772 
THE TROPICAL AGRJCULTURIST 
[May I, 1891 . 
The Quinine Ring.— The sequel to the recent 
eflorts of the American quinine _ manutaotuvers to 
establish a quinine combination is given as follows 
in the last report of Messrs. Schoellkopf, Hartford 
and MaoLegan, of New York “ There can be no 
doubt we are in for an era of cheap quinine in 
the States, for a fierce war of prices is raging 
here, and is likely to grow worse. The represen- 
tative of an American factory, having failed signally 
in his recent attempt to beguile the European 
makers into some sort of combination or arrange- 
ment, persuaded his people to enter on an aggressive 
course to coerce the recalcitrant German factory 
(supposed to be the Brunswick) to come to terms. 
The outcome is anxiously watched, but the fight 
is expected to be a long one, especially, as it is 
generally believed here that our manufacturers 
can supplement their output by using the ammu- 
nition of their enemies in the battle without any 
great loss to themselves. Meanwhile the large 
Philadelphia maker looks on, and keeps his price 
up One good effect this quarrel will have— it will 
relieve the European market of considerable surplus 
Btook.— Chemist ai%d Druggist, March 21. 
The T*A Trade between China and Tibet. 
—In “ Through Eastern Tibet and Central China,” 
by Mr. Woodvilla Kockhill, in the Century for 
March, the following occurs 
The road was covered with long files of heavily 
loaded porters trudging slowly on to Ta-chien-lu, and 
in every tea-house tbeir huge loads were placed on 
benches while the frugal coolies refreshed themselves 
with a cup of tea or a bowl of bean-curd aud a chunk 
of corn-bread. Most of them were carrying tea from 
Ya-chou or some neighbouring town, about one 
hundred and fifty miles away, to be taken later, on 
yaks or mules, into Tibet. They were of all ages, 
and I was surprised to see among them not a tew 
women and small children. The packages of tea 
each about four feet long, six inches broad, and 
three to four thick, and weighing from seventeen to 
twenty-three pounds, are placed horizontally one above 
the other, the upper ones projeoting so as to come 
over the porter’s head. They are held tightly to- 
cctlicr by coir ropes and little bamboo stakes 5 straps, 
also of plaited coir ropes, pass over the porter s 
shoulders, while a little string fastened to the top of 
the load helps to balance the huge structure, which 
it reauires more knack than strength to carry, for 
its weight must bear on all the back and only slightly 
on the^ shoulders. In their hands the porters entry 
a short crutch which they place under the load when 
they wish to rest without removing it from their 
backs. The average load is nine packages, or from 
190 to 200 pounds, but I passed a number of men 
carrying seventeen packages, and one bad twenty- 
one. A man, I was told, had a few years ago brought 
au iron safe weighing four hundred pounds for Mgr. 
Biet from Ya-chou to Ta-cbien-lu m twenty-two 
days. Old or decrepit people commonly travel along 
this road borae on the backs of porters. Many of 
the women porters carried seven packages of tea, nearly 
two hundred pounds, and children of five and six 
trudged on behind their parents with one or two. The 
price paid for this work is twenty iael cents (about 
twenty-five cents) a package, and ifc takes about 
seventeen days to make the trip from Ya-chou, So 
far as my knowledge goes there are no porters in any 
other part of the world who carry such weights ns 
these Ya-chou tca-ooolics ; and, stiange as it may 
appear, they are not very muscular, and over half 
of Uiom are confirmed opium smokers. 
There is an illustration, showing sorae_ of these 
tea carriers with their loads on their backs. 
The Bhutian of Darjiling are also noted for their 
carrying powers, taking .enormous loads of tea lead 
and other lieavy material on their backs up to Darji- 
ling from the foot of the mountains. There is a story, 
similar to that related above, of an iron safe being 
carried up to Darjiling on the back of a Bhutia. 
The Products and Manufactures of the 
coconut palm are thus noticed in ‘‘Notes by the 
Way” in ihe Jamaica Gleaner ■. — 
The original design of a coconut trophy has been 
partly carried out by the manager who has arranged 
the coconuts in their various stages round the base 
of the tree in the Jamaica court, and shown the coir 
and the fibre beside it, while ranged round the sides 
of the interior are useful household articles manu- 
factured from the fibre, the Utter being exhibited by 
a London firm. I recommend my readers to see this 
instructive exhibit. 
Cardamoms. — Cardamoms grow wild in the Cey- 
Ion jungles, but about fifteen years ago they began 
to be cultivated in several distriots of the island 
by European planters. The results of the venture 
turned out unexpectedly profitable, the yield hav- 
ing occasionally been as high as 400 lb. per acre. 
Until a few years ago cardamoms were propagated 
only from the ihizomes, or bulbs, but since then 
it has been shown that they can be successfully 
grown from seed. Until not very many years ago 
cardamoms were imported exclusively from the 
Indian mainland, and a considerable quantity, in- 
cluding some of very fine quality, are still drawn 
from that country ; but since the cultivation has 
been taken up in Ceylon that island has altogether 
eclipsed the Indian exports. Indian cardamoms are 
usually imported in large cases, containing from 
1| to 2 cwt. and the Ceylon variety in boxes 
usually varying from 40 to 80 lb. in weight. The 
average crops in Ceylon during the last few years 
have been about 300,000 lb. — Chemist and Druggist, 
Injurious Insects in 1890.*— The 14tha.nual re- 
port oil the ravages of injurious insects amongst our 
farm aud garden crops, which Miss E. A. O.merod, 
the able entomologist to the Royal Agricultural Soci- 
ety, issued last week, is a most catisfactory publi- 
cation. Wben The Times called attention to the 
first very small report issued in 1877 the subject of 
economic entomology was almost unknown, whereas 
now it is recognized as an integral portion of agri- 
cultural teaching at the whole of our leading educa- 
tional institutions. That all this has been brought 
about fi’om the initiative work by Miss Ormerod must 
not only be gratifying to that lady, but ehould be 
matter of satisfac ion to agriculturists and gardeners- 
The present pamphlet doe# not differ in form from 
those that have preceded it. In all 2G distinct attacks 
by injurious insects and eelworms are fnlly described 
and illustrated. This means— as wa.s .stated in the 
history of ‘‘ British Agriculture in 1890,” which ap- 
peared in Ihe Times a few weeks ago — that last 
year was an average one so far as insect damage 
was concerned. Nearly all cur common crop pests 
were present, but only a few really did any serious 
damage. There is, therefore, no need to refer to these 
at length. The chief lessons of the year are as to 
the use of more effective insecticides, suoh as “ Paris 
Green.” The use of these has been considered some- 
what dangerous owing to their poisonous character, 
but with a fuller knowledge of the strength necessary 
to destroy attack Miss Ormerod thinks the time has 
come when they may be safely recommended for more 
general use. In one case a correspondent reports 
that he last year sprayed his trees ten time.s with 
Paris Green (2oz. to 20 gallons of water) with good 
effect. Although his fowls had a free run all over 
the field none were injured. In the use of these 
poisons, however, it is strongly recommended that firm 
animnls should never be allowed to pastum or feed 
under trees that are being, or have recently been, so 
sprayed. The chapter dealing with this subject is 
very interesting, and may be said to exhaust the 
. subject. — London Times, 
“Report of Observations of Injurious Insects and 
Common Farm Pests during the year 1890, with 
methods ot Prevention and Romedy.” Fourieenth 
report. By Eleanor A. Ormerod, P. R. Met- Soc., 
Ac. London : Simpkiu, Marshal), Hamilton, Kent, and 
Go, (Limited). 1891, 
