3B8 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST 
[Dec.  2,  1895. 
PLANTING  AND  PPUDLCK. 
Tka  in  D.AMP  Climates.— Mr.  T.  Christy  recently 
made  the  suggestion  that  for  the  purpose  of  e.xporta- 
tion  to  moist  climates  tea  should  be  put  up  at  the 
garden  in  what  are  now  the  familiar  self-opening 
tins,  in  sizes  of  about  twenty-live  pounds  each. 
The  Grocer,  supporting  this  view,  he  says:  “It  is 
well  known  that  these  tins  are  easily  opened 
and  closed,  and  that  when  properly  made  they 
keep  their  contents  air-tight.  The  consumer  using 
one  of  these  tins  would  be  able  to  take 
out  tea  sufficient  tor  immediate  requirements 
during  the  dry  part  of  the  day,  and  then  close  the 
package  so  that  the  leaf  would  koep  fresh  and  sweet 
to  the  very  last.  It  is  important  that  care  should 
be  taken  tliat  tea  at  all  times  should  be  kept  as  free 
from  any  contamination  as  possible.  It  is  so  deli- 
cate in  its  nature — and  the  rapid  modern  methods 
of  its  preparation  intensify  this — that  every  pre- 
caution must  be  made  to  keep  it  fresh ; and  this 
simple  and  practical  suggestion  ought  not  to  be  over, 
looked  by  tnose  interested  in  promoting  this  produce 
from  Ceylon.” 
The  Natal  Tea  Industry. — The  development  of 
the  tea  growing  industry  goes  on  apace  in  Natal. 
From  very  small  beginnings — in  1885  the  total  crop 
was  only  28,000  lb — the  output  has  increased  until 
about  1,000,000  lb  of  Natal  tea  is  now  produced 
chietiy  for  the  South  African  market.  We  hear  that 
extended  cultivation  is  oontemplated. 
A Plant  with  a Law  of  its  Own. — A valuable 
official  report  is  that  by  Mr.  llobert  Thomson, 
formerly  head  of  the  Government  plantations  in 
Jamaica,  upon  the  products  of  the  department  of 
Tolima  in  Colombia.  It  is  the  custom  there  to 
set  the  grasses  and  brushwood  on  fire  in  the  dry 
season  to  prepare  the  ground  for  reuew'ed  pasturage. 
The  effect  of  these  fires,  however,  is  very  destruc- 
tive, and  many  once-fruitful  places  are  now  barren 
deserts.  But  one  plant  flourishes,  not  only  in 
spite  of,  but  because  of,  the  fiery  ordeal 
through  which  it  passes.  This  is  the  Chaparro, 
or  Ithopala  ohovata,  a dwart  tree,  which  “ not  only 
resists  the  fury  of  the  flames,  but  fire  is  actually 
congenial  and  subservient  to  its  existence.”  Its  bark 
is  peculiar.  It  consists  of  “ a congeries  of  integu- 
ments or  semi-detached  layers.  The  outer  portion, 
about  half  an  inch  thick,  performs  no  organic  func- 
tion, and  this  portion  of  the  bark,  in  conjunction 
with  its  peculiar  composition,  protects  the  inner  vital 
integuments  from  injury  bv  fire.”  Mr.  Thomson 
points  out  that  the  plant  has  “ made  for  itself  a 
law  of  its  own,  for  it  has  triumphed  over  the  most 
disastrous  element  to  all  organic  life.” 
Banana  Cultivation. — The  cultivation  of  the 
banana  is  making  rapid  strides  in  the  West  Indies, 
where,  now  that  the  means  of  exporting  fruit  have 
so  much  improved,  its  cultivation  is  found  to  be 
more  profitable  than  that  of  the  sugar  cane.  There 
is  a banana  plantation  in  Cuba  covering  an  area  of 
fifty  square  miles,  containing  on  an  average  2, 500,0(MI 
trees  and  keeping  in  constant  employment  8,500  jiersons. 
A fleet  of  twenty-six  steamers  is  required  to  tras- 
port  the  fruit  to  the  United  States. — 11.  d-  C.  .UaU, 
Oct.  18. 

TEA  IN  MALItrnrS. 
A few  months  ago  Mr.  J.T.  Hawke  was  in  Mauritius, 
and  he  says  that  Ceydon  need  fear  no  tea-planting 
rivalry  in  that  part  of  the  world,  for  there  were  only 
some  250  to  300  acres  planted  up,  and  the  largest  estate 
(one  of  125  acres)  belonged  to  the  Assets  Company. 
The  tea  wasgood — Indian  jat, — and  in  the  experimental 
gardens  at  Cuipeep  there  were  20  acres  of  tea  planted, 
bearing  000  lb.  to  the  acre,  at  an  elevation  of  1,800  feet, 
with  a temperature  equal  to  that  of  Nuwara  Eliya. 
But  tea  is  not  likely  to  be  cultivated  largely 
in  Mauritius ; the  French  are  too  conservative 
and  keep  fondly  to  planting  sugar,  and  to  a small 
extent  vanilla.  On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  Hawke 
says  that  the  remarkable  rise  in  the  export  of  Ceylon 
tea  to  Mauritius  is  easily  explained.  The  French 
Creoles  like  Ceylon  tea,  and  are  shewing  a marked 
jnelereuce  to  it  over  tho  China  article  ; while,  over 
and  above  all,  to  use  Mr.  Hawkes’  own  words, 
“ They  are  at  last  beginning  to  realise  what  is  very 
true,  and  that  is  that  coffee  is  not  the  drink  for  a 
tropical  climate,  and  they  are  taking  to  tea  ifrstead.” 
In  threi  weeks  Mr.  Hawkes  hopes  to  leave  for  the 
Seychelles.  He  is  going  there  to  plant  coffee  to  a 
small  extent,  as  he  has  seen  coffee  growing  there 
and  bearing  remarkably  well,  and  he  does  not  see 
why  it  should  not  be  done  on  a large  scale.  He 
will,  however,  begin  with  only  50  acres.  He  expects 
to  start  in  a fortnight  or  three  weeks,  and  will  pro- 
bably I'emain  in  the  Seychelles  for  a twelvemonth. 
— Local  “ Times.” 
A (TNCHONA  ANNIVERSARY. 
October  20th  will  be  a notable  anniversary-day  in 
the  annals  of  the  drug-trade,  for  it  is  twenty-five 
years  ago  next  Sunday  that  the  first  public  sales  of 
Java  cinchona-bark  were  held  at  Amsterdam.  For 
eighteen  years  previous  to  1870  cinchona-plants  had 
been  grown  in  the  island  with  more  or  less  success, 
but  lew,  if  any,  of  those  connected  with  their  pro- 
pagation foresaw  the  gigantic  dimensions  which  the 
industry  was  destined  to  take.  It  was,  in  fact,  chiefly 
in  order  to  stop  the  mouths  of  inconvenient  ques- 
tioners in  the  Dutch  Parliament,  who,  yearly,  on  the 
occasion  of  the  debate  on  the  Dutch-Indiau 
Estimates,  worried  the  Government  about  their 
alleged  waste  of  l,500f  to  2,0001  a year  on  the 
cinchona-gardens,  that  the  Indian  authorities  decided 
to  send  home  a consignment  of  cinchona  that  the 
critics  might  be  convinced  that  there  was  something 
to  show  for  the  expenditure.  This  consignment, 
weighing  933  half-kilos,  (about  1,026  lbs.),  consisting 
entirely  of  Calisaya  javauica  and  o'.  I'a/iudiatia,  left 
Java  in  18(59,  but  it  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
sold  until  the  autumn  of  the  following  year,  along 
with  further  shipments.  At  any  rate,  the  first  public 
sale  of  Government  bark  (private  plantations  had 
not  as  yet  come  into  bearing)  was  held  on  the 
date  aforesaid.  For  size,  compared  to  the  Ams- 
terdam cinchona-auctions  of  the  present  day,  it  was 
as  the  acorn  to  the  oak,  for  it  amounted  to  no  more 
than  876  kilos,  the  loss  in  weight  from  the  time 
of  shipment  to  the  day  of  sale  having  been  no  less 
than  13  per  cent.  The  net  proceeds  of  the  sale  were 
1,935  florins  (about  16R),  or  nearly  2«  per  lb.  The 
result  of  the  sale,  and  the  determination  of  the 
Government  to  encourage  the  culture  of  cinchona 
with  more  energy  than  before,  gave  a strong  impetus 
to  the  industry.  Private  planters,  who  had  hitherto 
looked  askance  at  cinchona  fbetore  1870  only  two 
estate-owners,  in  addition  to  the  Government,  had 
laid  down  experimental  plantations),  started  up  all 
over  the  island,  and  literally  sowed  the  seed  ot  the 
over-production  from  which  they  are  now  suffering. 
In  1875  the  first  bark-crop  from  private  plantations 
was  exported.  It  amounted  to  3,125  half-kilos.  Last 
year  tlic  Javan  Government  exported  654,851,  and 
private  planters  8,26(5,714  half  kilos. 
Ceylon,  now  an  extinct  volcano  so  far  as  cinchona- 
production  is  concerned,  only  preceded  Java  by  a 
very  short  time  as  a producer.  The  first  experi- 
ments in  the  island  were  made  by  Dr.  Thwaites, 
the  late  Director  of  the  Botanic  Gardens  at  Pera- 
deniya,  in  1860;  but  for  several  years  the  coffee- 
jilanters  looked  upon  his  attempts  as  an  amiable 
craze  out  of  which  nothing  financially  valuable 
could  come  forth.  Up  to  18(57  the  doctor  had  po- 
sitivel}’  to  beg  coffee-growers  to  accept  cinchona- 
plants  for  nothing,  or  to  give  them  a trial  on  their 
estates.  Several  of  these  gentlemen  put  down  suc- 
cirubras  around  their  bungalows  as  ornamental 
Xilants,  but  only  one,  Mr.  K.  J.  Corbett,  set  a few 
acres  apart  for  the  culture— a venture  which  paid 
him  handsomely  in  after  years.  In  1866  the 
first  samples  of  Ceylon-grown  bark  had  boon 
sent  to  England  for  analysis,  and  in  1868  Messrs. 
Kcir,  Dundas  & Co.  sent  a ton  of  Otficinalii  bark, 
grown  on  their  estate  at  Loolecondcra,  for  sale  to 
fjondon.  This  parcel  was  auctioned  at  No.  6 Min- 
cing Lane  in  April,  1868,  and  realised  such  high 
prives^  that  the  consignees  immediately  made  ai‘« 
