96 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Auo.  I.  1895  . 
PUUD  FOR  TYPHOID  I’ATIENTS. 
An  upcountry  lady  of  experience  sends  the  follow- 
ing rt«ipe  as  a useful  suggestion  for  change  of  food: — 
MILK  JELLY. 
1 oz.  gelatine,  I pint  milk.  Dissolve  the  gelatine 
over  niglit  in  cold  water.  Next  day  boil  1 pint  milk 
and  pour  over  it:  stir  till  dissolved  and  go  on  stir- 
ring until  cold.  Flavour  to  taste.  \ little  cinnamon 
is  invaluable  in  typhoid  cases. 
Two  other  simple  prepai-ations  of  milk  are  given  in 
Dr.  Vanderstraaten’s  chapter  of  Invalid  Cookery  at 
the  end  of  his  invaluable  book  on  the  Diseases  of  Chil- 
dren, and  they  are  very  easily  prepared.  We  quote 
as  follows : — 
A NOUUISHING  BLANC-MANGE. 
To  one  pint  of  milk  slightly  warmed  stir  in  a 
large  dessert-spoonful  of  liquid  rennets  and  set  aside 
to  cool.  This  makes  a soft  blanc  mange,  very  easily 
swallowed.  Powdered  cinnamon  and  sugar  may  be 
taken  with  it. 
MILK  AND  EGGS. 
Pour  a quart  of  milk  into  a large,  iierfectly  clean 
bottle;  drop  in  the  whites  of  three  new  eggs,  cork 
the  bottle  and  shake  hard, 
THE  SEASON  IN  MADRAS. 
Yesterday  the  Board  of  Revenue  telegraphed  to  the 
Government  of  India  for  the  week  ending  the  8th 
instant: — “ Rainfall  moderate  in  parts  of  the  Circars 
and  Deccan  Districts  and  Salem.  Light  showers 
elsewhere.  None  in  the  Carnatic.  The  rainfall  to 
date  generally  is  below  the  average  in  the  West 
Coast  and  Carnatic  Districts.  Ploughing  and  sowing 
is  going  on  slowly  in  parts.  Standing  crops  are 
generally  fair.  Pasture  scarce,  but  fodder  suflicient. 
Cattle  is  generally  in  good  condition.  Prices  practically 
stationary.” — M.  Mui),  June  12. 
COFFEE,  CACOA  AND  TEA  IN  SUMATRA. 
A DREAM  OF  THE  FUTURE. 
\ III. 
f Translated  from  the  Deli  Courant,  :-Ust-:lMh  Se/it.  IHTi.) 
In  the  year  1!)05,  after  13  years'  absence,  I returned 
by  chance  to  Deli,  and  l'  recalled  to  myself  tlie 
recollection  of  former  events.  1 speak  of  1H<)2  and 
the  following  years.  By  Jove  ! How  all  is  changed  ! I 
might  say  half  a century  has  passed  over  Deli,  so 
much  has  it  altered  and  improved  in  this  time.  If 
I direct  my  memory  to  previous  times  I see  a country 
just  passed  through  a severe  crisis.  The  cultivation 
of  tobacco  which  in  1889  has  reached  its  culminat- 
ing point,  and  which  seems  to  be  destined  to  run 
a course  of  prosperity  without  end,  was,  in  consequence 
of  the  universal  fall  of  prices  in  1891,  menaced  with 
ruin.  A panic  followed  : and  a sensible  diminution 
of  credit,  withdrawal  of  capital,  and  want  of  con- 
fidence in  the  future  were  the  consequences  of  it. 
Carelessness  of  what  tomorrow  might  bring  forth,  the 
privilege  of  the  spoilt  child  of  fortune,  gave  place 
to  uneasiness.  In  addition  to  this  came  m 1892  an 
unlucky  planting  year  caused,  according  to  the 
idea  of  some,  by  sickness  in  the  tobacco  nurseries, 
which  was  a mystery  to  science,  and  mocked  every 
attempted  remedy.  (Same  as  II.  V.  in  Ceylon. — Trans- 
lator) and  according  to  the  idea  of  others,  by  the 
exhaustion  of  the  soil,  and  the  bad  climatic  con- 
ditions of  this  particular  season. 
It  is  said  that  different  ideas  coining  into  conflict 
lead  to  enlightenment.  Hut  in  this  special  case  it 
remains  a dark  secret : and  it  was  as  difficult  to 
see  light,  as  to  see  your  hand  before  your  face  on 
a dark  night.  l‘'or  my  part  I made  u)i  my  mind 
that  I could  not  comprehend  it  at  all  ; like  the 
turkey-cock  in  the  fable  who  could  see  something, 
but  could  not  distinguish  properly  what  it  was. 
What  I did  not  forget,  although  so  many  years  had 
passed  over,  was  tlie  heart  breaking  appearance  of 
yQ  estates.  A lot  ol  tobacco  fields  with  plants 
dying  from  the  root  upwards:  leaves  crinkled  up, 
or  hanging  limp  and  lifeless  : and  no  sap  in  the  stein. 
The  general  result  of  the  yield  reached  barely  half 
that  of  our  aver.age  cron.  Surely  this  was  the  fore- 
runner of  the  seven  following  lean  years  of  the  Bible. 
Some  people — lucky  fellows — escaped  the  prevailing 
plague,  and  made  splei.dil  crops.  'Without  sorrow 
they  saw  the  shrinkage  in  the  production  of  the 
country ; because  it  was  bound  to  lead  to  a rise  in 
prices : and  they  felt  confident  tliat  what  is  in  Deli 
true,  as  iu  Timbuctoo,  the  fortune  of  one  arises  from 
the  misfortune  of  the  other.  Take  it  all  round  how- 
over,  the  cultivation  of  tobacco  had  received  a severe 
check:  and  now  j-ou  could  see  how  weak  was  the 
foundation  of  the  prosperity  of  the  country.  In  the 
crowds  at  a Paris  Fair  you  always  hear  the  cry  from 
the  lottery  booths  : “ Step  up,  gentleman,  step  up : 
every  ticket  wins.”  But  it  isn’t  quite  the  same  in 
the  big  lottery,  as  you  may  call  the  tobacco  plant- 
ing enterprise  in  Deli.  Some  people  win  somewhat : 
but  many  lose  ten  times  ns  much.  Thus  you  could 
see  at  the  time  of  which  I am  speaking,  a number 
of  hitherto  prosperous  plantations,  collapsing  like 
houses  of  cards,  leaving  behind  them  notliing ; and 
worse  than  nothing,  a land  condemned  for  years  and 
years  to  sterility.  Yes : this  land  which  ought  to 
sweat  out  gold — so  much  has  been  put  into  it, — was 
now  burning  in  many  places — a dreary  wilderness, 
a lurking  place  for  wild  beasts,  and  a rendezvous 
for  wild  pigeons.  On  this  massacre  of  the  poor  inno- 
cents, the  little  ones  were  soon  swallowed  up : and 
one  by  one  their  plantations  fell  into  the  hands  of 
some  big  companies,  which  at  this  date  of  190.5  are  the 
sole  owners  of  the  soil,  and  possess,  as  you  may 
saj-,  the  monopoly  of  the  tobacco  cultivation  in 
Sumatra. 
Victory  always  goes  to  the  biggest  mon^ 
bag ; and  this  rule  has  always  proved  true.  If 
you  look  over  all,  this  buying  up  of  the  land, 
you  may  almost  say  at  a squeezing  price,  did 
no  harm  to  Deli.  Owing  to  their  big  capital, 
these  Companies  were  enabled  to  introduce  new 
modes  of  treating  the  tobacco,  which  were  more  in 
harmony  with  the  progress  of  time.  It  is  true  that 
these  changes  were  only  made  by  degrees  : but  in 
these  countries  where  habits  once  adopted  are  uot 
easily  eradicated,  and  where  the  jaCaii  p'ldn-p'ldn 
(go  slow ) of  the  Malay  has  almost  reached  the  force 
of  law,  you  can  only  expect  improvements  and  pro- 
gress to  make  way  gradually.  But  already  in  the  year 
1891  we  have  seen  the  first  appearance  of  the  steam 
plough  in  Deli.  This  was  the  first  sign  of  the  new 
departure  ; and  a more  systematic  and  rational 
style  of  cultivation  appears  to  be  set  on  foot  here. 
Other  improvements  soon  followed.  Folk  gave  up 
the  rough  and  awkward  model  of  the  sheds  used  for 
hanging  and  drying  the  tobacco.  This  old  relic  so 
past  times,  which  es]>ecially  was  the  cause  of  of 
much  broken  leaf  in  the  tobacco,  was  superseded  by 
the  much  simpler  and  more  easily  constructed  sheds 
which  you  may  now  see  everj’where,  where  tobacco 
once  hung  in  the  lower  part  of  the  sheds,  will  at 
once  be  lifted  in  big  frames  of  from  500  to  1,000  trees 
each,  so  that  it  will  not  have  to  undergo  any  more  tho 
wretched  manipulation  so  ruinous  to  the  leaves, 
of  lifting  each  single  pole  with  10  trees  on  eacli.  The 
system  of  treatment  and  manm'ing  of  the  soil, 
facilitated  by  the  use  of  the  steam  plough,  has 
improved  since  the  time  when  a handful  of  guano 
was  the  Alpha  and  Omega  of  the  whole  artificial 
fertilisation.  'Without  rest,  people  formerly  wanted 
two  or  three  successive  crops  from  the  same  soil. 
Besides  the  working  of  the  land  with  a mamoty 
about  a foot  deep,  nothing  was  done  to  renovate  the 
soil : and  the  strangest  thing  was  that  men  succeeded 
in  forcing  from  tliis  overworked  stuff  one  crop 
moi'c ! But  as  they  came  back  to  again  re-plant 
tho  same  fields,  they  found  them  sterile  ; and 
could  not  with  even  a double  dose  of  guano  restore 
the  already  lost  fertility.  Like  the  dried-up  breast  of 
a woman,  tho  earth  refused  to  give  nourishment,  and 
the  soil  which.  )>oihaps,  has  no  comparison  in  the  whole 
East  for  richness,  could  (iroduce  nothing  more  than 
miseraljlc.  sickly  lf>jking  tobacco.  If  our  jHjor  old 
iOuropo  with  its  meagre  soil  had  buen  tre.ited  in  like 
manner,  we  should  certainly  by  this  time  have  revetted 
to  the  epoch  of  the  ichtjosciurqs  1 
