Frb.  I,  i8g6.] 
THF.  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
533 
YAIlIOrS  PLANTING  NOTES. 
Tiik  PnooRESR  nr  Indian  Ti;a  ('ui/itvatfon. 
— A very  valuable  .statement  by  Mr.  J.  E.  O'Co- 
nor, Director-General  of  Statistics  to  the  Gov- 
ernment of  India,  lias  just  been  imblished 
showing  tlie  development  of  the  Indian  tea  in- 
dustrj’.  We  reproduce  it  from  a Madras  contem- 
porary in  another  column. 
Wynaad  Tka. — The  first  shipment  of  tea  from  the 
Erramaculla  Estate,  one  of  the  new  tea  plantations 
tliat  have  recently  been  opened  in  the  Wynaad,  has 
been  sold  in  Mincing  Lane  at  the  average  pice  of 
ild  per  lb.  This  i.s  very  satisfactory,  seeing  that  an 
average  of  t>d  per  lb.  is  remunerative.  It  will  be 
noticed  that  it  is  the  same  average  as  Ceylon  tea 
sold  on  garden  account  for  the  week  ending  2nd 
instant. — J/.  Mail,  Jan.  7. 
The  fruit  of  the  India-rubber  trees  is  somewhat 
similar  to  that  of  the  Ricinus  coiiuuunis,  the  castor- 
oil  plant,  though  somewhat  larger.  The  seeds  have 
a not  disagreeable  taste,  and  yield  a purplish  oil. 
It  is  a fairly  good  substitute  for  linseed  oil,  though 
it  dries  les.s  readily.  Mixed  with  copal  blue,  and 
turpentine,  it  makes  a good  varnish.  The  oil  may 
be  also  used  in  the  manufacture  of  soaps  and  litho- 
graphic inks.  The  seeds  are  somewhat  like  tiny 
chestnuts,  although  darker  in  colour.  The  Indian 
girls  are  fond  of  wearing  bracelets  and  necklets  made 
of  them. — India  Ruhhir  Journal,  Dec.  12. 
Tea  and  Coconut.s  in  the  Dumhara  Valley 
.are  to  be  the  next  gre.st  successes:  Mr.  Itobert 
Brown  (who  in  April  is  likely  to  go  home)  h.as 
.alre.ady  proved  the  former  on  Uajawellii,  getting 
very  handsome  returns  from  the  pioneer  held, 
the  niglit  dew  in  Dumbar.a  being  .suHicieut  to 
give  a Hu.sh  ; while  he  h.as  also  gone  in  freely 
for  the  palm.  The  fact  is  c.oH'ee  was  found  no 
longer  to  give  satisf.actory  returns,  while  some- 
thing h.atl  gone  wi-ong  with  cacao — so  on  Baja- 
wella,  and,  we  believe,  P.allekelle,  tea  .and  coco- 
nuts are  likely  to  become  the  ruling  jiroducts. 
Dimensions  of  a Banyan  Thee  at  Aumiuaety  House, 
TiiiNCOMAi.EE. — By  the  courtesy  of  Admiral  Drummond 
we  are  enabled  to  give  the  dimensions  of  the  above 
tree,  which  in  height  and  circumference  of  foliage 
exceeds  the  one  mentioned  a few  months  ago  in  the 
Indian  Forester.  ft.  in. 
Height  (estimated  by  sextant  angles)  66  6 
Girth  of  central  trunk  at  3ft  from  ground  19  6 
do  do  .5ft  do  21  10 
Supernumerary  trunks  and  roots  which 
have  taken  root  No.  !58 
Spi’ead  of  tree  in  S.E.  andN.W.  direction  16.5  6 
do  N.E.andS.W.  do  174  0 
Circumference  of  foliage  541  0 
Above  dimensions  were  taken  by  Lieut.  (N.)  I. 
Tuke  of  H.M.S.  “Boadicea”  on  31st  January  1894. — 
i'c/ilon  Forester. 
Mr  Rorf.rt  Cros.s  on  Cacao.  — In  our  corre- 
spoudence  column  we  s'ive  another  valuable 
letter  from  Mr.  Robert  Cross  on  the  .subject  of 
the  large-growing  v,ariety  of  cacao  and  its 
cultivation  in  Ceylon.  The  information  it  con- 
tains will  be  read  with  interest  by  c.ac.ao  [ilanters  ; 
though  it  will  lie  seen  that  Mr.  Cross  is  not 
very  sanguine  as  to  the  successfu'  introduction  of 
this  v.ariety  into  our  island,  unless  someone  goes 
to  South  America  speci.ally  to  select  the  young 
plants.  Even  then,  if  .an  .attempt  were  made 
to  procure  ])lants  of  t he  large-grov  itig  j i'olilic  cacao 
tree  from  a S|)anish  plantation  in  South  .\merica, 
the  thing  would  have  to  be  gone  .about  quietly  ; 
for,  although  there  is  now  no  law  in  those  Re- 
publics to  prevent  the  exportation  of  these  plants, 
yet  the  natives  have  become  extremely  suspicious, 
owing  to  India  and  our  colonies  having  al)sorbed 
•so  much  of  their  commercial  exports.  Mr.  Cross’s 
hopeful  words  regarding  the  tea  industry  .are  also 
Vtvluable,  coming  from  such  an  experieneed  critic. 
Thr  Imreriai,  Tea  E.state  Company.— In 
“Notes  from  London '’o\ir  evening  contempor.ary 
reports  the  formation  of  this  Comjiany  with  a 
capital  of  T1UO,000  .and  .a  present  issue  of  £27,500 
for  the  Biiioya  and  Mottingham  estates  ; but  in 
one  or  two  respects  the  [jaragraph  in  which  this 
announcement  is  made  is  misleading.  In  the  first 
place  the  Comp.any  has  been  brought  out,  not  by 
Messrs.  W hittall  A Co.  of  Colombo  as  might 
be  inferred,  but  by  Messrs.  J.  W hittall  & Co., 
Loudon, — a quite  sejiarate  firm ; and  we  are 
assured  that  there  never  was  any  ([uestion  of  a 
local  rupee  ("ompaiiy  taking  over  the  estates, 
and  that  the  sellers  were  not  in  any  way  res- 
pomsible  for  the  formation  of  the  Company.  At 
the  (U’esent  market  (luotations  of  shares  in  a Com- 
]iany  owning  estates  adjoining  Mottingham  the 
value  per  .acre  of  tea  is  £70  stgq ; while  the  price 
paid  for  the  est.ates  just  .sold  is  only  equal  to 
.£40  an  acre  of  tea  in  be.aring.  According  to  our 
Directory  Mottingham  has  an  acreage  of  220  in 
tea  .and  Binoya441. 
fiiE  Imports  oi'  Tea  into  America.— The 
total  imports  of  tea  for  the  first  nine  months  of 
1895,  compared  with  the  same  time  in  1894,  were 
.according  to.  the  Aincrican  Grocer  of  the  27th 
instant,  as  follows  : — • 
1895. 
Pounds. 
From  China  - - 32j540,574 
From  Japan  - - 27,811,747 
From  United  Kingdom  - 2,942,273 
From  Asia  and  Oceanica  - 1,145,961 
From  British  North  America  535.177 
From  East  Indies  - 436,649 
From  other  countries  - 23,774 
1894. 
Pounds. 
36,323,149 
28,749,097 
2,852,039 
211,730 
733,985 
.380,022 
8,460 
Total  imports  - 64,436,155  69,258,482 
We  note  growing  intports  of  India  .and  Ceylon 
tea,  but  not  in  a volume  to  c.ause  much  con- 
sternation among  Chinese  and  .lapanese  producers 
that  the  American  market  is  slipping  aw.ay  from 
them.  The  avertige  cost  of  1.S95  imports,  as 
declared  at  port  of  sliijnnent,  was  13 '8  cents 
per  pound.  That  is  not  very  flattering  to  the 
tastes  of  consumers,  nor  does  it  show  much  of 
.an  appreciation  of  the  world’s  most  famous  leaf. 
There  is  wide  room  for  improvement  in  the  de- 
mand for  fine  tea. 
Mr.  Bieracii’s  Tea  Advertising.— Mr.  S. 
Bierach  has  written  from  New  York 
stating  th.at  he  h.ad  just  finished  a 
Ceylon  Tea  Exhibit  .at  the  Philadelphia  Food 
Exposition  which  had  proved  very  successful. 
No  fewer  than  bOO  free  cups  of  tea  were  served 
each  day  of  the  Exhibition,  and  hundreds  of  ladies 
had  impressed  on  them  the  virtues  of  Ceylon 
tea.  The  brands  on  sale  were  those  specially 
“ run”  by  Mr.  Bier.ach— the  “ Aryan,”  “ Singha^’ 
.and  “\ihara”  brands.  Newspaper  cuttino’s 
which  have  been  brought  under  our  notice  corro- 
borate the  success  of  the  Exhibit  which  was  purely 
a Ceylon  one.  Mr.  Bierach  writes  that  if  he 
cannot  be  employed  by  the  Planters’  Association 
to  ])ush  the  sale  of  Ceylon  tea  an  exception 
should  be  m.ade  in  his  case  and  support  and  a 
gr.ant  of  tea  allowed  him.  Mr.  Bierach  adds  :— 
“One  thing  I wish  to  impre.ss  upon  you 
is  this : Ceylon  should  st.and  alone! 
India  teas  are  too  .astringent,  Ceylons  are  the 
favourites  in  Americ.a.  Americans  want  good 
tea  and  will  i),ay  the  price,  and  when  the  time 
comes  your  planters  will  be  happy  with  better 
prices  ruling.  America  has  used  rubbish  loner 
enough.  The  people  are  Ie.arning  that  what  they 
want  is  a pure  te.a  and  thej’  are  quite  willing  to 
pay  for  a good  article  so  you  will  see  the  ini- 
(lort.ance  of  presenting  the  best,” 
