Sept.  2,  1895.]  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
203 
VARIOUS  PLANTING  NOTES. 
Sf.ed-Gkkmination. — It  has  been  ascoitaiiicd  by  an 
extended  scries  of  experiments  that  rye  and  winter- 
wheat  will  germinate  in  soil  the  temperature 
of  which  is  as  low  as  32  degrees.  Barley,  oats, 
fliCx,  clover,  and  peas  will  sprout  at  35  degrees.  The 
turnip  is  as  cold-olooded  as  the  rye  and  winter  wheat, 
but  the  carrot  needs  38  degrees,  and  the  bean  40 
degrees  before  they  will  make  the  initial  effort  to 
send  the  life-shoot  in  search  of  air  and  light. — Home 
Tobacco  in  Nohth  Borneo. — In  North  Borneo  on 
the  receipt  of  news  of  the  very  low  prices  fetched 
for  last  season’s  tobacco  quite  a stir  was  cr-eated  in 
the  colony.  It  is  surmised  in  some  quarters  that  the 
Bornean  leaf  was  really  worth  a good  deal  more  than 
it  fetched,  and  that  the  cause  of  all  this  disappoint- 
ment is  attributable  to  the  manoeuvres  of  a powerful 
Dutch  “ring”  which  is  believed  to  be  doing  its  utmost 
to  “smash”  the  Borneo  tobacco  trade  and  then  buy 
up  the  estates  cheap  when  the  worst  comes  to  the 
worst. — PiiunKj  Gazette. 
Tob.acco  .at  Tuincomalie. — Tobacco  now  being 
cured,  has  been  grown  extensively  this  year  at 
Nilavclli,  where  Mr.  Alvapillai  of  Ploly,  better  known 
by  the  very  familiar  name  of  Muthalaliyar,  there 
owns  several  acres  of  tobacco  lands.  In  consequence 
of  the  increased  demands  yearly  for  jungle  lands  at 
Nilavelli  for  growing  tobacco,  the  Government  has 
already  surveyed  several  lots  of  ground  there,  and 
has  notified  the  sale  of  a few  plots  early  in  May 
ensuing.  The  acre  rate,  it  is  thought,  will  range  be- 
tween thirty  and  sixty  rupees. — Cor.,  Local  “ Times.” 
They  ai-peau  to  have  a rough  and  ready  way  of 
TREATING  Tea  On  its  Way  dowii  from  Sylhet.  A plan- 
ter noticed  the  other  day  that  some  forty  cnests 
of  tea — his  tea  which  were  packed  in  front  of  the  saloon 
were  getting  wet.  An  official  noticed  it  too,  and 
had  them  covered  up  with  an  old  purdah,  which  was 
secured  to  the  boxes  by  nails  driven  into  them. 
As  the  nails  were  two  inches  long,  of  course  they 
pierced  the  lead.  The  advantages  of  the  metal  tea 
chest  are  apparently  quite  realised  by  Sylhet  and 
other  nothern  planters,  but  they  are  afraid  to  use 
them  on  account  of  the  rough  treatment  they  will 
have  to  put  up  with.  It  is  a wonder  the  planters 
stand  this  sort  of  thing.— -Boiiihaii  Gazette. 
Notes  from  Upper  Burma. — A former  Ceylon  man 
writes  to  a contemporary  from  Upper  Burma: — “I 
have  been  over  two  months  in  Burma  now,  and  have 
managed  to  travel  more  than  1,500  miles,  and  have 
seen  a lot  of  -varied  country.  The  farthest  point  north 
I have  reached  is  Shwedwin,  688  miles  from  Mandalay 
by  boat.  I had  some  fair  shooting — sambur,  wild  duck, 
goose,  and  peacock;  also  saw  tracks  of  bison  and 
elephant,  but  had  no  time  to  follow  these  up.  All 
the  country  up  there  is  more  or  less  hilly,  and  looked 
the  very  spot  for  tea  and  coffee — plenty  of  water 
and  big  tiniber,  and  the  rainfall  about  equal  to  some 
Earts  of  Kotmale  and  the  country  round  Kandy ; 
ut  the  difficulties  of  labour  and  transport  I am  afraid, 
could  not  be  got  over.  Freight  by  river  steamers  is 
enormous,  and  is  more  or  less  a monopoly  of  the 
Irrawaddy  Flotilla  Company,  Limited.” 
Tea:  an  Outcome  of  tne  overproduction  scare  has 
been  the  envy  with  which  tea  planters  have  come 
to  look  on  the  millions  of  people  in  India  who  should 
be,  but  are  not,  tea-bibbers.  Sever.il  suggestions 
have  recently  appeared  for  capturing  the  Indian  taste 
among  which  w-as  the  issue  of  free  samples.  It  is 
realized  now,  however,  that  that  this  would  be  rather 
an  expensive  experiment,  while  another  point  w'hich 
has  impi’essed  itself  on  enthusiasts  is  that  it  would 
be  fatal  to  create  a demand  for  highclass  tea  at  low 
prices.  The  idea  apparently  is  to  teach  the  native 
to  drink  tea,  the  cheapest  kind  for  choice,  and  then 
to  feed  the  taste  with  stuff  that  will  suit  the  depth 
of  his  pocket.  One  curious  suggestion  for  arousing 
a passion  for  tea  is  to  supply  the  jails  free  for  a 
time,  and  to  sell  the  tea  later  on  at  low  rates.  This 
is  beginning  at  the  bottom  of  the  social  ladder  with 
a vengeance!  It  would  be  no  had  idea  to  subsidise 
public  places  of  amusement  to  hand  round  tea  free 
of  charge  on  feast  occasions  and  to  advertise  it  as 
a fine  medicine  against  certain  prevalent  disorders. — 
M.  Times,  .July  11. 
The  “Agricultural  Gazette”  of  New  South 
Wales,  Vol.  VI.  Part  5.  May,  1895.  Contents: — 
Useful  .'Vustruliiiii  Plants,  Beech  or  White  Beech, 
(Gmelwa  Leu-hhanUii,  F.  v.  M.),  .1  II  Midden  ; Weeds  of 
New  .South  Wales,  Part  III.— Digests  of  Reports  from 
Country  Districts  (continued),  .)  H Maiden ; Botanical 
Notes,  Yorkshire  Fog  (IIuIcks  laiiata.'i,  Linn.);  Is  Goodia 
Poi.sonous  to  Stock  ?;  Riinge  of  Maiiea  vitkasis,  Benth, 
J H ^laulen  ; Winter  and  8nniiner  Protection  for  Bees, 
A.  Gale  ; Report  on  ;ui  Investigation  into  the  Potiito 
Diseases  prevalent  in  the  Clarence  River  District,  R Helms  ; 
Prospects  of  the  Frozen  Meat  Trade  on  tlie  Continent 
of  Europe,  A Bruce  ; Beef-jiroducing  Breeds  of  Cattle, 
.1  L Thompson  ; New  .South  Wales  Tobiicco  in  London 
C R Valentine  ; E.xport  of  Poultry  to  England,  C R 
Valentine  ; PraeticiU  Vegetalile  ;ihd  Flower  Crowing, 
Directions  for  tlie  month  of  .June  ; Orchard  Notes  for  .June  ’; 
General  Notes,  Warning  to  Fruit  Exporters : Abortion  in’ 
Cows  ; Remedies  for  Plant  Diseases  ; To  Destroy  Stumps 
of  Trees ; Opium  Poiipy ; I.ist  of  Agricultural  Societies’ 
shows,  180.a. 
“Lauv  Bhuls  ” AND  Coffee  in  Hawaii.— 
The  following  is  on  the  whole  enconraging  for 
Mr.  Green’s  e.xperimeiit  : — 
“ A report  from  the  Kona  Coffee  Association, 
states  that  the  blight  still  threateHS  to  .seriously  in- 
jure the  coffee  cst.ates  in  that  district,  owing  to  the 
tact  that  the  lady  liirds  prefer  the  guava  buslie.s  to 
the  coffee  trees,  both  being  affected  in  the  same  waj' 
with  the  blight.  The  report  assigns  as  a probable 
reason  for  this  preference  for  the  guava  bushes,  the 
fact  that  the  latter  furnish  a better  breeding  place 
for  the  larva.  If  this  he  so,  the  trouble  will  only 
be  a temporary  one,  as  the  lady  birds  must  .soon 
increase  in  such  numbers  as  to  cover  all  the 
bushes  and  trees  in  the  district  that  furnish  food 
for  them.  In  other  words,  it  is  a question  of 
owit  ; but  whether  the  planters  can  afford  to 
mile  .so  long  is  quite  another  matter — one  of 
dtaalrs  and  cents,  as  well  .os  jiatience.” — Honolulu 
Planters  Monthly,  for  June. 
Tea  Cultiv.vtion  in  Java.— It  will  be  seen 
from  the  figures  we  append  that  .Java  last  year 
sent  to  Europe  over  8^  million  lb  of  tea.  The 
Bataviaasek  Nienu/sblad  states  that  the  cultiva- 
tion of  tea  is  extending  more  and  more  in  the 
Preanger.  Tea  is  gradually  taking  the  place  of 
coffee  and  cinchona  on  the  old  plantations  of 
Pandan  Aroca  belonging  to  Mr.  Massink,  Tji- 
w'angi  owmed  by  Mr.  Biiigley,  North  Tjeinpaka 
belonging  to  Mr.  Holland,  and  on  Passia  Telaga 
Warna ; Avhicli  new  jdantations  have  been  opened 
on  the  estates  of  Tjidiangkar,  Goenoeng  Be.sir 
and  on  a piece  belonging  to  Mr.  v.an  der  Sinillie. 
All  tlie.se  estates  lie  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Goenoeng  Kosa.  In  the  Bandong  district  also 
new'  tea  plantations  are  being  cultivated  : inter 
alia  Mr.  A.  Mohr  has  bought  a large  lot  in  the 
neiglibourliood  of  the  Kadjaniandala  from  the 
N.  I.  Handelsbank,  and  Mr.  Furtli  i.s  busy  with 
a new'ly  opened  plantation. 
The  Exports  of  Tea  from  Java  to  Holland 
and  England  for  the  eleven  yeais  1884-94  have 
been  as  follows  : — 
To  llollanil. 
To  Englaml. 
Kilograms. 
Eng.  lb. 
Kilogvams. 
1884. 
788,903  = 
1,735,586 
1,071,381 
188.). 
750,440 
1,6.50,981 
1 ,7O->,850 
1880. 
. 1,071,804 
2, 364, .568 
2,084,09.8 
1687. 
. 1,399,999 
3,079,997 
],. 539,477 
1888. 
. 1,635,676 
3,598,487 
1,603,812 
1889. 
. 1,461,037 
8,214,281 
1,821,579 
1890. 
. 1,376,041 
3,027,290 
1,250,093 
1891. 
857,616 
1,886,535 
1,782,919 
1892. 
. 2,097,444 
4,614,372 
],897,.535 
1893. 
. 1,905,804 
4,192,768 
1,979,246 
1894. 
. 2,495,209 
5,489,459 
1,311,208 
15,812,879  = 
34,S51,.324 
18,9.56,858 
Euff.  lb 
4,343,633 
3,762,870 
4.586.335 
8,386,849 
3.528.336 
4,007,473 
2,763,404 
3,922,421 
4,174,577 
4,354,:I4I 
2,884,789 
41,705,083 
A Dividend  of  35  per  cent  has  been  declared  by  the 
Iliudoo  Tea  Company,  Limited,  for  the  year  1894,  and 
is  payable  to  the  sluuebolders  at  the  Company’s  regis- 
tered office  at  Darjeeling. — hulian  Planters’  Gazette. 
