250 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Oct.  I,  1895. 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  twenty-five  cent  per  pound 
in  drums  tor  several  years,  during  which  tiiere  was 
a steady  increase  in  the  exports  from  Oeylon,  it  is 
among  the  possibilities  that  tne  natives,  now  that  they 
are  sure  of  a large  and  increasing  outlet  for  their  pro- 
, arp  dc''irn'is  of  obtaining  ahigher  price  than  they 
1...;  iu  ciisii'incd  I0,  01',  pcrhaj's,  they  cannot 
keep  pace  wiui  lae  luciease  in  the  demand.  At  any 
rate,  t he  indications  point  to  a further  advance  in 
the  price  before  a decline  occurs. 
We  append  a table  which,  with  the  single  exception 
of  the  last  line,  was  compiled  from  the  United  States 
Government  reports,  and  includes  lemon-grass  oil, 
but  as  there  is  comparatively  a small  amount  of  this 
oil  imported  the  figures  will  serve  our  purpose,  as 
indicating  the  growth  of  the  industry.  The  figures 
in  the  last  line  represent  the  importation  of  citro- 
nella  oil  alone : 
IMPOUTS  OF  CITRONELL.V  OIIi  INTO  THE  UNITED  STATES. 
July  1 to  June  30. 
Pounds. 
Value. 
1889-90 
174,457 
P9,818 
1890-91 
356,735 
73,764 
1891-92 
..  477,623 
113,750 
1892-93 
411,151 
86,924 
1893-94 
274,279 
56,811 
1894-95 
743,663 
.... 
— Oil  Paint  and  Drui)  ltei>ort. 
AN  IMPORTANT  PEAT  INUUSTY. 
THE  MOSS  LITTER  AND  PEAT  INUl'TRIES  : MU.  W. 
LAINCl  M.ALCOLMSON  AG.UN  TO  THE  FRONT. 
The  prospectus  of  this  promising  company  has 
now  been  issued  to  the  public.  The  capital  is 
225,000/ in  U shares.  The  vendors  take  75,000  fully-paid 
shares  in  part  payment  of  the  purchase  considera- 
tion, this,  be  it  noted,  being  the  largest  amount 
they  are  allowed  to  take  under  the  rules  of  the 
Stock  Exchange.  The  balance — 150,000 — are  now 
offered  for  subscription.  This  Company  has  been 
formed  of  the  purpose  of  acquiring  and  dealing 
with  peat  deposits,  works,  machinery  and  plant ; 
also  the  valuable  patents  and  patent  right  (with 
all  future  improvements)  for  tne  treatment  of 
peat  and  peat  fibre,  which  are  now  the  pro- 
perty of  the  Peat  Industries  Syndicate  and  of  W. 
Laing  Malcolmson,  and  for  the  purpose  of  establish- 
ing and  devoloping  these  industries  inEngland,  Ireland, 
and  Scotland.  Forty-three  patents  have  already  been 
granted  for  the  following  countries  : — Great  Britain 
and  Ireland,  France,  Germany,  Belgium,  Sweden  and 
Norway,  Denmark,  Austro-Hungary,  Russia,  Spain, 
Italy,  the  United  States  of  America,  and  Canada. 
The  peat  moors,  1,757  acres  in  extent,  with  the  fully- 
equipped  freehold  moss-litter  factory,  are  situate  at 
Schoeningsdorf,  near  Meppen,  Hanover,  and  the  two 
fully-equipped  factories  for  ti  e treatment  of  fibre  and 
agglomerated  materials  (the  principal  of  which  is  free- 
hold) at  Maastricht,  Holland,  and  the  depots  at  Lingen, 
Dedemswaart,  and  Paris.  The  prospectus  would  seem 
to  indicate  that  the  company  has  excellent  prospects 
of  making  a very  respectable  profit  out  of  the  enter- 
prise, and  shareholders  who  now  take  the  advantage  of 
the  present  opportunity  or  taking  up  shares  are  not 
likely  to  regret  it. — Colonies  and  India. 
Mr.  Chamberlain’.®  Railway  Policy.— In 
answer  to  our  application  to  a good  authority, 
we  have  the  following  satisfactory  expression  of 
opinion  : — 
“You  ask  me  what  I think  will  be  Chamberlain’s 
railway  policy.  I think  that  wherever  it  is  shown 
that  the  safeguarding  of  the  Empire  or  the  exten- 
sion of  its  Commerce  needs  the  construction  of  a 
line  of  railway.  Imperial  assistance  in  so  far  as  it 
depends  on  Mr.  C.  and  his  colleagues  will  be  given, 
and  given  with  a promptness  and  liberality  to  which 
up  to  date  we  have  not  been  accustomed.” — Reuter’s 
report  of  Mr.  Curzgii's  speech  published  in  our 
Saturday's  issue  points  emphatically  in  the  same 
direction. 
SUGAR  PJ.ANTING  IN  GUATEMALA. 
A successful  coffee  planter  of  Guatemala,  Mr. 
Leodore  Engelhardt,  has  gone  to  Germany  to 
purchase  an  outfit  for  a sugar  house.  To  a repre- 
sentative of  the  New  Orleans  I'icaijune  has  said : 
“ Guatemala  is  one  of  the  best  countries  in  the 
world  for  the  cultivation  of  sugar  cane.  There  is 
never  any  danger  of  freezes,  and  the  cane  grows 
very  large.  It  is  an  ordinary  thing  to  see  a stalk 
20  foot  high,  with  the  thickness  of  a man’s  {vrm.  In 
addition  to  its  bulk,  the  cane  is  exceedingly  juicy. 
It  is  my  intention  to  purchase  machinery  for  a mill 
that  will  grind  1,500,000  pounds  per  annum.  The 
cane  grows  down  there  with  slight  cultivation,  labour 
is  cheap  and  the  market  accessible  on  account  of  gojd 
railroad  facilities.” 
Mr.  Engelhardt  also  intends  to  cultivate  Indian 
corn,  as  ihe  supply  of  it  in  Guatemala  does  not 
equal  the  demand.  The  people  have  found  coffee 
so  profitable  they  have  been  contented  to  pay  high 
prices  for  corn.  One  hundred  pounds  of  corn,  he 
says,  is  worth  $6  in  Guatemala  money,  which  is  about 
|3  in  the  currency  of  the  United  States.  He  believes 
that  money  can  be  made  from  the  cultivation  of 
the  soil  adapted  to  corn,  and  intends  to  send  down 
about  thirty  Louisiana  negroes  to  do  the  work  in  the 
fields.  The  natives  are  too  lazy,  and  one  good 
negro  from  the  States  does  the  work,  without  com- 
plaint, of  more  than  half  a dozen  of  the  labourers  of 
Guatemala.  The  soil  produces  three  crops  of  corn 
in  one  year. 
PL.ANTING  IN  SELANGOR.— THE  RECENT 
LAND  SALE. 
This  is  for  the  eye  of  the  new  Resident-General 
of  the  Native  States  who  will  doubtless  quite  see  the 
force  of  the  plea  that  whatever  be  the  fortunes  of 
mining,  planting  is  the  industry  which  should  receive 
every  possible  facility,  encouragement,  and  actual  as- 
sistance. A correspondent  writes  . — We  have  had 
a spell  of  fine  planting  weather,  which  has  been 
taken  advantage  of.  The  land  sale  at  Klang  on  Mon- 
day last  was  fairly  attended,  but  prices  would  have 
been  far  lower  all  round  but  for  the  receipt  of  Mr. 
Forsythe’s  commission  to  buy,  just  at  the  last  mo- 
ment. The  Selangor  Government  ought  to  employ 
half-a-dozen  extra  surveyors,  if  only  temporarily,  and 
after  selecting  an  expanse  of  good  land,  have  it  all 
cut  up  in  blocks  ready  for  sale,  so  that  newcomers 
might  have  a chance  of  getting  what  they  want  at 
once,  without  having  to  wait  an  indefinite  period 
for  the  next  sale.  It  is  in  matters  of  this  sort  that 
the  Government  policy  errs  on  the  side  of  economy, 
though  any  amount  of  money  is  always  available  for 
building,  and  so  on.  The  extra  premium  resulting 
from  competition  at  these  sales  is  a mere  fleabite, 
and  if  the  Government  were  content  to  get  settlers, 
looking  to  the  future  for  their  reward  in  the  shape 
of  a swelling  revenue,  instead  of  adopting  their  pre- 
sent skin  flint  policy  of  auctioning,  say  3,000  acres 
when  5,000  or  0,000  would  be  taken  up  and  opened 
if  obtainable  on  easier  terms,  it  would  be  far  better 
for  the  country. — -S'.  I.  Press. 
ClIEAR  TRANSLORT  AND  HotV  'JO  (iET  IT.  — Mr. 
Davis-Allen  favours  ns  (see  page  '2o\)  witli  another 
of  his  instructive  pai»ers,  this  time  dealing  with 
gauge  in  reference  to  curvature  and  gradient. 
It  will  well  repay  [lernsal.  One  question  arises 
as  to  the  advantage  of  the  greater  boiler-space 
available  on  a broad-gauge  in  elinibing  a heavy 
gradient.  We  travelled  on  the  Lb'ccmhuid  narrow- 
g.ange  in  1870  and  our  train — it  did  not  seem  a 
long  one — had  .some  difliculty  in  getting  up  the 
inclines:  there  were  not  a feu  nnnsnal  stoppage.s. 
Rut  it  is  possible  the  engine  was  to  blame.  Great 
improvements  in  locomotiies  ha\e  been  efl'ected 
within  the  jiast  25  years.  The  t^neensland  narrow 
lines  were  designed  by  Mr.  h'itzgibbon  wlio  was 
third  on  the  original  Ceylon  Railway  St.alf  in  bir 
Henry  Ward’s  time,  while  we  found  the  then  Chief 
Engineer,  Mr.  W.  T.  Doyne,  in  1 870,  busy  engineer- 
ing the  first  railway  in  Tasmania. 
