194 
AGRICULTURIST. 
[Sept.  2,  1895. 
THE  TROPICAL 
Haputalk,  July  31. — Coffee  is  doing  splendidly  up 
here,  and  estates  are  giving  crops  such  as  they  have 
not  done  these  last  six  years.  Of  course,  it  is  taking 
it  out  of  the  trees  considerably  ; but  at  present  prices 
proprietors  are  getting  returns  from  the  old  berry 
that  few  of  ihem  expected  to  secure  again.  Tea  is 
also  doing  very  well,  generally  speaking.  Undoubtedly 
our  tea,  like  the  coffee  in  the  old  days,  takes 
a long  time  to  show  up,  and  is  very  slow  maturing; 
but  Haputale  will  by-and-bye  be  as  good  a tea  dis- 
trict as  any  in  the  island.  Its  climate  is  not  forcing 
like  most  other  districts,  and  the  growth  is  slow,  but 
there  is  the  soil,  and  one  of  these  days  there  will 
be  a rush  to  buy  estates,  and  the  voice  of  the  com- 
pany-promoter will  be  heard  in  the  land. 
Tka  Extension  in  the  Southern  Province. — Mr. 
J.  Simpson  Scowcroft,  the  well-known  planter  returned 
to  Colombo  today  (5th)  from  Cralle,  having  been  en- 
gaged on  the  work  of  further  opening  up  Mr.  .leronis 
Dias’s  property  at  Matugama  in  the  S.  Province, 
where  Mr.  Dias  will  eventually  have  a very  large 
te'a  property.  He  originally  bought  650  acres,  200 
of  which  were  lately  opened  up  in  tea  by  Mr.  Scowcroft 
while  the  latter  is  now  busy  felling  the  timber  on 
another  300  acres,  and  he  expects  to  burn  off  in  a 
month.  The  proprietor  of  the  land  is  negotiating 
for  the  purchase  of  another  ;150  acres  adjoining  his 
present  property,  and  has  in  view  the  acquirement 
end  of  1)000  acres  in  all,  in  which  case  he  will 
bo  the  owner  of  one  of  the  largest  estates  in  the 
S.  Province. 
The  Castleueagh  Tea  Company.— This  concern, 
until  the  end  of  last  year,  and  while  it  failed  to  even 
approach  the  prospects  formed  of  it,  was  naturally 
a “ much-abused  company.”  With  no  interim  divi- 
dend for  1694,  the  shares— eleven  months  ago— stood 
at  R65 ; but  on  the  strength  of  a rather  unexpected 
dividend  of  8 per  cent,  for  the  year,  they  reached  par 
in  March  last.  Then,  as  it  became  known  that  the 
estimate  of  yield  for  1895  was  being  realised  practi- 
cally in  half  the  period,  the  price  advanced  until  the 
shares  were  quoted,  as  now,  at  R135,  ex-dividend. 
The  dividend  for  the  half-year  ending  June  30th — 
paid  on  Saturday  last  is  7 per  cent.,  although,  wo 
understand,  the  profit  for  the  same  period  ran  into 
“ double  figures.”  The  estimate  for  1895  was  130,000  lb. 
of  which  125,000  lb.  were  secured  in  the  first  six  months 
The  superintendent  has  raised  the  figures  for  the  year 
to  180  0001b.  only,  to  be  on  the  safe  side,  but  it  is 
expected  that  this  yield  will  be  greatly  exceeded. 
Mr  A.  E.  White  is  the  manager  of  the  estate, 
and  he  deserves  more  than  a word  of  praise  for  h a 
work. 
CoEFEA  Stenophvlla.— Read  the  following  repoit 
from  T.  J.  Eerguson,  Esq.,  dated  Calicut,  27th  Eeb- 
ruarv  i895 : — “ reply  to  your  letter  of  the  16th 
instant.  I'plantcd  the  small  supply  of  seed  (in  cherry) 
of  the  Coffea  stenophylhi  immediately  on  receiving 
it  from  you  about  the' end  of  June  last.  Only  10  ir 
.Q  £ seeds  germinated  and  I only  succeeded  n 
rnisiim  8 plants,  all  were  weak  and  sickly  at  first* 
several  seeds  germinated  2 months  after  the  others. 
I Pot  fine  well-grown  healthy  plants  which  have 
now  '1  irnirs  of  primaries,  and  average  eight  inches 
n heiuht  I have  two  healthy  young  plants  with 
five  pairs  of  leaves,  and  one  sickly  plant  with  lour 
pair  of  leaves.  One  of  the  largest  plants  has 
Icen  planted  out  in  the  open  here  tor  some  months 
amon-  some  Arabian  and  Liberian  hybrids  fane  ro- 
amoiio  n,,noiitt  which  the  Sierra  Leone  plant 
'"'l  ^ IwLf  I an.  sending  all  the  plants,  except 
r,f  O.W  Sied  to  obovo,  to  bo  planted  In  Wyna.td, 
jySd  b=^,:^“f 
dllSt  to  beutve  tl.ilt  tl.o  Siom,  I.eone  plnnto  o«n 
Cliiucuit  lo  ordinary  crops,  it  is  so  much 
V fhan  the  smallest  Arabica  of  the  same  age.” 
smaller  ['nt  U.c  s^  received  from  Mr.  Woodrow 
Reports  1 Mrs.  11.  Munro, 
:"t''^.r25i^Erm;ry.l8>k;Mr  W.  Oollan; 
dated  i 7t,p  March:  and  Rev.  Richter, 
22nd  Eebruary  189.5,  stating  that  none 
of  the’  seeds  sent  gerininated.-fVocccdimy.v  A,jn-llor- 
licultund  Hocictij  of  Madras. 
Tree  Trunks  as  Filters. — “A  well-known  Austrian 
engineer,  M.  Efi.ster,”  says  the  llaUmaii  Itevien-,  “ is 
stated  to  have  discovered  a remarkable  property  of 
the  trunks  of  trees,  namely,  that  of  retaining  the 
salt  of  sea-water  that  has  filtered  through  the  trunk 
in  the  direction  of  the  fibres.  He  has  consequently 
constructed  an  apjiaratus  designed  to  utilise  this 
pioperty  in  obtaining  potable  water  for  the  use  of 
ships’  crews.  This  apparatus  consists  of  a pump, 
which  sucks  up  the  sea-water  into  a reservoir  and 
then  forces  it  into  the  filter  formed  by  the  tree 
trunk.  As  soon  as  the  pressure  reaches  L5  to  2'5 
atmospheres  the  w'ater  is  seen — at  the  end  of  from 
one  to  three  minutes,  according  to  the  kind  of  wood 
used — to  make  its  exit  from  the  other  extremity  of 
the  trunk,  at  first  in  drops  and  then  in  fine  streams, 
the  water  thus  filtered  being  potable,  freed,  in  fact, 
from  every  particle  of  the  usual  saline  taste  which 
is  such  a drawback  to  water  obtainable  by  ordinary 
manner. — Public  Opinion. 
The  “Indian  Forester.”— June  1895  has  for  con- 
tents ; — Original  Articles  and  Translations. — A Tour 
in  the  Landes  and  visit  to  the  French  resin  works, 
by  E.  McA.  Moir.  Note  on  the  Regulation  of  Forest 
Concessions  in  Oudh,  by  ‘O.C.’  The  quality  of  quickly 
grown  Teak-wood,  by  P.M.  Lushington.  Correspon- 
dence.— ’The  Legal  Position  of  Forest  Rights,  letter 
from  ‘ Seeding  of  the  Thorny  Bamboo, 
letter  from  T.F.  Bourdillon.  Official  Papers  and  In- 
telligence.— The  Resolution  on  Forest  Policy  : Circular 
letter  of  the  Inspector  General  of  Forests.  Reviews. — 
Forest  Administration  Reports  for  1893-94  forAjmere 
and  the  Forest  Surveys.  Report  on  the  Nagpur 
Experimental  Farm  for  1893-94.  Forest  Administra’ 
tion  in  Southern  Australia,  1893-94.  Shikar  and 
Travel.  Elephant  Catching  Operations — The  Sad 
Sequel.  Elephant  Catching,  letter  from  H B Bryant. 
Extracts,  Notes  and  Queries. — Obituary— H H Davis 
and  G A Richardson,  Death  of  a Cape  Forest  Officer, 
Walking  Sticks  and  Umbrella  Handles  from  New 
South  Wales,  by  -I  II  Maiden,  Consumption  of  'rimber 
in  the  British  Isles,  by  W R Fisher.  The  Whittall 
Memorial.  Timber  and  Produce  Trade. 
Till-;  Cost  ok  an  Indicateu  House- Poweh. 
— An  interesting  pajier  under  this  title  was  submit- 
ted at  the  recent  Montreal  meeting  of  the  Ameri- 
can Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers  by  DeCourcy 
May,  who  summarised  his  subject  in  the  following 
table,  showing  the  total  cost  of  1 I.  H.-P.  per  an- 
num for  various  engines  : — 
365  days  of 
308  daj's  of 
24  hours. 
10 J hours 
Kind  of  Engine. 
Coal 
per 
Coal 
per 
2,240  lb. 
2,2-10 
lb. 
Triple-expansion, 
$ 
$ 
$ 
pumping,  Allis,  20 
2 
3 
4 
5 
2 
3 
4 
5 
revs.  . . • 
48 
55 
61 
67 
31 
33 
35 
37 
Triple-expension, 
without  pumps. 
Allis,  .50  revs. 
27 
33 
39 
45 
16 
18 
20 
22 
Compound  mill,  best 
engine  . . 
29 
36 
44 
51 
17 
19 
21 
24 
Compound  mill 
average  . . 
39 
46 
52 
28 
22 
25 
28 
30 
Compound  electric 
light  average  ..) 
22 
i:49 
1.59 
174 
78 
84 
!W 
96 
Compound  trolley.. 
48 
58 
68 
79 
29 
32 
36 
39 
Triple-expansion 
trollery  . . 
45 
54 
64 
74 
26 
29 
33 
36 
Condensing  mill  .. 
45 
52 
61 
69 
25 
24 
33 
38 
Non-condensing,  .50 
to  200  horse-power. . 
70 
76 
81 
88 
49 
53 
57 
60 
The  figures  for  engines 
below  1 
50  II.. 
P.  VI 
irv 
so 
widely  that  they  have 
> been  omitted. 
The 
abov( 
2 table 
has  been  calculated,  says  the  New  York  Klectricihi.  as 
far  as  possible  from  actual  engines  running  under  ordi- 
nary conditions,  but  it  is  not  pretended  that  the 
figures  rc'present  true  average  values,  the  writer  not 
having  been  able  to  collect  information  from  a 
sufficient  number  of  cases.  The  engines  are  nearly 
all  high-class  and  of  largo  powers ; the  figures  in 
the  table  are  therefore  rather  below  than  above  tho 
average. 
