Nov.  r,  if'95.1 
TIIK  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST 
3'5 
TO  OIWW  TEA. 
Tlio  fact  seems  to  be  that  the  hardy  new  product 
succeeds  most  abundantly  in  lands  which  King 
Coffee  despised.  J.  R.  H.  laughed  his  loudest  when 
Silvak-ande  wn,s  pointed  out  to  biin  as  the  purchase 
of  a neighbouring  proprietor  ; — the  repre icntirlive  of 
Craven  Street  pro  iem.  little  dreaming  that  the  strag- 
gling strip  of  forest  which  ran  along  the  bottom  of 
’their  estates  would  one  day  prove  the  veritable 
gold  mine  whicli  would  redeem  their  fortunes.  ^ 
There  are  in  the  island  fevv  finer  fields  of  tea  than 
this,  and  although  there  are  in  this  district  many 
patches  equally  good,  it  is  )iot  all  Silvakandes, 
Campdens  nor  Bevevleys,  and  much  discrimination  is 
rc-quii'cd  in  the  selection  of  suitable  land.  Any 
novice  might  select  and  successfully  plant  in  such 
districts  as  Uimbula  and  Dikoya,  bnt  it  requires  a 
tropical  agriculturist  to  discriminate  here. 
Immediately  over  the  ridge  lies  the 
KUXULU  KOl’.ALE  VALLEY 
correctly  described  in  the  recent  report  of  the  Govern- 
ment Agent  as  “ that  infertile  region.”  The  valley 
comes  in  like  a ‘ gushet  ” twixt  Morawaka  and 
llakwana,  contains  about  10,000  acres  and  tho’jgh  for 
fuil  five  years  I occasionally  fossicked  there  in  the 
hope  of  finding  100  aci.03  of  realiy  good  land,  I had 
to  give  it  up  in  despair.  Yet  during  a wave  of  tem- 
porary insanity  which  passed  over  tlie  island  in 
1872—;)  the  Government  took  iho  opportunity  of 
seeing  (luibc  a number  of  blocks  and  there  lie  bur- 
ied many  a good  sovereign.  One  can  hardly  sym- 
pathize with  some  of  the  investors  who  asked  for 
advice  and  acted  contrary  to  it,  remarking  it  was 
“surely  good  enough  to  sell  at  a profit.”  Man  na- 
tin’ally  hopes  that  he  can  always  find  a greater 
fool  than  liimself,  but  sometimes  this  is  very  dif- 
ficult. 
The  only  hope  of  a resurrection  in  Kukulu  seems 
to  be  in  Cardamoms.  Once  in  a life-lime. a lucky  man 
may  pick  up  a gem,  herbage  for  a herd  of  elephants 
might  be  found,  and  if  leeches  could  be  turned  to 
account  there  is  wealth  there  but  beyond  this  the  future 
of  Kukulu  is  not  hopeful. 
From  the  ridge  above  Vegeria — which  rises  a little 
to  ihe  West  of  the  grand  Abbey  Rock — ma^y  lie 
seen  some  of  the  remains  of  good,  old,  hospitable 
U.IKWANA 
through  which  I fain  would  now  pass.  “To  those  who 
know  Rakwana,”  said  Sir  Henry  Ward,  “it  is  needless 
to  speak  of  its  hospitability.”  Rut,  alas  ! King 
Coffee  is  gone,  so  too  are  the  Dorays  I knew 
of  yore  1. 
The  time  was  when  twenty  bungalows  would  open 
wide  their  doors  to  welcome  a wandering  Visiting 
Agent,  but  shade  of  dear  UaviJ  Mitchell  1 now  I 
know  not  whether  the  love  of  “ Auld  lang  syne” 
would  procure  me  the  meagrest  curry  and  rice. 
So  with  a sigh  I once  more  turn  my  back  on 
Rakwana  and  retrace  my  steps  towards  Galle. 
BANANA  FLOUR. 
LIKELY  TO  DEVELOP  INTO  A VEKY  IMPORTANT  INDUSTRY. 
A good  deal  of  attention  has  been  drawn  of  late 
to  the  use  of  the  banana  as  a source  of  flour  or 
meal,  and,  though  such  an  application  is  by  no  means 
new,  or  the  discovery  modern,  it  seems  not  at  all 
unlikely  that  banana  flour  is  an  article  that  has  a 
prospect  of  great  development  in  the  near  future. 
Wherever  the  banana  or  plantain  thrives,  the  fruits, 
when  dry,  are  converted  into  meal,  and  used  for 
making  cakes,  puddings,  and  for  various  other  uses 
iu  cookery.  An  effort  is  being  made  to  establish  a 
factory  for  the  manufacture  of  bariana  meal. 
As  to  the  use  of  banana  flour  for  brewing 
purposes,  Mr.  Kahlke,  one  of  the  best  known 
manufactures  of  yeast  in  Germany,  writes  in 
this  connection ; “ Banana  flour,  without  doubt, 
from  its  rielmess  iu  starch  and  its  good  flavor, 
is  particularly  suitable  for  the  manufacture  of 
yeast.  This  flour  is  easily  rendered  saccharine.  The 
yeast  obtained  by  adding  banana  flour  to  the  other 
ingredients  has  a good  color,  all  the  requisite  fird- 
perties  oi  an  excellent  class  of  yea.*t.  ana  moreover 
keeps,  well.  The  alcohol  obtained  from  it  leaves 
nothing  to  be  desired,  so  that  this  flour  may  be  in- 
troduced as  an  article  of  commerce,  and  employed 
witnout  any  special  preparation.  Satisfactory  experi- 
ments have  also  been  made  in  some  breweries,  where 
-0  per  cent,  of  malt  has  been  replaced  by  the  flakes 
and  flour  of  cananas.  The  flavor  of  beer  was  not 
alteied,  and  iho  quantity  of  liquid  wa,s  increased, 
find  tli6  iiifilt  was  roplaced  by  a less  expensive  sub- 
stance.  Experiments  are  being  made  in  which  the 
proportion  of  banana  flouFis  increased.” — Fiji  Times. 
DEMAND  FOR  LOAV  CLASS  TEAS. 
It  is  very  satisfactory  to  notice,  writes  the  Plantev 
from  the  proceedings  of  the  meeting  of  the  Calcutta 
Committee  of  the  Indian  Tea  Association,  held  this 
month,  that  .the  result  of  the  stoppage  of  the  export 
of  tea  sweepings  from  London  to  Hamburg  was  a 
demand  from  Gmin.iny  in  Calcutta  for  low  class  teas 
and  large  quantities  of  tea  dust.  Tin’s  proves  con- 
clusively that  the  tea  sweepings  scandal  was  affect- 
ing very  injuriously  the  Indian  tea  trade,  and  that 
stops  were  not  taken  too  soon  to  put  a stop  to  it; 
It  would  be  advisable  to  include  in  the  arrange- 
ments on  foot  to  piLsh  the  sale  of  Indian  tea  measures 
for  the  exploitation  of  the  German  and  other  Conti- 
nental markets.  It  is  of  no  little  importance  to  the 
industry  («  know  where  our  low  class  teas  and  tea 
dust  can  be  largely  disposed  of. 

LTRERIAN  COFFEE. 
Steacily,  little  by  little,  Liberian  coffee  is  outgrowing 
the  prejudice  with  which  it  has  for  a longtime  had  to 
contend.  .Planters  in  India  are  beginning,  here  and 
there,  to  pay  some  attention  to  it,  and  the  results 
111  nearly  all  cases  have  been  a surprise.  The  old 
feeling,  “ why  should  I bother  about  an  inferior 
cultivation  while  Arabica  is  doing  so  well,”  is  in 
many  places  giving  place  to  a desire  to  know  more 
about  the  hardy  Liberian  plant  and  its  prospects. 
In  the  Straits  Settlements,  in  Sumatra  and  in  Java 
Emenan  coffee  has  obtained  a firm  foothold,  and 
u'l  tne  continued  recurrence  of  the  so-called 
leat-disease  in  the  Java  coffee  on  low’lying  lands 
from  which  the  L/iberia  still  preserves  comparative  im- 
miiiiity,  causes  more  confidence  to.  be  felt  in  the  latter  • 
and  many  lands  which  have  suffered  most  severely  frorn 
the  ravages  of  this  disease  in  the  Arabian  plant  arc 
being  re-planted  with  Liberian.— J/.  Times,  Sept.  26. 
— 
WANDAKAN  NOTES. 
Continual  improvement  in  the  coffee  estates  isre- 
ported.  The  Byte  estate  crop  for  August  is  reported 
to  be  33  pikuls^  3d  katties.  Part  of  this  crop,  as 
husked  coffee,  goes  to  Hongkong.  This  coffee  has 
been  spoken  well  of  in  Singapore  and  Selangor.  The 
amount  of  fruit  in  all  stages  of  the  growth 
to  the  shrubs  shows  no  signs  of  diminu- 
tion, and  holds  out  every  hope  of  monthly  crons 
of  eyer-inereasing  bulk  for  some  month.s  to  come  A 
gentleman  representing  a Ceylon  Syndicate  is  in  Borneo 
pist  now,  looking  for  coffee  land.  He  inspected  the 
Byte  estate,  and  is  said  to  have  expressed  a hii/l. 
opinion  of  the  coffee  he  saw  there.  ® 
HisExcellency  the  Governor  visited  the  gambler  gar- 
dens at  the  b.ick  of  Sandakan  the  other  dav  and 
appeared  much  pleased  with  the  progress  made  in 
that  iiid’.istry. 
Upwards  of  60,000  coconuts  have  been  planted  here 
during  the  last  twelve  months,  and  the  commercial 
barometer  is  assuredly  on  the  rise,  despite  the  croak- 
mgs  of  some  people  who  look  with  doubt,  not  nn 
mixed  with  cynical  smiles,  at  the  curious  modus 
operomh  suggested  recently  in  the  London  office  of 
the  Chartered  Company  for  the  immediate  enrich- 
ment of  all  who  are  either  directly  or  indirectly  con. 
nected  with  the  country.— /S',  i'  Press,  Sept  24' 
