228 
THE  TROPICA! 
AGRICULTURIST. 
[Oct.  I,  1895. 
Oil,  Coconut  Large  quantities  produced  in  Trinidad. 
Bice  ..  Can  be  well  grown. 
Spices  ; 
Mace  'I 
Nutme;i!i  i 
Cloves  1 
Cinnamon 
Ginger 
Pepper 
Pepper  Long  _ 
Tamarinds  . . 
Topioca 
Tea 
Tobacco 
T urinenc 
Vanilla 
Bee’s  Tl'a-r  . . 
Wood  : 
Logwood 
Fustic 
Lancewood 
Mahogany 
Cedar 
Furniture 
Woods 
17/-  to  20/-  per  cwt. 
Made  from  Cassava  Starch,  could  be 
well  made  here  if  desirable. 
I don’t  think  we  can  compete  with 
Ceylon,  the  plant  grows  here,  but 
does  not  thrive. 
Good  Tobacc  j has  been  grown  here, 
and  Cigars  have  been  made  of  ex- 
cellent quality. 
Can  be  well  grown. 
Can  be  produced  of  good  quality. 
Honey  and  W'ax  both  produced  here. 
Can  all  be  well  grown. 
Purple  Heart, 
&c.  J . , . 
In  the  foregoing  list  I have  pointed  out  numerous 
articles  that  might  be  grown. 
The  circumstances  which  militate  most  against 
the  introduction  of  new  industries  are  those  which 
are  chiefly  generated  by  the  action  of  those  who 
monopolize  the  Major  Industries,  in  whose  hands 
for  the  part  rests  the  I.egislation  and  Government 
of  the  Colony.  Minor,  S ibsidiary  or  New  Industries 
having  always  (as  must  be  confessed  is  natural)  to 
take  a second  place.  Under  these  conditions,  it  is 
only  when  the  tide  turns,  that  they  receive  tho 
at-iAnMon  they  fu'ly  merit  as  industries  which  tend 
whmi  cabined  as"^  a whole,  to  the  stability  of  the 
Colony.  The  Botanical  Depart  ments  of  the  various 
colonies  are  always  ready  to  afford  the  planter  the 
benefit  of  any  knowledge  or  experienco  tliey  may 
have  obtained,  but  they  would  not  attempt  to  per- 
suade anyone  to  enter  into  cultivation  of  what  are 
called  “Minor  Industries,’’  if  the  larger  ones  pay 
them  better.  Most  certainly  and  emphatically  No! 
But  instead,  it  is  for  them  to  respectfully  duvet  the 
attention  of  all  planters  in  times  of  prosperity,  to 
all  such  industries  as  may  ke-cp  them  from  the 
serious  error  of  carrying  “all  their  eggs  in  one 
*^^Pwbably  the  most  encouraging  of  the  so  called 
“ minor  ’’  or  “ subsidiary  ’’  industries  are  :—Bnbhcrs, 
Fibres  Cola,  Puc-woods  and  Timbers. 
f-ibies,  voui,  j hart,  F.L.S, 
22nd  May,  18t)5. 
NYASSALAND  AND  ITS  RESOURCES. 
(From  a Gorrespondoit.) 
COKFEE-PLAXTINO. 
Coffee-planting,  although  still  in  its  infancy,  may 
he  looked  upon  as  the  chief  cause  and  support  of 
mir  nrosperity  in  Central  Africa.  . Nyassaland  coffee 
Ust  vear  fetched  the  highest  price  in  the  London 
Market  The  prospects  of  coffee-planting  m British 
Central  Africa  are  excellent  at  present,  and  the  in- 
dnstrv  will  have  a great  future,  when  more  capital 
has  found  its  way  into  the  country,  hven  now, 
compared  with  coffee-planting  in  India.  Its  culti- 
vXoD  in  Nyassaland  offers  advantages  to  the  planter. 
The  conditions  of  the  country  would  seem  to  be 
admirably  suited  to  coffee.  There  is  an  abundance 
of  running  water  in  all  the  coffee  districts.  This  is 
absolute  necessity  for  the  washing  process  The 
feHile  slopes  of  the  Shird  Highlands  and  Mlange 
iS  with  a rich  soil  which  contains  ever/ 
element  necessary  for  the  healthy  growth  of  the 
plant,  and  as  yet  the  coffee  disease  has  not  made 
its  way  into  the  interior,  although  it  has  appeared 
on  the  coast  of  German  East  Africa  and  in  Natal. 
CHEAP  LAIIOUK. 
The  greatest  advantage  of  coffee-planting  in  Cen- 
tral Africa  is  the  abundance  of  cheap  local  labour. 
Tlanta'ion  work  is  very  popular  with  the  natives 
who  live  in  the  neighbourhood  of  coffee  estates,  while 
now  that  the  country  is  quiet,  people  will  come  on 
foot  for  hundreds  of  miles  to  obtain  work.  Under 
their  capitaos  or  native  niaestries,  many  of  whom 
come  from  curious  little  colony  of  Mahomedans  on 
the  Lake,  the  coolies  are  admirably  workers,  steady, 
willing,  industrious,  and  extremely  cheap,  Ha.  fid.  a 
month  being  the  cost  of  each  adult  male  cooly  to 
the  planter.  Land,  of  course,  is  excessively  cheap, 
and  a plantation  cleared  in  May  is  planted  the  fol- 
lowing December,  the  planter  getting  his  first  crops 
at  the  beginning  of  the  third  year,  while  in  the 
fourth  he  may  reasonably  hope  for  a large  return 
for  his  outlay.  At  present  only  the  washing  and 
pulping  is  done  in  the  country,  as  there  is  no 
machinery  lor  peeling  and  garbling  in  Central  Africa, 
but  some  energetic  planters  have  already  set  on  foot 
plans  for  importing  all  the  necessary  machinery, 
which  will  shortly  be  established  at  Torona.  At  pre* 
sent  the  porterage  is  the  difficulty.  Parts  of  the 
Shir6  above  Chiromo  are  unnavigable,  and  now  the 
whole  of  the  exports  and  imports  of  Central  Africa 
are  carried  on  the  heads  of  native  porters,  some 
10,080  natives  being  engaged  in  the  transport  of  goods. 
TRANSPORT  DIFFICULTIES. 
They  are,  however,  difficult  to  obtain,  though 
cheap.  The  great  want  of  the  coffee  planter  is  . 
railway  from  Chiromo  to  Blautyre ; and  it  is  easy  to 
understand  that  those  who  have  had  the  fruits  of 
years  of  waiting  and  toil,  detained  perhaps  for  six 
months  oii  the  Shire  bank  waiting  for  coolies, 
w’ould  gladly  pay  double  to  ensure  their  safe  and 
speedy  transport  by  rail.  It  is  in  fact  a matter 
of  life  and  death  to  the  planter  to  get  his  produce 
out  of  t’ne  country  before  the  heav3'  rains  set  in  in 
November.  It  will,  however,  not  be  long  before  this 
dream  is  realised,  as  a company  has  alreidy  been 
for.ned,  and  a railway  will  shortly  be  laid  down 
from  Chiromo  to  Blautyre,  which,  it  is  hoped,  wi'l 
soon  be  extended  to  Matope,  higher  up  the  river. 
CLIMATE. 
The  SliiiA  Highlands,  with  Blautyre  and  the  Mlange 
Districts,  are  at  present  the  chief  seats  of  coffee- 
planting, and  both  are  admirably  adapted  for  coloni- 
sation; these  districts  being  over,  .5,000  feet  in  latitude, 
while  parts  of  Mlange  reach  10,000  feet.  The  upper 
Mlange  plateau  is  very  wet,  with  a rainfall  of  nearly 
75  inches ; otherwise  the  climate  is  perfection,  as 
regards  temperature,  and  very  bracing.  The  S.  W. 
plateau  has  the  makings  of  an  ideal  sanitarium.  Its 
clear  air  and  exhilarating  climate  would  give  new- 
life  to  the  visitor  from  the  heated  plains,  and  its 
acres  of  rolling  grass  land  afford  excellent  pasturage 
for  horses,  cattle,  and  sheep,  which  thrive  there. 
Many  European  vegetables  will  grow  there.  It 
would,  in  short,  be  a favoured  hill  station,  which 
would  eclipse  any  in  India,  except  perhaps  Ootaca- 
mund,  surrounded  as  it  would  be  by  breezy  downs, 
with  a splendid  natural  race-course  and  polo-ground, 
and  all  these  advantages  being  obtainable  within 
two  days  of  Blantyre. 
HOW  THE  COFFEE  TREE  BEAK.'<. 
There  are,  however,  some  difficulties  to  be  over- 
come as  regards  Central  African  coffee-planting.  The 
coffee  shrub,  although  a native  of  Africa,  is  not 
found  wild  in  Nyassaland,  and  does  not  grow  there  yet 
as  it  should,  and  as  it  grows  in  Ceylon.  In  Central 
Africa  the  tree  at  its  first  bearing  produces  an  en- 
ormous crop  of  berries  on  the  horizontal  branches, 
but  these  then  die  off,  and  the  tree,  though  it  in- 
creases in  height,  bears  very  little  more.  It  is  then 
cut  down,  and  at  least  two  years  must  ensue  before 
tho  new  shoots  make  their  appearance  on  tho  old 
roots.  It  is,  however,  hoped  that  by  some  ue^ 
