Fkb.  J,  1896. j 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
549 
A CUP  OF  TEA. 
Dkar,  Sir, — Although  Ceylon  and  Indian  teas  con- 
tain possibly  (?)  more  tannin  than  those  of  China, 
the  taste  for  them  is  rapidly  increasing,  and  it  is  to 
our  interest  to  purchase  the  productions  of  our  English 
planters  rather  than  from  the  Chinese. 
As  tannin  is  a natural  product  of  the  tea-leaf, 
whether  grown  in  China  or  Ceylon,  and  varies  in 
quantity  with  the  age  of  the  leaf  itself  (as  I am  told 
by  those  who  have  grown  it  in  Ceylon)  we  shall  find 
its  presence,  even  in  the  purest  and  best  of  teas. 
Moreover,  people  I'-iU  drink  tea,  and  many  will  not 
give  a high  price  for  it,  nor  make  it  with  due  care. 
They  can,  however,  obviate  all  difficulties  and  dangers 
by  making  use  of  the  Tanocea  tea-toning  tablets — a 
simple,  useful,  and  perfectly  harmless  addition  to 
their  tea,  the  qualities  and  virtues  of  which  I cannot 
wi-ite  highly  enough  about.  We  have  used  these 
tablets  for  one  and  a-half  years,  and  I cannot  drink 
my  tea  now  without  them.  Even  the  purest  lea  is 
denied  to  me  without  them,  for  they  prevent  the 
tannin  from  entering  the  infusion — it  remains  in  the 
pot  with  the  leaves. — Yours  truly,  B. -J.  Ma'I’thews. 
— Temperance  Chronicle,  Dec.  27. 
COFFEE  PLANTING  IN  CENTRAL  AFRICA. 
rARTICULARS  OF  THU  ENTERPRISE  BY  A FORMER 
CEYLON  PLANTER. 
Mr.  R.  S.  Hunter,  who  is  now  engaged  in  coffee 
planting  in  Central  Africa,  and  who  has  been  in  the 
island  for  the  past  few  weeks  visiting  the  local  coffee 
districts  and  a few  old  friends  that  he  knew  when 
he  was  a planter  in  Ceylon,  has  been  interviewed 
by  a contemporary,  who  reports  : — 
“ Do  you  show  more  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Blantyro  yet  ?" 
“Well,  we  have  got  something  like  (5,000  or  7,000 
acres  there  in  cultivation  by  this  time,’’  was  the 
reply,  " and  that  is  not  bad  for  two  or  tliree  years’ 
work.  The  place  is  beginning  to  look  like  business 
now.  There  are  not  a great  number  of  Ceylon  men 
in  the  neighbourhood  of Blantyre.  A dozen?  No  not 
so  many  ! perhaps  eight  ; but  then  there  are  several 
white  men  up  from  South  Africa,  though  some  of 
these  don’t  know  much  about  coffee  ; and  there  are 
other  men  from  other  parts  of  the  world  who 
have  been  engaged  in  coffee  planting  elsewhere, 
and  have  been  attracted  to  invest.  I should 
say  that  within  a fair  radius  of  Blantyre, 
there  are  now  3Q0  white  men;  not  all  planters,  of 
course,  but  planters,  storekeepers,  &c.  Touching 
coffee,  there  is  no  certainty  about  the  planting,  but, 
as  far  as  we  have  got,  the  first  crops  seem  to  be 
very  good  and  come  on  pretty  fast  and  big,  besides 
which  it  is  much  cheaper  working  there  than  here.’’ 
THE  LABOUR  QUESTION. 
The  labour  is  very  much  cheaper  than  it  is  in 
Ceylon.  We  pay  there  in  cloth — so  much  cloth  per 
liionth  calculated  at  sterling  rates — and  the  average 
pay  is  from  two  shillings  to  half-a-crown  a month. 
There  have  been  tribal  rows,  but  the  Commissioner 
(Sir  Henry  Hamilton  .Tohnson)  has  now  dealt  with 
the  leading  spirits  in  those  disturbances,  and  the 
labour  is  now  not  much  interfered  with.  The  na- 
tives are  fine,  big,  healthymen,  who  would  each  make 
three  Tamil  coolies,  and  they  work  very  well  pro- 
vided they  are  properly  supervised,  but  they  require  a 
vision  and  pushing  on  with  the  work.  Kept  at  it, 
we  get  as  much  from  our  natives  as  yon  do  from 
Tamils,  and  their  women  and  children  all  work 
also.  No;  w’e  don’t  find  them  lines;  they  provide 
places  for  themselves,  tor  the  most  part  sleeping  in 
grass-huts.  Europeans  are  starting  to  put  up  decent 
bungalows,  and  the  place  is  getting  on  ; but  the  chief 
difficulty  at  present  is 
THE  DIFFICULTY  OF  TUANSI'ORT. 
We  are  at  present  unfortunate  in  the  way  of  roads 
and  railways  ; but  a raihvay  has  now  been  sanctioned 
from  Chiromo  to  Fort  Johnson  at  the  bottom  of 
lake  Nyanza,  and  another  railway  is  in  contempla- 
tion from  Quilimane  in  the  coast  to  Chiromo,  where 
it  would  join  the  line  to  Port  Johnson,  and  so  we 
should  get  Communication  right  up  from  the  coast. 
That  is  what  we  hope  for. 
Ah-eady  we  may  mention  that  Mr.  Hunter  urges 
that  the  Government  should  p)oceed  with  these 
works  speedily,  arguing  that  the  planters  are  the 
backbone  of  the  country.  At  present  all  the  coffee 
grown  is  shipped  to  Chiude,  whei’e  ocean  steamers 
call,  but  Mr.  Hunter  says  that  this  outlet  will  not 
be  sufficient  soon  with  the  acreage  now  in  bearing. 
CEYLON  MEN  IN  THE  DISTRICT. 
Not  all  Geylon  men  that  go  over  to  Blantyre 
succeed,  and  according  to  Mr.  Hunter  some  men  have 
been  tbc  very  reverse  of  successes  there.  He  in- 
stanced one  planter  who  got  frightened  at  a dose 
of  fever,  and  cleared  at  once,  barely  staying  in  the 
place  a mouth.  Personally  speaking,  Mr.  Hunter- 
says  he  finds  the  climate  agrees  with  him.  Fever 
is  encountered  with  in  clearing,  as  in  Ceylon, 
but  otherwise  the  district  is  healthy.  On  the 
other  hand,  he  refers  to  Mr.  Crabbe  of  Badulla, 
who  went  out  to  join  the  Nyassaland  Company  as 
a mun  who  has  made  a very  good  start  indeed,  and 
one  who  seems  to  be  the  right  man  for  the  country. 
Eui'opean  planters,  he  says,  now  have  little  or  no 
differences  with  the  natives  in  those  parts,  and  are 
not  hindered  by  any  warlike  spirit  displayed  by  the 
people  there. 
SUPERINTENDENTS  AND  MASONS  WANTED. 
On  this  same  subject  we  append  some  further  in- 
formation kindly  given  us  by  Mr.  G.^J.  Jameson  of  the 
firm  of  Messrs.  Carson  A Co.,  who  have  just  received 
from  Mr.  Crabbe  interesting  news  as  to  his  work  in 
Nyassaland.  Mr.  Crabbe  reports  that  everything  is 
very  encouraging  indeed  ; but  further  supervision  is  re- 
quired, and  Mr.  Jameson  is  trying  now  to  get  hold 
of  a couple  of  good  men  in  Ceylon  to  send  down  to 
Mr.  Crabbe  to  assst  him,  as  Mr.  Crabbe  has  a large 
area  to  work  upon.  “ If  we  can  get  the  men  to  go,” 
said  Mr.  Jameson,  Mr.  Crabbe  will  proceed  with  open- 
ing-up operations  to  a large  extent.  We  are  going  to 
have  a meeting  of  the  Directors  of  the  Company  next 
week  to  decide  what  is  to  be  done.  Mr.  Crabbe  cannot 
do  anything  on  a large  scale  till  he  gets  more  assistance; 
but,  given  that,  in  the  course  of  a year  he  would  prob- 
ably opien  uj)  from  100  to  l.oO  acres  more.  We  also 
want  to  get  some  native  artisans,  Malays  if  possible- 
men  who  can  do  carpentering  and  masonry  work. 
There  is  a good  opening  there  for  such  men.” 
We  may  add  that  Mr.  Hunter  said  on  this  point  that 
some  masons  got  down  from  India  by  Sir  Henry  .John- 
son did  not  turn  out  very  satisfactorily,  as  the  climate 
seemed  to  get  hold  of  them  more  than  it  did  the  Euro- 
peans. 
W(X)i)  Fekskrvino  in  Switzerland.— a 
simple,  effective  and  cheap  way  of  preserving  wood 
from  decay  is  practised  in  .Switzerland  in  the 
ltrei)aration  of  j'osts  for  the  telegrajdi  service. 
A square  tank,  having  a capacity  of  some  200 
gal.,  is  supported  at  a height  of ‘20  ft.  or  25  ft. 
.above  tlie  ground  by  me.ans  of  a light  .skeleton 
tower  built  of  wood.  A ])i()e  drops  from  the 
bottom  of  the  tank  to  witliin  .20  in.  of  the 
ground,  where  it  is  connected  with  a cluster  of 
Ilexible  brandies,  each  ending  Avith  a cap  havin>' 
an  orifice  in  the  centre.  Each  cap  is  clamped  on 
to  the  larger  end  of  a pole  in  such  a manner 
that  no  liquid  can  esc.ape  from  the  pipe  except 
by  jt.assing  into  (he  wood.  '1  lie  polos  are  .arr.angecl 
p.ar.allel  with  one  .anolher,  sloping  downwanls 
and  troughs  run  under  both  ends  to  catch  driiV- 
pings.  When  .all  is  ready,  a solution  of  sulph.ate 
of  copper,  which  has  been  prepared  in  the  tank, 
is  allowed  to  descend  the  pipe.  The  pressure 
produced  by  the  fall  is  sufficient  to  drive  the 
solution,  gr.adually,  of  course,  right  through  the 
poles  from  end  to  end.  When  tlie  operation  is 
ended,  and  the  posts  dried,  the  whole  of  the 
fibre  of  the  ivood  remains  permeated  with  the 
preserving  chemical.— IFo/^-  for  December, 
