APRtL  t,  1896;]  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
677 
Can  agriculturists  north  and  south  of  Mason 
and  Dixon’s  line.  Nebraska,  Colorado,  Utah, 
California,  Washington,  and  Arizona  have  before  them 
wonderful  possibilities  in  beet  sugar  production,  while 
the  whole  tier  of  Gulf  States  can  readily  become 
enormous  producers  of  sugar  from  tropical  cane.  If 
that  consideration  were  given  to  the  American  sugar 
industry  by  our  national  legislature  that  is  given  to 
the  sugar  industry  in  France,  Germany,  and  Austria  * 
we  should  have  it  quickly  placed  on  safe  grounds  and 
its  rapid  development  made  certain. — Lnisiana 
Planter  and  Sw/ar  Manufacturer,  Feb.  8. 
DISEASE  AMONG  COCONUT  TREES. 
TO  THE  EDITOR  OF  THE  “ TIMES”  OF  INDIA. 
Siu, — Without  pretending  to  bo  an  expert  in 
botany,  I would  like  to  inform  my  friend  Dr.  J.  C. 
Lisboa  what  I know  from  one  year’s  experience  in 
this  land  of  coconuts.  I came  here  from  Baroda  in 
December  1094,  and  during  this  time  I have  seen 
many  a coconut  tree  wither  and  die  of  the  disease 
called  mandolim  in  Goa;  but  here  it  goes  by  the 
nome  of  kit . I have  seen  here  the  gummy  liquid 
that  runs  out  from  small  slits  in  the  tree,  but  not 
the  yellow  powder.  The  cause  seems  to  bo  a worm 
that  incessantly  gnaws  the  pith  of  the  luxriant  plant 
with  its  metallic  teeth.  The  remedy  used  here  is 
a concoction  of  camphor  and  salt  that  the  culti- 
vator injects  into  a hole  made  just  above  the  part 
affected.  This  place  has  a lovely  grove  of  coconut 
trees  extending  between  Bandora  and  Versova.— 
Yours,  &c.,  H.  Peueika. 
Juvem,  March  4th. 
— Times  of  India,  March  5th. 
LIBERIAN  COFFEE. 
No  6.  {Half-yearly.) 
SlNGAFORE,  Dec.  31sfc,  1895. 
Chops. — From  the  Southern  District  of  Johore,  I 
am  favoured  with  the  following  ; “We  have  been 
busy  the  last  three  months  (July  to  September) 
with  crop,  which  has  turned  out  welt  and  has 
almost  made  up  for  the  shortness  of  the  crop  in 
the  earlier  part  of  the  year,  which  had  been  caused 
by  the  destruction  of  the  blossoms  by  rain  early 
in  1894.  We  have  also  had  a series  of  good 
blossoms  during  this  quarter  of  the  year,  a'l  of 
which  seem  to  have  ‘ set,’  those  coming  after  the 
good  blossoms  of  the  early  part  of  the  year  should 
ensure'  a good  crop  in  1896.  We  have  had  very 
little  rain  so  far  this  year  compared  with  the 
usual  rainfall  in  this  part,  and  the  dry  weather 
though  favourable  to  outdoor  work  and  curing  of 
coffee  is  not  altogether  beneficial  to  the  coffee  plants 
themselves.” 
Klano  Repokts  ; — Piculs. 
Total  Klang  District  Coffee  Exported  in 
1895  ..  ..  1,631-63 
Total  Coffee  Exported  from  rest  of 
Selangore  . . . . 2,849'58 
Total  Exported  from  Selangore  . . 4,431-21 
“ There  are  now  fully  3,000  acres  under  coffee 
and  owned  by  natives,  and  about  1,000  acres  of  this 
is  owned  in  bearing  and  will  give  at  least  3,000  piculs 
during  1696.  About  1,000  acres  have  been  opened 
by  Europeans,  of  which  200  acres  are  in  bearing. 
It  is  expected  that  from  1,500  to  2,000  acres  more 
will  be  opened  during  1896.  High  prices  have 
been  paid  for  coffee  in  be-ariug  by  natives,  pidnci- 
pally  Chinese. 
Coffee  24  to  44  years  has  parted  hands  at  from 
|3.50  to  $650  per  acre,  and  it  is  reported  that 
$700  per  acre  has  been  refused  for  some  54  years 
old  coffee.  This  season’s  crop  has  come  in  very 
slowly,  but  with  the  advent  of  fine  weather  a rush 
may  be  expected.  Very  good  crops  from  Kuala 
Lumpur  district  estates  are  reported,  5 and  6 
iculs  per  acre  from  comparatively  young  estates 
eing  obtained.” 
Chop  Pitonirc-rioN. — The  following  figures  shew  re- 
ceipt of  coffee  in  Singapore  for  each  month  of  the 
3rd  and  4th  quarter  of  1895. 
1895. 
Piculs. 
July 
1,720 
August 
1,310 
September 
883 
October 
896 
November 
812 
December 
•• 
589 
6,183 
MAKKE-r. — Prices  throughout  the  3 months,  July- 
September — remained  steady  at  $42  t'3  $43J  the 
differences  in  value  being  chiefly  due  to  quality  of 
different  parcels.  October  shewed  little  change  at 
$42-50  to  $43  20,  but  November  opened  with  a 
spirited  advance  at  $44J  finally  reaching  $45-50 
which  latter  is  the  record  for  the  period  under  re- 
view. Beginning  of  December  shewed  a decline  at 
$45,  closing  value  being  $44 J steady. 
J.  Lyall,  Coffee  Broker,  Change  Alley,  Singapore. 
♦ 
STATISTICS  OF  CINCHONA  CULTIVATION 
IN  INDIA. 
ahea. 
At  the  end  of  the  official  year  1894-93  there  were 
8,710  acres  of  land  under  cinchona  cultivation,  of 
which  about  71  per  cent  was  situated  in  Southern 
India,  the  remainder  (nearly  23  per  cent)  being  in 
Bengal.  The  area  in  Bengal,  coffiprising  2,508  acres 
lies  in  and  near  Darjeeling.  Most  of  the  area  in 
Southern  India  is  in  the  Nilgiris  and  Malabar,  thus; 
2,409  acres  in  the  Nilgiris,  1,902  acres  in  Travancore, 
350  acres  in  Mysore,  33  in  Coorg,  25  in  Cochin,  and 
40  in  Madura. 
In  Bengal  the  land  undor  cinchona  was  in  the 
main  planted  and  is  maintained  by  Government,  the 
plantations  of  the  State  covering  2,351  acres.  In 
the  Madras  Presidency  on  the  other  hand  the  industry 
has  lain  to  much  the  largest  extent  in  private  hands, 
the  State  plantations  covering  only  821  acres. 
During  the  ten  years  ending  with  1894-95,  the  area 
under  cinchona  has  fallen  from  10,418  acres  to  8,710 
acres.  There  has  been  a substantial  decline  in 
Bengal,  and  in  Coorg  the  cultivation  has  been  almost 
entirely  abandoned.  The  area  in  the  Madras  districts 
has  fluctuated  greatly. 
The  number  of  plants  in  permanent  plantations 
has  fallen  in  the  same  period  from  17i  millions  to 
91  millions.  In  1894-93,  a little  over  7 millions  were 
classed  as  mature,  and  nearly  2g  millions  as  immature 
plants. 
PP.ODlfCTION  OP  BAHK. 
The  quantity  of  bark  collected  has  largely  increased. 
But,  so  far  as  the  figures  relate  to  Southern 
India,  they  have  evidently  been  greatly  understated, 
as  they  are  in  every  year  smaller  than  the  quantities 
recorded  as  exported  thence  to  countries  out  of  India. 
In  Bengal  practically  all  the  bark  produced  is  manu- 
fiictured  by  Government  into  febrifuge  and  sulphate  of 
quinine  and  issued  to  medical  stores  and  hospitals  or 
sold  to  the  public  : — 
Bark  Collected.  E.xports. 
Madras.* 
Bengal. 
Madras.! 
Bengal. 
lb. 
lb. 
lb. 
lb. 
1885-86  . . 
344,1.58 
223,010 
819,742 
7,298 
1836-87  . . 
750,478 
255,631 
1,252,328 
32,881 
1837-88  . . 
856,316 
.342,410 
1,397,919 
51,394 
1888-89  .. 
1,140,302 
445,100 
3.042,084 
32,006 
1889-90  . . 
827,88-4 
420,705 
1.8.54,632 
1890-91  . . 
1,656,872 
416,272 
2,984,126 
11,719 
1891-92  .. 
1,473,204 
435.560 
2 692,251 
1,608 
189-2-93  . . 
2,065,177 
459,232 
2,813,637 
1893-94  ... 
1,170,801 
338,025 
1,665,647 
1894-95  . . 
1,449,947 
577,682 
1,728,418 
8,900 
Average . . 
1,173,514 
391,363 
2,028,078 
14,581 
^Including  Travancore  and  Cochin. 
Ilncluding  experts  frou)  Cochin, 
