Jan,  I,  1896.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
44? 
into  the  nearest  town  and  play  either  cricket  or 
football.  I see  my  reader  shudder  at  the  idea  of 
football  in  85  deg.,  in  the  shade— about  the  tempera- 
ture at  5 p.m.,  when  we  begin  to  play — but  I can 
assure  him  that  not  only  is  there  no  particular  fatigue 
(except  after  the  first  try  or  two,  when  one  is  in  no 
sort  of  training),  but  also  I,  for  one,  am  certain 
that  the  exertion  is  of  distinct  benefit  to  the  health 
of  the  many  who,  in  towns,  lead  a life  of  two  much 
liquor  and  too  little  exercise. 
After  football  and  a change,  one  repairs  to  the 
club,  where  there  are  to  be  met  all  the  elite  of  the  place, 
and  where  one  can  get  a game  of  billiards.  After 
a pleasant  hour  there,  the  cart  is  called,  and  in 
brilliant  moonlight  we  drive  home  to  our  estate  in 
time  for  the  welcome  dinner  at  half-past  eight. 
Abei,. 
— Field. 

TRADE  AND  INDUSTRY  OF  DUTCH 
GUIANA. 
Unlike  British  Guiana,  Surinam  has  been  at  a 
standstill  as  far  as  her  popirlation  is  concerned. 
According  to  a statement  in  the  Demarara  “Argosy,” 
the  number  of  inhabitants  in  1805  was  64,(i02 ; in 
1811  59,453  ; in  1831  61,511;  and  in  1893  only  58,866, 
notwithstanding  that  several  thousand  coolies  have 
been  imported  in  late  years.  Yet  the  capital  shows 
a considerable  increase,  but  this  is  hardly  a favour- 
able sign  as  it  means  so  many  the  less  employed 
in  agriculture.  In  1847  Paramaribo  contained  only 
13,266  inhabitants ; today  the  town’s-people  number 
nearly  30,000. 
The  exports  of  produce  from  Surinam  show  the  same 
vicissitudes  as  in  Demerara.  Coffee  was  at  one  time 
the  main  crop,  and  in  1817,  eight  and  a half  n illio  1 
Dutch  pounds  were  exported.  It  never  went  en- 
tirely out  of  cultivation  as  in  British  Guiana,  buc 
in  1890  the  amount  had  sunk  to  437  lb.  However, 
it  is  creeping  up  again,  and  in  1893,  30,514  lb.  were 
exported.  Cotton  has  gone  out  of  cultivation  entirely. 
In  1823,  two  and  a half  million  pounds  were  produced, 
but  in  1885  that  amount  had  dwindled  to  3,533  lb.,  and 
now  it  is  nil.  Sugar  was  of  less  consequence  when  cot- 
ton and  coffee  were  t®  the  fore,  but  when  they  fell,  it 
assumed  a greater  importance.  In  1816  the  amount 
was  eleven  and  a half  million  pounds,  after  which  it 
increased,  until  in  1835  it  reached  thirty-seven  and 
three-quarter  millions,  but  in  1893  only  fourteen  and 
a half  millions  (say,  7,250  tons)  were  produced. 
This  seems  absurdly  small,  and,  as  may  be  sup- 
posed, the  sugar  industry  might  be  eliminated 
without  ruining  the  colony. 
What  then  are  the  principal  pi'oducts  of  the  colony  ? 
First  of  all  comes  cocoa.  In  1817  it  was  exported  to  the 
amount  of  113,4541b  — in  1893  it  reached  to  nearhj  seven 
millions.  Several  districts  are  entirely  wanting  in  sugar 
estates,  e.;/.,  the  Upper  Cottica,  which  produced  in  1893, 
23,419  kiios.  cocoa,  4,545  coffee,  10,275  corn,  7 4.50 
ground  provisions,  and  17,368  bunches  of  plantains. 
Balata  is  an  article  of  some  importance,  the  ex- 
ports in  1892  reaching  241,359  lb  ; and  in  1893, 
although  much  smaller,  the  total  was  yet  65,092  lb. 
With  regard  to  the  Surinum  gold  industry,  there 
are  four  gold-bearing  districts,  viz. : Upper  Surinam, 
Upper  Saramacca,  Upper  Marowyne  and  Lawa  dis- 
trict. The  output  of  the  Isst  ten  years  has  not  in- 
creased to  any  great  extent,  and  it  is  almost  im- 
possible to  say  what  has  actually  been  collected,  a,? 
the  royalty  (or  export  duty)  is  only  paid  when  the 
gold  is  sent  away.  The  consequence  is  that  although 
in  1893  there  appears  to  have  been  about  the  value 
in  round  numbers  1,200,000  guilders  collected,  the 
export  amounted  to  nearly  1,600,000.  This  last  sum 
is  higher  than  the  total  of  any  forrner  year,  but,  as 
may  he  seen,  it  only  amounts  to  640,000  dollars,  as 
against  about  two  millions  and  a half  dollars  in 
British  Guiana.  During  the  previous  ten  years  the 
annual  collections  amounted  to  an  average  of  about 
a million  guilders  per  annum,  and  this  seems  to 
be  fairly  stationary  Of  the  districts  the  Upper 
Surinam  produces  more  than  half ; then  came 
the  Lawa  and  the  Saramacca,  about  equal,  and 
finally  the  Marowyne.  The  number  of  persons 
engaged  in  the  industry  is  put  down  as  3,382,  this 
total  including  every  one  interested,  whether  at  the 
diggings  or  in  the  town.  The  village  system  ap- 
pears never  to  have  been  introduced  into  Surinam. 
The  abolition  of  slavery  in  1863,  when  37,000  people 
were  emancipated,  made  a great  impression,  but  was 
not  so  ruinous  as  the  same  change  in  the  British 
Colonies.  The  output  of  sugar,  coffee  and  cotton  fell 
at  once  to  half,  and  these  products  have  not  yet 
recovered,  nor  are  they  likely  to  do  so.  Possibly 
coffee  may  be  replanted,  but  it  is  in  cocoa  that  the 
hopes  of  the  colony  lie.  This  did  not  participate  in 
the  downfall  of  the  other  products,  but  advanced 
with  rapid  strides,  rising  to’  double  in  the  10  years 
from  1860  to  1870. 
AN  ENGLISH  COLONIAL  EXPERIENCE. 
THE  CULTURE  OF  TEA  IN  CEYLON. 
Bij  Our  Sxjectal  Correspondent  in  the  Far  East. 
(Translated  from  the  Journal  Des  Debats.) 
On  board  the  “ Salazie,”  Oct.  7th,  1895. 
I profit  by  the  clemency  of  the  sea  in  the  Strait 
of  Malacca  to  send  you  some  notes  that  I have 
been  able  to  gather  on  )ny  passage  to  Colombo  on 
the  culture  of  tea  in  Ceylon.  The  chance — I ought 
to  say  the  good  fortune— of  life  on  shipboard  has 
already  put  me  en  rapport  since  leaving  Marseilles 
with  Mr.  C — ^ — , a planter  of  importance  in  the 
North  of  India.  I will  recount  to  you  anon  his 
experiences.  They  are  not  without  interest  to  our 
colonists  present  and  future.  They  appear  to  me  to 
be  the  same  which  has  been  followed  for  fifteen 
years  in  “ the  Great  sland  of  the  Indian  Ocean  ” 
(Ceylon)  of  which  the  area,  it  should  not  be  forgotten 
almost  equals  that  of  Ireland.  ^ 
i will  spare  you  my  sensations  of  Colombo.  All 
has  been  said  elsewhere  of  the  stupour  of  delight 
with  which  we  were  filled  at  the  first  revelation^ of 
tropical  nature.  One  feels  himself  overwhelmed  by 
the  splendid  luxuriance  of  plants  and  flowers  And 
yet  I had  only  had  a few  hours  of  it  when  a grey 
sky  burst  in  a waterspout  of  warm  rain.  I should 
not  have  regretted  it  much  elsewhere.  This  drawback 
was  sufficiently  prolonged  to  help  to  accentuate  the 
bizarre  sensation  of  the  extraordinary  power  of  vegeta- 
tion of  this  privileged  island.  ® 
I had  been  recommended  to  go  and  see  the 
Editor  of  the  Ceijlon  Observer,  Mr.  Ferguson 
who  has  resided  in  the  island  for  .30  years  and  whose 
name  is  an  authority  in  matters  of  tropical  agricul- 
ture. He  put  himself  with  perfect  willingness  at 
my  disposal.  It  is  thanks  to  him,  to  the  documents  he 
was  good  enough  to  furnish  me  with,  and  notably 
to  his  book  Ceylon  in  1893,”  that  I am  enabled, 
aided  also  by  the  recollection  of  my  conversation 
with  Mr.  C — , to  send  you  these  remarks,  a little 
unconnected  it  may  be,  on  one  of  the  most  curious  eco- 
nomic developments  of  these  latter  years 
Two  groups  of  figures  suffice  to  describe  it  In 
1873  Ceylon  exported  23  lb.  of  tea  to  Ensland 
This  year  it  has  exported  92,000,000  lb.  and  the 
Fn  1807  pounds 
in  1897.  The  nist  exportation  having  serionslv 
begun  in  1884  (two  million  pounds)  one  cLi  say  that 
it  has  almost  increased  a hundred-fold  in  10  venrV 
last  in  Ceylon  opinions  are 
very  different.  My  Indian  planter  who,  I beg  pardon 
of  him  from  afar,  is  not  perhaps  altogether 
impartial,  holds,  that  the  soil  of  the  island 
IS  in  course  of  being  impoverished,  by  the 
series  of  diverse  and  intense  experiments  to  which 
It  has  been  subjected  during  a period  of  thirty  years. 
Old  Ceylonese  (I  speak  of  European  colonists)  are 
on  the  contrary  very  confident.  They  say  that 
they  form  an  experimental  corps  which  certain 
blights  have  rendered  prudent.  T^eir  plantations  are 
Situated  m a climate  healthy  and  verv  «?nnnnrfahlo 
to.  the  Eetopeen.  The,,,  hev.Vep.Md  .“l 
rapid  means  of  communication  and  no  one  is  situated 
more  than  a day  s journey  from  Colombo  which  is 
a port  admirably  served  by  international  navigatigm 
