132 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Aug.  X 1895. 
TAR  ?AVIN(i. 
Tins  is  tnade  bj'  niixin;^-  with  fine  breeze  or 
small  coke  just  enough  of  thick  refuse  coal  tar 
to  make  it  somewhat  sticky.  After  preparing 
the  fouiulation  (which,  by  tlie  way,  slioulil  be 
of  concrete),  put  a tliin  layer  on  the  smooth 
pre)>are<l  svirface,  then  spreail  a couple  of  inches 
of  metal  or  pel)l)les,  or  coarse  gravel,  or  even 
small  coke,  then  another  layer  of  prepared  breeze 
covereil  lightly  with  line  sand.  Tlie  whole  is 
now  patted  to  an  even  surface.  Sifted  coke 
ashes  will  do  ; it  is  essential  that  all  ingredients 
should  be  thoroughly  dry,  and  the  tar  made  hot 
and  mi.xed  with  breeze  and  put  on  whilst  hot. 
— From  Work  for  October. 

A SIMPLE  AND  EEEE(T1VE  WAY  TO 
STAIN  Fi.OORS. 
Take  one  pint  of  methylated  spirits,  in  this 
dissolve  4 oz.  of  shellac,  tlien  .add  as  much 
In'own  umber  as  will  give  the  tone  required  in 
at  least  two  applications;  this  will  give  a walnut 
linish.  Similarly,  N'enetian  red  may  he  added 
for  mahogany,  and  yellow  ochre  for  [line. 
When  dry,  smooth  down  with  line  glass-paper; 
it  may  then  be  kept  looking  fresh  by  wi|)ing 
o\er  with  a little  linseed  oil  applied  with  ilan- 
nel.  ft  also  forms  .a  capital  basis  for  wax  or 
French  polish  ; or  it  may  be  linished  bright  by 
“•ivin"'  two  co.ats  of  best  oak  varnish. — From 
Work. 
THE  KIRKLEES  EST.VTE  COMP.VNV, 
REMIT  ED. 
The  memorandum  of  Association  of  “ the  Kirklees 
Estate  Company,  Limited,”  is  published  in  Friday’s 
(ia-:elfe.  The  object  for  which  the  Company  is  es- 
tablished arestated  to  be  : To  purchase  all  that  estate 
called  Kirklees,  situated  in  the  District  of  II da  Tus- 
sellawa,  Ceylon,  together  with  all  the  buildings,  ma- 
chinery, and  stock  thereon  and  thereto  belonging,  and 
the  crops  thereof  (as  from  the  iirst  day  of  January, 
One  thousand  Eight  hundred  and  Ninety-five,  for  the 
sum  of  Ninety  thousand  Three  hundred  and  Fifty- 
two  rupees  and  Ninety-four  cents  (R‘)0,Hr)‘2-‘)4J  Ceylon 
currency,  upon  such  terms  and  conditions  as  may  be 
agreed  upon  between  the  Company  and  the  pro- 
prietor or  proprietors  of  the  said  estate,  and  to  mauu- 
iacture  tea  leat  and  (or)  other  products.  The  nominal 
capital  of  the  Company  is  lilOO, 000  divided  into  1,000 
shares  of  RlOO  each.  The  followiu.;  gentlemen  have 
already  purchased  a share  each  : — Messrs.  James 
Forbes,  Thos.  Jones,  G.  W.  Carlyon,  G.  H.  Alston, 
Alf.  H.  Ayden,  A.  J.  Sawer,  and  C.  E.  H.  Symons. 
FORMOSAN  CAMPHOR. 
Formosan  resources  and  industries  are  of  course 
attracting  a good  deal  of  journalistic  attention  in 
Tokyo.  The  camphor  forests  of  the  island  are 
spoken  of  as  a probable  source  of  wealth,  in  view  of 
the  facts  that  Japan  and  Formosa  are  practically 
the  only  camphor-producing  countries  in  the  W'orld— 
the  Eorneo  vegetable  being  of  a different  character 
—and  that  the  demand  for  camphor  has  increased  of 
late  years.  A naive  comment  is  made  by  one  of  our 
vernacular  contemporaries,  namely,  that  camphor 
has  been  discovered  to  have  properties  fatal  to  the 
mildew  parasite ; an  assertion  that  might  have  been 
addressed  with  greater  interest  to  our  ancestors 
several  generations  ago.  What  we  specially  note, 
however,  is  that  the  writers  in  the  vernacular  press 
seem  to  ignore  the  important  point  that  Formosan 
camphor  can  not  be  suitai)ly  relined  without  the 
addition  of  a certain  proportion  of  tho  Japaneso 
vegetable.  If  the  experts  of  this  country  can  dis- 
cover the  cause  of  that  peculiarity,  they  may  suc- 
ceed in  imparting  a greatly  increased  value  to  the 
camphor  forests  of  Formosa. — Japan  Mail, 
HYDRAULIC  LIMESTONE  IN  CEYLON. 
^Ve  are  asked  if  we  can  mention  any  localities 
in  Ceylon  in  which  limestone  of  a character 
suited  for  Imrning  lime  having  an  hyilraulic 
jiioperty  can  be  obtained.  So  far  as  we  know 
there  are  only  one  or  tw'o  districts  where  stone  of  thi.s 
description  is  found.  Recently  a letter  ajipeared 
in  these  columns  the  writer  of  which  attributed 
the  fertility  of  the  soil  of  the  Jaffna  peninsula 
to  the  jiresence  of  an  extensive  formation  of 
limestone.  This  is  to  lie  found  therein  in  depo- 
sits over  a large  area,  and  it  is  a very  curious 
formation.  It  is  to  the  presence  of  this  that  tlie 
growth  of  the  peninsula  is  due.  Upon  and 
around  it  the  coral  insect  has  for  ages  been 
busy,  and  gradually  the  neck  of  land  with  its 
outlying  islets,  have  arisen  abov'e  sea-level. 
Owing  to  the  large  admixture  of  magnesia  in  ' 
this  limestone,  its  result  wdien  burnt  is  distinctly  ! 
hydraulic.  Indeed  it  has  been  used  for  con.struc-  | 
tion  work  in  the  salt  lagoons  that  intersect  tlie 
peninsula  for  very  many  years,  the  lime  obtained  ) 
from  it  setting  very  lairly  well  under  water, 
whether  salt  or  fresh.  It  is  not  jiowerfully  1 
hydraulic,  [lerhaps  owing  to  the  limited  amount  , 
of  magnesia  present  in  the  rock.  The  stone 
is  readily  recognised  by  its  hardne.ss  and  pale 
yellow  colour.  It  is  exjiensive  to  burn,  as  it 
requires  firing  for  a much  longer  time,  and  with 
a more  intense  heat,  than  suffices  to  calcine  the 
ordinary  coral  limestone  to  be  found  in  the 
neighbourhood.  Consequently  the  cost  of  tliis 
lime  is  fully  four  times  as  great  as  that  of  or- 
dinary coral  lime.  For  above-water  work,  how- 
ever, it  po.ssesses  many  advantages  over  ordinary 
lime.  It  sets  to  an  extreme  hardness,  and  is 
susceiitible  to  a high  polish,  while  its  natural 
straw  colour  remains  in  the  plaster  obtained  from  it.  ' 
Probably,  the  stone  may  hereafter  form  a valu- 
able item  of  ex])ort  from  the  Jalfna  Peninsula, 
ft  is  possible,  moreover,  that  by  some  chemical 
ailmixture  the  hydraulic  properties  pos.sessed  liy  the 
lime  it  yiehls  may  be  materially  increased,  nor 
is  it  likely,  th.at  with  the  artilicial  Portland  cement  1 
imported  into  this  island  at  the  jiresent  low  rate,  ! 
it  would  jtay  to  attemiit  such  experimenting  on 
any  commercial  scale.  Owing  to  the  enormous  ! 
coiiqietitioii  in  the  manufacture  of  Portlaml  cement  ^ 
by  the  Relgiansand  Dutch,  the  cement  mills  of  Eng-  . 
land  can  now  hardly  be  made  to  pay.  The  product  of  I 
these,  although  decidedly  superior  in  quality  of  | 
that  of  their  foreign  conqietitors,  lias  an  enforced  , 
sale  at  prices  which  admit  of  export  at  an  ex-  j 
ceetlingly  low  rate,  and  it  is  at  least  question-  | 
able  whether  any  local  production  could  conqiete 
with  it  in  either  price  or  quality.  Nor  can  it 
be  likely  that  such  an  exhaustion  of  raw  mate-  j 
rials  for  English  cement-making  can  ari.se  as  to 
ever  raise  the  price  of  it  to  a point  at  wliicli  • 
we  could  expect  successfully  to  comiiete  except, 
])erhaps,  in  localities  wliere  the  cost  of  inland 
transport  might  reduce  the  balance.  Chalk  ami 
chay,  the  two  jirinie  ingredients  of  the  artilicial 
Portland  cement,  are  too  plentiful  throughout 
England  to  make  it  likely  that  the  manufac- 
tui’e  can  ever  become  restricted  for  want  of 
these  two  items.  Here,  in  Ceylon,  the  first  of 
these  is  wholly  absent,  while  the  second  is  not 
of  the  qtialily  best  suited  for  the  production  of 
cement.  M’iiile,  therefore,  answering  the  (pies- 
tion  addressed  to  us  to  the  best  of  our  ability,  i 
i 
