Oct.  I,  1895.]  THE  TROPICAl.  AGRlCUI/l'URIST. 
261 
Fruit  Farmlvg  ix  Caufornia.— Mr.  J. 
Macdonald,  ill  a paper— in  the  National  Review— 
entitled  “ Tlie  Fruit  Fanning  Fiasco  in  California,” 
pours  cold  water  upon  the  glowing  pictures  of  fruit 
fanning  i>ros))erity,  and  e.vplains  that  fruit  fanning 
is  very  hard  work,  and  yields  very  little  profit  : — 
While  California  is  not  the  “ poor  man’s  paradise  ” 
which  it  is  often  represented  to  be,  it  is  in  many  respects 
a good  country,  and  there  are  many  good  people  in  it. 
One  would  naturally  imagine  that  in  a country 
of  such  extended  area,  with  a population  less  than 
that  of  Chicago,  a man  willing  to  work  should  have  no 
difficulty  in  getting  employment,  but  there  is  no  State 
in  the  Union  in  which  the  labour  market  is  more  con- 
gested, and  it  is  far  easier  to  get  steady,  continuous 
employment  in  Chicago  than  in  California.  Liv- 
ing, however,  in  cheap  in  California,  and  the 
luxuries  of  life  are  abundant.  The  fruit  industry  has 
been  overdone,  and  the  supply  is  greater  than  the  de- 
mand. The  country  has  been  over-boomed,  and  is 
suflering  from  the  reaction  which  follows  that  artificial 
mode  of  stimulation. 
Kanora  Valuev  Teas  Marked  “ D,\r.jeei.- 
ING.” — A merchant  calls  attenticn  to  the  “ gene- 
ral” paragrajih  of  Mes.srs.  Alfreil  Harvey 
& Co.’s  Melbourne  Tea  Report — see  another 
column — in  which  we  are  told  of  “an  increas- 
ing number  of  poor  Kangra  Valley  and 
kindred  growths  boldly  marked  Darjeeling”; 
and  then  tlie  Melbourne  firm  adds: — “It  is  al- 
most a pity  some  of  the  more  venturesome 
shippers  do  not  send  these  via  Colombo,  marked 
with  some  crack  Ceylon  garden,  and  so  avoid 
injuring  the  g)od  name  of  one  of  their  best  dis- 
tricts.” Of  course  this  is  meant  as  “a  goak” 
by  Messrs.  Alfred  Harvey  v'c  Co.;  but  in  our 
estimation,  it  is  a very  sorry  if  not  stupid  one  ; 
for  they  must  know  tliat  any  one  putting  the 
name  of  “a  crack  Ceylon  garden”  on  tea  that 
did  not  belong  to  it,  would  run  the  risk  of  an 
action  at  law  ; and  (2)  tliat  as  tea  is  dealt  with 
on  its  merits  in  Melbourne  quite  as  much  as 
in  London,  no  one  is  likely  to  be  deceived  by 
“Darjeeling”  or  other  highly  esteemed  marks 
on  poor  teas.  Ceylon  cert.ainly  cannot  throw  a 
stone  at  poor  Kangra  Valley  teas  ; in  view  of 
the  considerable  (|uantity  of  inferior  quality  tea 
produced  in  this  island  as  London  and  Melbourne 
as  well  as  local  prices  show. 
An  Interesting  Factory. — Fray-Bentos  which  is 
about  45  miles  distant.  I daresay  most  people  have 
heard  of  Liebig’s  factory  of  Extract  of  Beef  and 
this  is  the  spot  where  the  factory  is  situated.  Be- 
fore the  factory  was  opened,  this  place  was  a small 
fishing  village.  It  was  founded  by  a friar,  “ Fray- 
Bcneto.”  The  factory  stands  on  a bluff  overlooking 
the  Uruguay  which  flows  about  a mile  from 
the  town.  In  the  season,  which  lasts  about  five 
months,  Liebig’s  Extract  of  Meat  Compony  here 
kill  1,000  cattle  daily,  and  each  carcase  gives  usually 
about  8 lb.  of  beef  extract.  The  factory  employs 
about  800  men,  the  staff  including  manager,  clerks, 
engineei's,  tinsmiths,  carpenters,  physician,  and. 
school  teachers.  Capital  schoolrooms  are  provided 
and  there  are  two  reading-rooms  and  an  excellent 
library.  During  my  stay  the  killing  season  was  in 
full  force,  and  in  one  day  I saw  1,300  head  of  cattle 
killed.  The  rapidity  with  which  it  is  done  is  re- 
markable. The  average  time  of  killing,  skinning,  and 
cutting  up  each  animal  being  only  seven  minutes. 
The  killing  process  is  very  good,  far  better  than 
that  practised  at  home.  The  Liebig’s  Company 
import  about  10,000  tons  o!  coal  yearly  for  the  sole 
use  of  this  factory.  Mr.  Gunther,  a German,  is  the 
manager,  and  gave  us  some  good  partridge  shooting, 
but  the  moquitoes  were  so  bad  that  we  had  to  stop 
and  take  refuge  in  the  nearest  house.  At  lengtii 
the  river  rose  some  six  feet  which  enabled  me  to 
leave  for  Praysandu,  a town  about  58  miles  from 
here.— Commander  Neeld  Qi  H.M.S.  “ Beagle.”— 7'/(e 
Devices  Qaaette, 
Sir  Water  Sendall— so  long’  and  lionovably 
connected  with  the  Puldic  Instruction  Depart- 
ment of  Ceylon — ha.s  been  interviewed  by  tlie 
Weatiulnster  Budget  on  the  subject  of  “ Cyjn’n.s  ” 
and  the  result  is  a very  interesting  jiaper  which 
will  be  found  in  our  Tropiced  Agrirulhirid. 
Auulterated  Vanilla.— a colonial  merchant  M. 
Gaston  Baraton,  appeared  at  one  of  the  Paris 
police  courts  a few  days  ago,  on  a charge  of  selling 
adulterated  vanilla.  He  had  disposed  of  a consider- 
able quantity  of  vanilla  in  both  Paris  and  Antwerp 
which  had  previously  been  treated  with  ground 
glass,  as  a means  of  increasing  its  marketable 
value.  M.  Baraton  protested,  in  defence,  that  he 
had  merely  used  boric  acid  for  the  manipulation  in 
question,  and  as  evidence  of  the  quality  of  his  por- 
clucts  showed  the  awards  that  had  been  given  him 
at  various  exhibitions.  He  was  condemned  to  six 
months’  imprisonment,  and  to  pay  a fine  of  l,000f. 
{\Ql).—  (.'hemisf  and  Dniggist,  Aug.  31. 
The  Colomho  Tea  Market  undoubtedly  de- 
serves the  more  liberal  support  of  our  planters, 
.seeing  tlie  e.xeeedingly  good  jirices  which  have 
recently  been  obtained  there.  When  a lowcountry 
estate  Broken  Pekoe  .sells  at  over  70  cents  jier 
lb.  apart  from  other  very  satisfactory  sales,  u’e 
should  expect  very  considerable  additions  to 
the  quantity  sent  to  the  Colombo  mart.  Our 
new  buyers  naturally  want  larger  sales,  and  Instead 
of  5,000  would  like  to  see  10,000  chests  brought  for- 
ward M-eekly.  Mr.  Lampard  has  a strong  opinion 
that  a great  deal  more  might  be  done  in  deve- 
loping the  llussian  and  other  foreign  markets 
direct  from  Colomho,  if  we  had  bigger  .sales  and 
a more  liberal  ]jo!iey  all  round.  His  views  well 
de.serve  the  attention  of  the  “Committee  of 
Thirty”  and  Tea  Traders’  As.soeiation. 
Bananas  in  the  United  States.— The 
Amcvican  Grocer  .shows  that  the  imjiorts  of  bana- 
nas into  the  United  States  are  equal  to  one 
million  pounds  sterling  per  annum  !; — 
The  imports  of  bananas  for  the  past  five  years  were 
valued  at  f25,99‘2,483,  or  an  annual  average  of 
$5,198,497.  In  1884  the  value  of  the  imports  was  only 
$1,892,013.  Since  then  there  has  been  a steady  in- 
crease every  year  until  1891,  the  maximum  year,  as  the 
following  table  shows  : — 
1884 
1885 
1886 
1887 
$1,892,013 
2,146,114 
2,357,663 
2,729,477 
1888 
1889 
1890 
1891 
$3,157,989 
3,578,325 
4,654,048 
5,855,682 
The  banana  has  steadily  grown  in  popular  favor.  It 
is  nutritious,  palatable,  cheap  and  of  great  value  as 
food.  It  is  wiihin  easy  reach  of  the  poorest.  For  a 
nickel  a day  each  member  of  a family  of  five  may  enjoy 
a ripe  banana  of  good  size  and  quality. 
Pl.-vnting  in  Central  Africa.— In  Mr.  Alexander 
Whyte’s  report  on  the  botanical  aspect  of  the  region 
over  which  he  exercises  influence  in  British  Central 
Africa — principally  the  Shire  Highlands — it  is  stated 
that  when  European  implements  arc  placed  in  the 
hands  of  the  natives,  they  make  good  field  labourers 
while  w'iihoneor  two  exceptions  all  European  vege- 
tables do  well,  their  pletiful  supply  contributing 
materially  to  maintain  the  health  of  the  whites  at 
the  various  stations.  English  potato  tubers  were 
spoiled  in  transit  by  the  extreme  heat;  but  by  a 
little  management  excellent  potatoes  wore  raised 
from  seed,  and,  as  Mr.  Whyte  points  oat,  the  result 
is  that  the  plants  now  growing  are  practically  in- 
digenous. Tnoy  show  no  signs  of  disease,  and  are 
not  so  liable  to  degenerate  as  the  offspring  of  Eng- 
lish tubers  would  be.  A large  number  of  other 
economic  and  ornamental  plants  are  also  flourishing 
among  them  wheat,  barley,  oats,  lobelias,  roses, 
pinks,  balsams,  phlox  mignonette,  and  so  forth.  In 
fact,  the  Briti.sh  settler  in  the  Shire  Highlands  will 
find  himself  very  much  at  home  in  his  tropical 
garden.  Some  familiar  home  flowers,  however,  as- 
sume gigantic  proportions  pmder  an  African  suo. 
Geraniums  grow  as  high  as  hedges;  and  sunllowers 
dahlias,  amaranths,  and  cannas  shoot  up  into  tall, 
shi’Ub-like  plants.— Journal,  Aug.  24th. 
