up instantly 
by touching a tap at the hand of the driver. • 
Ilailttatj News. [All this ought to be good news 
for many Ceylon lea planters looking to tllc future, 
-Ed. I, a.] 
LiTiEKiAN Coffee in and in the neighbourhood 
of Colombo is all out in a splendid blossom at 
present, the beauty and fragrance of which are very 
atlraotiva to bipeds as well as bees. Many of the 
trees are at the same time, laden with fruit in ail 
stages from green to dark purple as well as with 
the snowy white blossom. If the native villagers 
took to cultivating this tree as they do coconuts, 
they certainly should never be at a loss for a 
supply of colfee for their own needs. 
A Remedy fob Malabia, — Mr. G. Yeates Hunter, 
late Brigade Surgeon of the Bombay Army, writing 
to the Financial News, says : — “ There would seem 
to me to be little cause for surprise at the reduolion 
in the price of quinine, when it is borne in mind 
that the Indian kreat is now generally admitted to 
be, in many respects, superior to quinine. To my 
knowledge halviva—a preparation of kreat — answers 
admirably in controlling fever, and also in repairing 
the mischief wrought by quinine in that large 
number of patients who suffer from its ill-effects, 
evidenced by head symptoms, general malaise, 
intense irritability, &c. After more than 20 years’ 
experience in India of the comparative value of 
quinine and kreat, I believe that the latter will be 
more and more recognised by the medical profession 
as the safest and best remedy against malaria. — 
Pioneer. 
The Seasons foe Felling Trees fob Timber 
AND Firewood are thus indicated in the Indian 
Forester ; — 
On the season in which trees are felled depend the 
technical properties of the wood, and even the possi- 
bility of carrying out the work, for labour may nod 
be available in sufficient quantity and at reasonable 
cost throughout the year, and malaria or heavy rain 
or snow may bo a bar to all operations. 
To prevent cracks timber should bo allowed to sea- 
sou slowly. Hence it should bo felled in damp and 
cool (if possible, even cold) weather. Where there ia 
a true winter, felling in winter also preserves the 
wood from fermentation of the sap, from infection by 
fungus aporea, and from the attacks of insects. With 
regard to durability alone, the theoretically best time 
for felliug occurs when the trees contain their mioi- 
mum of reserve materials that is to say, generally just 
after the new flush of leaves is out. But this sea- 
son can be observed only when it does riot coincide 
with the appearance of new seedlings, which the fell- 
ing and export operntions are bound to destroy ; or with 
the season of heavy rains, daring which the ground would 
be aoft and muddy and the advance growth, if there is 
any, full of tender and easily-injured shoots. It may 
of corrrse be observed in coupes that are to be clear- 
felled and then re-stocked avtrficially. For the safety 
of young growth the best time for felling is the sca- 
Bon of repose, whan the plants aro least fragile and 
possess their greatest recuperative power ; but on the 
higher ranges of the Himalayas the snow lies too 
heavy for fsllitig to take place then without risk to 
human life,' and, as export must take place during 
the following summer, most of the trees have to bo 
out in spring, while the seedlings are only just sprout- 
ing or coming up from seed. As regards firewood, wo 
know that the quicker it dries, the better it is ; also 
that it is heavier the more full it is of reserve mate- 
rials. Hence in felliug for firewood, the best time of 
the year, provided sylvicultural exigencies do not bar 
it, is when dry, warm weather prevails ; and if this 
coincides willi tho season of repose, so mu»h tfco bet- 
ter. The time for fellinj" coppice is limited, bj purely 
sylvicultural considerations, to this season, the only 
exceplio.i being when bark for tanning is the chief pro- 
duce sought, in which oi.ae the felling must be effected 
during the first three or four weeks of the season of 
vegetation, unless the trees are barked standing, or 
this period falls within the rainy season. In the case 
of charcoal-making the oharcoal-liurners must have a 
sullioieutly long spell of fairly dry weather in which to 
complete their work. Oleaniuga and e.irly Ihiuuiuga 
n which the poles aro out as they ate selected, mus, 
of course be elfeetod while the forest ia iu full leaf 
