Oct.  I,  1895.]  THE  TROPICAL 
W.S.  and  A.  S.  G.  P.  brought  la  5d  to  la  6d  per  lb. 
These  inflated  hammer  rales,  wo  have  reason  to 
believe,  do  not  represent  bona  jide  sales,  but  must 
be  taken  as  a market  operation  to  influence  prices  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  speculators  are  reported  to  have 
purchased  recently  “ to  arrive”  about  6,000  bales 
of  these  oi’diuary  qualities. 
No  chips  were  offered. 
Stock  2,346  bales  Ceylon  against 
1894  1893  1892 
Bales  2,066  3,707  2,590 
The  next  sales  will  be  held  25th  November. 
FoKiiEs,  Fokbes  ct  Co. 
PLANT  LUKE. 
A home  ooi're.spondent  .asks  if  we  can  say  if 
any  attempt  has  l)een  made  to  collect  the  Plant 
Lore  of  the  n.ative  races  of  this  island.  He  tells 
us  tliat  year  by  ye.ar  he  finds  the  interest  taken 
in  this  subject  to  be  augmenting.  He  was  .as- 
tonished to  learn  from  a collector  of  works 
bearing  on  Plant  Lore  that  his  list  of  books 
dealing  exclusively  witli  tlie  subject,  numbered 
over  12,ft00  volumes,  many  of  them,  as  might 
be  expected,  being  of  very  ancient  publication. 
When  it  is  remembered  that  it  has  jnobably 
been  from  ancient  Plant  Lore  that  a great  deal 
of  our  present  system  of  medicine  has  been 
evolved,  the  scope  of  the  collection  mentioned 
reed  scarcely  evoke  surprise.  Ui)on  the  tradi- 
tional medicinal  value  of  plants,  .all  sorts  of 
curious  and  su])erstitious  beliefs  have  been  built. 
In  one  ancient  work  on  the  subject  we  have 
seen  a curious  illustr.ation,  for  instance,  of  the 
gtose  or  bainacle  tree,  the  b.arnacles  on  the 
growing  plant  having  develoi>ed  as  they  ripened 
into  a lively  flock  of  geese  t.aking  naturally  to 
tlie  water  beneath  the  parent  tree ! But 
underlying  all  the  quaint  traditions  attached  to 
particular  plants  and  trees,  there  have  nearly 
always  been  valuable  ti’eatiscs,  that  have  largely 
led  to  the  enricimient  of  the  modern  materia 
medica.  Among  the  natives  of  Ceylon  even,  there 
has  existed  a knowledge  of  lierbal  simples,  that, 
if  collected  might  prove  of  much  value.  The 
same  may  be  .said  of  nearly  all  the  people  on  the 
face  of  the  earth,  and  in  very  many  cases  their 
PlantLore  hasbeeuc.arefullycollected andpublished. 
We  are  mot  aware  whether  this  course  has  been 
attempted  with  any  .system  in  Ceylon.  Incidentally, 
of  course,  all  botanical  works  dealing  with  the 
vegetation  of  tlie  island  have  embraced  many  re- 
ferences to  the  subject.  But  to  fullil  all  the 
objects  desired,  it  is  necessary  that  these  refer- 
ences should  be  collected  and  arranged.  It  is 
prob.able  that  there  may  be  native  writings 
extant  dealing  with  this  topic,  bnt  M’e  are 
unable  to  s.ay  whether  at  any  time  these  have 
been  so  dealt  with  as  to  be  readily  available 
.loj  modern  research.  It  would  undoubtedly  form 
a valu.able  contriljution  towards  the  Eurojiean  liter- 
ature on  the  subject  if  this  could  be  done. 
What  is  needed  is  the  publication  of  facts  con- 
nected with  the  Plant  Lore  of  the  island  quite  in- 
dependeirtly  of  merely  botanical  features.  The 
experiences  of  medheval  “simple”  gatherers  has 
largely  contributed  towards  the  success  of  modern 
medicine.  Unsuspected,  among  the  lore  of  out 
Sinhalese  and  Tamils  might  be  found  much  that 
■would  aid  usefully  in  the  same  direction. 
A Smai.i,  Lot  of  Six  Seeds  of  the  Avocado  Pear 
were  lately  received  from  Mauritius,  through  the 
post,  by  Mr.  Barrant,  who  handed  them  for  cultiva- 
tion to  Mr.  Gueritz.  We  now  loam  that  four  of 
the  seeds  germinated  and  are  planted  out  in  four 
different  local  gardens.  It  will  be  a boon  should 
the  cultivation  prove  a success. — Borneo  fferald, 
AGRICULTURIST.  281 
BOUND  FOK  NORTH  TKAVANCOKE. 
Mr.  G.  D.  Gordon  who  left  on  the  20th.  Sept, 
for  North  Trav.ancore,  via  Tuticorin,  w'ill  perhaps 
be  remembered  in  Ceylon  as  one  of  the  contrac- 
tors of  the  Nanuoya  Extension  of  our  railway, 
and  also  of  roads  in  Ceylon.  He  was  here  for 
9 years  before  he  went  to  the  Straits  12  years  ago, 
where  he  has  since  been  employed  in  railway 
and  road  making.  In  working  on  the  Perak  rail- 
way, 17  miles  in  extent,  through  swamjas,  he 
contracted  fever,  and  recently  was  ordered  away 
to  recruit.  For  the  last  four  months  he  has 
been  living  at  Ulapane,  and  owing,  Mr.  Gordon 
says,  to  our  healthy  climate,  is  uoav  quite  re- 
covered. The  object  of  his  journey  to  North 
Travancore  is  to  open  out  about  50  miles  of 
estate  roads  through  Me,ssrs.  Finhajq  Muir  & Co.’s 
land.  The  first  road  will  commence  from  Munaar 
and  finish  at  Anaikolum,  in  extent  about  20 
miles  going  towards  the  west ; the  other  start- 
ing from  tlie  same  place  will  go  30  miles  to  the 
north.  The  altitude  rises  from  1,000  to  4,500  ft. 
Mr.  Benzie,  of  Mahavilla  estate,  Ulapane,  is  to 
follow  IMr.  Gordon  in  a few  weeks’  time  for  the 
same  work. 

A NEW  PRIVATE  ESTATES  COMPANY. 
We  learn  that  the  proprietors  of  three  estates— 
Clyde,  Kaluganga  and  Lliskillan — in  the  Kalu- 
tara  district  are  likely  to  unite  in  forming  an 
Association  or  Limited  Company  for  their  ro- 
perties,  so  saving  expenditure  on  separate  Su- 
perintendents, Factories,  litc.  This  is  a very  wise 
procedure.  Clyde  has,  we  believe,  a Factory 
equal  to  the  requirements  of  all.  The  total  extent 
is  711  acres  of  which  508  acres  are  in  tea. 
THE  “CEYLON  FORESTER." 
We  have,  by  the  courtesy  of  the  Editor,  Mr 
H.  C.  P.  Armitage,  Forester  at  Trinoomalee,  received 
the  first  three  parts  of  this  new  contemporary,  which 
we  cordially  welcome,  and  to  which  we  wish  every 
success.  It  is  a small  Magazine  of  about  16  pages 
monthly,  the  subscription  is  B5  yearly,  and  the  cover 
shows  an  old  banyan  tree  with  many  root  props, 
and  a palmyra  growing  out  of  its  crown. 
The  first  number,  that  for  January,  1895,  has  an 
Introduction,  and  then  a short  history  of  the  Ceylon 
Forest  Department.  There  are  useful  botanical 
notes  on  various  trees  and  plants  of  the  Ceylon 
forests,  and  the  first  part  of  a paper  on  elephant 
catching  in  the  Northern  Provinces.  In  the  February 
number  is  described  the  saw-mill  and  Depot  at  Bat- 
ticaloa  ; the  botanical  notes  are  continued,  and  there 
is  a further  instalment  of  the  paper  on  elephant 
catching.  The  March  number  continues  thesh  papers 
still  further,  and  has  an  interesting  account  of  the 
Satinwood  tree  by  Mr.  Brown,  the  Conservator. 
We  couimeud  this  new  periodical  to  the  attention 
of  Indian  forest  ofScers,  and  especially  to  those  in 
South  India. — Indian  Forester. 
REPORTED  SALK  OF  A NUWARA  ELIYA 
ESTATE. 
A Kaiuly  corraspoiulcut  writc.s : — “That  splciHlhl 
pnq'erty  Tommagoiig  E.state  in  Nuwara  Eliya,  the 
iiroperty  of  Mr.  Jame.s  McLaren,  has  just  changed 
hands,  the  purchaser  being  Mr.  Megginson,  who, 
it  will  be  remembered,  lately  acquired  Charley 
Valley  for  the  long  figure  of  R7D0,000.  Thesuni 
paid  for  Tommagong  has  not  yet  transpired,  but 
is  said  to  be  quite  a record  price  even  in  these’ 
flush  ilay.s.” — Tomm.agong  and  Park  cover  248 
apres,of  which  ISU  are  in  tea,  45  line  coffee,  15 
cinchona,  8 timber  and  grass. 
