534 
THK  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Fer.  I,  1896. 
Tea  Estates  I’.etter  than  1- ive  Years  Aoo  ' 
— Mr.  Tom  (liay,  tlie  veteran  (.'eylon  |)lanter, 
has  returned  to  Colombo  after  a fortnif^lit  nj)- 
country  ; ami  reports  tliat  the  lea  in  DTmbula, 
Dikoya  and  Maskeliya  looks  ti^■e  years  younger 
tlian  wlien  he  last  saw  it  ! He  thinks  it  .sheer 
madness  for  .any  proprietor  to  sell  his  estate 
(unless  forced  to  do  .-.o)  at  less  than  L‘100  the 
acre. 
Season  Ri.eoii'rs. — The  abstract  of  Season  Reports 
for  the  month  of  November,  189"),  published  in  the 
GarMte,  shows  that  the  paddy  crops  and  prospects 
are  generally  fair,  though  in  seme  parts,  the  recent 
rains  damaged  the  crops  to  some  extent.  The 
general  health  of  the  people  is  good.  Hambantota 
however,  reports  that  fever  pi-evails  in  some  villages 
of  the  interior.  Cattle  hoof  and  throat  disease  is 
reported  from  Galle,  NuwaraEliya  and  Anuradhapura 
The  abstract  of  season  reports  for  the  month  of 
December,  1895,  has  also  been  published  in  the 
Ganefte.  Paddy  crops  and  prospects  are  generally 
fair.  AVith  regard  to  the  health  of  the  people, 
'.Mannar  reports; — fever  prevails  to  a great  extent; 
Mullaitivii : — fever  and  cold)verv  prevalent;  Radulla: — 
fever,  sore-eyes  and  dysentery  prevaleni ; ehicken-pox' 
and  measles  prevail  in  parts  of  the  Kegalle  district; 
Galle  reports  eases  of  dysentery  and  ehicken-pox  in 
Wellaboda-pattu. 
Frozen  Flowers  from  Australia. — It  is  stated  in 
the  U'estiiiuister  Gar:et!c  of  November  28,  that  a fine 
collection  of  blue  and  white  Water  Lilies  (Nymphaea 
giga"tea)has  been  sent  by  a leading  florist  in  Sy  iney, 
N.S.W.,  through  Sir  Saul  Samuel,  the  Agent-General, 
for  presentation  to  her  Majesty  the  Queen.  The 
Lilies  were  frozen  in  ice,  and  received  as  long  ago  as 
August  last  by  the  Colonial  Consignment  and  Distri- 
buting Company,  Limited,  being  stored  at  Nelson's 
Wharf,  until  Wednesday,  November  27,  when  tliey  were 
delivered  at  Windsor.  In  spite  of  the  length  of  time, 
the  flowers  were  in  perfect  condition,  and,  seen 
through  the  transparent  ice,  were  very  attractive. 
Shade  Tree  for  Coffee. — A tieo  that  is  highly 
esteemed  as  a sliade  for  coffee  in  the  Republic  of 
Colombia  is  described  iu  the  following  extract  from 
an  interesting  letter  addressed  to  Kewby  Mr.  R.  R. 
White,  dated  Palmira,  August  bth,  1895.  The  tree  has 
been  identified  as  Pithernlohium  poli/cephalnni,  Benth., 
Hooker's  London  Journal  of  IJotanp,  lii.  (1814),  p.  219. 
It  extends  to  tropical  Brazil,  and  was  collected  near 
Rio  Janeiro  by  Miers.  Mr.  White  writes  : — “ I enclose 
some  seeds  of  a tree  which  is  being  used  most 
successfully  here  as  a shade  for  coffee.  It  has  flowers 
in  small  white  halls  just  the  size  of  those  of  the 
Sensitive  plant,  pods  long,  fiat,  compressed,  with  15 
to  20  seeds.  Pods  do  not  open,  being  held  together 
by  strong  morginal  veins;  they  simply  break  up  when 
rotten.  No  one  liere  knows  the  name  of  this  tree,  f 
have  referred  it  to  Mr.  Tjehmann,  and  he  does  not 
know  it.  It  is  a native  only  of  .\ntio(|uia,  and  grows 
in  a mean  temperature  of  75“  Fahr.  ft  is  fond  of  stony 
poor  soil.  A tree  18  months  old  will  cover  1 11 
square  yards  of  ground  (12  x 12)  It  goes  to  sleep  at 
night,  allowing  tlie  dew  and  cool  air  to  reach  the 
coffee,  ■^'hen  young  the  wood  is  soft,  but  on  ageing  it 
gradually  gets  a red  heart  and  becomes  hard  and  durable. 
' The  seed  I send  has  been  bathed  in  suljihate  of  copper 
solution,  and  I believe  it  to  be  good,  as  you  can  try  a 
few  seeds  in  Kew  by  way  of  curiosity  and  send  tlie  rest 
to  one  of  our  tropical  establishments  to  be  reported  on. 
When  full-grown  tliis  tree  may  be  .50  feet  high  with  a 
spead  of  at  least  7»9  feet  on  all  sides.  Nothing  can  be 
better  as  a shade  tree.  It  is  a poor  liver  and  does  not 
exhaust  the  soil.  It  spreads  out  horizontally  ; it  gives 
a good  shade,  not  too  dense,  and  during  the  night 
allows  the  dew  to  refresh  the  jilants  beneath.  The 
leaflets  do  not  litter  the  plantation  and  are  too  small  to 
harbour  fungi  and  moulds.  It  is  easily  trimmed  and 
brought  to  shape.  The  nmbrellaants  will  attack  it,  but 
they  can  only  get  bold  of  one  little  snb-pinna  at  a time. 
T’hey  cannet  get  a good  bite  and  cut  out  a real  impos- 
ing umbrella  and  so  they  do  not  care  to  draw  much  on 
this  tree  when  once  they  have  balanced  up  working  ex- 
penses and  output.  This  is  an  advantage.”— A'cio 
Bulletin,  Hov.  1895. 
The  Tr.\T)E  of  the  Port. — A merclLant  semis 
ns  tlie  following  complaint  today  There  is  a 
serious  dead-lock  at  the  wharf,  steamers  de- 
layed, warehouses  blocked,  no  carts  and  coolies 
to  he  liad,  A'c.”  Tliis  should  stir  up  those  res- 
]iori.sihle  : liolidays  even  may  not  stop  Export  and 
Import  trade! 
“The  Agrict'lturvi.  Maoazine”  for  January,  189G 
has  the  following  contents  : — Gra]ie  Cultivation  in 
Colombo  ; Occasional  Notes  ; Rainfall  at  the  School 
of  Agriculture  during  November;  Rainfall  taken  at 
tlie  School  of  Agriculture  during  the  Month  of 
December  1895  ; The  Feeding  of  Animals  ; Notes 
from  the  Poona  Farm  ; The  Fertility  of  Soils  ; Ceylon 
Woods;  The  ^'anagement  of  Dairy  Cattle;  Ail- 
ments and  Diseases  of  the  Horse;  Astringent  Barks; 
Prevention  of  Plant  Diseases  ; Notes  on  Recent  Re- 
search on  the  Feeding  of  Animals  ; General  Items. 
The  age  ok  Trees.— According  to  Herr  Ge- 
ricke,  the  German  forester,  trees  in  Germany  have 
certainly  lived  to  the  age  of  570  years.  Pine.s  in 
Bohemia,  Norwaj',  ami  Sweden  also  live  to  tliis  age. 
TTie  silver  fir  in  Bolieniia  lives  to  the  age  of  4t)0 
years  ; the  larch  in  P>avaria  reaches  275  years. 
TTie  evergreen  oak  of  AschaU'enbnrg  was  410  years 
old.  A red  beech  at  the  same  place  was  245  jears 
old.  Ashes  of  170  year.s,  birches  of  200,  aspens  of 
220,  maples  of  225,  elms  of  RIO,  ami  red  alders  of 
145  years  are  also  known.— LToAc. 
Frost  in  the  Nilgiris. — “ The  cold  weather  has 
set  in  with  a vengeance  and  frost  has  been  common 
formally  night’s  past ; hut  last  night  it  visited  us 
with  unusual  severity.  The  thermometer  exjiosed  out- 
side my  bungalow  verandah  registered  24“  at  half 
past  6 this  morning.  I have  no  record  of  what  tlie 
minimum  was,  hut  I found  ice  a quarter  of  an  inch 
thick  in  a tub  outside  my  bedroom  and  icicles  over 
2 feet  long  were  hanging  from  a raised  sluice  near 
the  bungalow.  As  for  my  garden,  the  fiowers  have  all 
gone.  I believe  it  is  many  years  since  we  were  visited 
by  so  severe  a frost. ’’ — .)/.  Mail. 
The  Milduka  Producers  liavo  apparently  done 
well  this  last  season.  The  official  retiiins  give  the 
yield  of  raisins  at  1,787,744  lb. ; of  currants,  10,960  lb.; 
apricots  and  peaches,  182,040  lb. ; fresh  fruit  generally, 
640,000  lb. ; and  of  jams  and  canned  fruits,  at  81,288  lb. ; 
The  almond  crop  is  put  at  6, .800  lb.  Although  no 
wine  appears  to  have  been  exported,  the  quantity 
made  is  put  at  75,000  gallons.  Altogether  the  pro- 
duce raised  is  valued  at  40,000/.  As  this  is  only 
the  “ beginning  ” of  what  can  be  done  ou  the  irriga- 
tion jirinciple,  it  is  clear  that  the  Mildurc,  cultivators 
may  be  congratulated  on  the  progress  that  they  have 
thus  far  achieved. — .11.  .Hail. 
Ti;a  ANit  Goefee  in  Southern  India.— 
Dealing  with  a corre.spomlencp  relative  to  iires- 
ponsihle  scriliblei's  in  Hie  )»ress  with  regard  to 
planting  mat  tens  the  Mndrrvi  Moil  say.s  :— 
We  have  alicady  said  tliat  thei-e  is  ample  room 
for  a special  planting  organ  in  this  Presidency,  and 
it  seemed  as  if  the  little  fortniglitly  journal  issued 
at  Coonoor  was  to  meet  this  want.'  It  may  still  do 
so,  hut  it  will  have  to  considerably  modify  or  alter 
its  views.  In  its  last  issue  it  states  that  it  thinks 
the  coffee  industrv  is  not  permanent,  and  as  tor  tea 
it  is  doomed.  “ The  margin  of  profit  in  I^pper  India,” 
it  writes,  “is  steadily  vani. filing  and  may  in  a very 
few  years  disappear  altogether.”  And  this  though, 
according  to  ihe  Ji'co’ioinist.  the  forty  Northern 
India  tea  estates,  registered  in  London. ')>.aid  in  1894 
an  average  dividend  of  9 per  cent.,  and  the  financial 
papers  during  the  past  few  weeks  have  more  tlian 
once  mentioned  how  nmch  greater  attention  English 
investors  are  paying  just  now  to  tea-shares  on  account 
of  the  steadiness  of  their  returns.  Never  in 
tli3  liistory  of  coffee  cultivation  in  Southern 
India  has  the  permanence  of  the  industry  been  more 
fully  assured  than  at  tlie  present,  and  as  for  tea, 
though  there  are  elements  of  weakness  in  its  position,' 
yet  the  vigorous  manner  in  whicli  demand  is  being 
developed  m new  oountries,  and  the  rise  of  prices 
attendant  on  this  development,  are  very  favourable 
signs  of  its  continued  prosperity. 
