772 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[May  I,  :8q6. 
“ Al»uiulaiiL,  anil  bo  il-  leiiioiiiberod  that.  Llio 
land  regnlatioiisj  are  ino.st  liberal,  llie  climate  is 
])orfect  fur  a tropical  country,  for  we  have  land 
available  up  to  an  altitude  of  Ki,UjO  ft  Large  areas 
of  land,  similar  to  those  which  have  |irodnced  the  to- 
bacco from  which  the  North  Borneo  State  cigars  are 
manufactured,  as  well  as  lands  suitable  for  the 
growth  of  cotlee,  sugar,  and  other  tropical  pro- 
ducts, can  be  imrchased  at  reasonable  rates,  Imt 
to  young  men  with  a capital  of  £-2,0UU  and  ui>- 
wards  the  company  is  prepared  to  issue  a limiteil 
number  of  free  grants  of  bOO  acres  each  for  the 
cultivation  of  coilee,  tea,  cinchona,  and  other  pro- 
ducts. I may  add  that  the  prospects  of  the  Li- 
berian Coffee  Eestates  now  under  cultivation  are 
most  encouraging.” 
“And  as  regards  labour?” 
“ At  the  present  time  the  native  labour  is 
sufficient  for  all  re(|uirements,  but  we  import 
Chinese  from  time  to  time  as  required.  Tlie 
white  population  all  told  numbers  3U0,30  being 
in  our  own  employ.” 
“By  t'ne  way,  I was  forgetting  one  most 
important  fpiestion.  What  about  gold?’ 
“ Well,  we  have  found  plenty  of  payable 
alluvial  gold  ; th.at  the  precious  metal  e.\ists 
in  the  stone  of  the  country  yon  will  note  by 
the  case  of  specimens  on  tlie  table,  which  are 
from  the  Darvel  Bay  district.  A syndicate 
has  been  formed  to  locate  tlie  reefs,  .and  work 
the  alluvial  in  the  Sabahan  Kiver.” 
“ And  who  is  your  iiresent  Covernor?” 
“ Mr.  Beaufort,  who  has  succeeded  Mr.  Cre.agh, 
and  I m.ay  say  that  it  has  been  impressed  upon 
him  that  while  maintaining  elliciency  he  must 
kee])  down  exqienses  ami  make  the  company  jiay. 
I may  also  tell  you  that  the  corrected  estimates 
for  the  jircsent  year  show  a surplus  of  over 
the  revenue  being  set  down  at  •'s393,!).')S,  .and  tlie 
expenditure,  including  this  office,  at  !?3(»4,87l>.” — 
Ciiizai,  March  21. 
“THE  EMPIUE  OF  INDIA  AND  CEYLON 
EXHIBITION  bS!)6.” 
The  circular  issued  by  the  directors  of  the 
above-named  exhibition  '•onclnsively  demon- 
strates that  although  they  ai'e  denied' official  co- 
operation by  onr  authorities  they  are  prepar- 
ing to  include  representation  of  t'eylon  in  their 
program  for  tlie  current  year.  \\'e  can  see 
no  possible  objection  to ' this  being  done. 
It  was  mentioned  in  onr  London  Letter 
that  the  Olncrver  was  rejiorted  to  have 
written  .adversely  to  any  iiarticipation  in  this 
show  being  taken  by  the  Colon}'.  We  most 
emphatically  disclaim  any  intention  of  tlie  kind. 
M'hat  we  intended  to  do  was  merely  to  point 
out  the  nece.ssity  for  some  gmirantee  that  the 
interests  of  those  who  might  ilesire  to  exhiliiu 
should  be  safeguarded.  The  publication  of  the 
names  of  gentlemen  who  will  constitute  the 
Commitiee  for  Ceylon,  we  believe,  should  afford 
this.  Any  exhibits  that  jiarties  in  Ceylon  should 
desire  to  forward  will,  we  are  sure,  be 
contributed  on  the  guarantee  of  these  names. 
While  Govenment  may  not  undertake  any 
linanci.al  responsibility  in  connection  with  the 
Exhibition  we  do  not  .see  that  there  is  anythin"' 
to  prevent  it  (as  indicated  in  .1.  F. ’s  ' letter 
which  we  published  on  Saturday)  from  further- 
ing a Loan  Collection  illustrative  of  Native 
Industries  or  of  lending  any  buildings  available 
from  Chicago  ; and  we  re-echo  the  hope  expres- 
sed by  onr  senior  (who,  after  em|nirics  on  the 
spot,  is  conlident  that  the  E.xhibition  will  be 
a "'reat  succsss  and  afford  a graml  ad\ citi.se- 
ment  for  Ceylon,  her  products  and  her  industries 
that  H.  E.  the  Governor  may  yet  see  his  way 
to  promote  the  It,xiiibition  in  the  way  indicated, 
and  that  the  Planters’  As.sociation  and  Thirty 
Committee,  will  see  tliat  a good  .show  of 
( teas  coffee  and  cacao  is  made  ^ while  Co- 
lombo merchants  will  forward  plumbago,  cinnamon 
oil  Ac.  It  is  but  too  well  known  that  gentle- 
men often  lend  their  names  to  entei'iirizes  of  the 
nature  of  this  contemplated  Il.xhibition  without 
duly  weighing  the  res])onsibility  they  thereby 
accept,  and  also  that  it  frequently  happens  that 
they  consider  they  have  done  enough  in  merely 
doing  this.  We  .are  sure  however  that  the 
Ceylon  Committee  will  take  an  active  and  watchful 
part  in  the  Exposition,  feeling  that  it  will  be  upon 
the  assumption  that  this  active  part  will  be 
taken  by  them  that  exhibitors  may  be  in- 
clined to  come  forward  to  assist.  CYe  do  not 
doubt  the  bona  tides  of  the  management 
in  the  least  ; and  we  hope  to  have  .an  encoura- 
ging report  soon  fiom  i\Ir.  E.  B.  Creasy,  the  local 
agent,  of  the  support  which  the  Exliibition  is 
receiving  from  Ceylon. 
llOITiTCULTCBE  IN  NEW  ENGLAND.* 
The  evolution  of  the  art  of  horticulture  in  New 
England  is  naturally  contemporaneous  with  the  colo- 
nisation of  that  country  by  English  emigrants  in  the 
seventeenth  century.  The  Indian  tribes  whom  our 
adventurous  forefathers  succeeded  had  done  but  little 
towards  cultivating  the  lau  1,  but  no  sooner  had  the 
youngest  English  settlements  been  founded,  than  it 
became  ueces.'^ary  to  till  the  neighbouring  country 
in  order  to  obtain  a future  supply  of  food.  The  Indian 
women  had  grown  corn  in  small  quantities,  clearing  the 
ground  with  their  clam-shell  hoes,  hiding  the  produce  in 
coaches  in  the  earth  from  the  greedy  eyes  of  what  a 
seventeenth  century  writer,  quoted  by  Mr.  iSlade, 
calls  their  “ gormandising  husbands,”  and  the  woods 
and  hillsides  and  valleys  produced  quantities  of  wild 
berries  and  roots ; but  the  white  men,  especially 
those  later  colonists  who  came  over  when  the  first 
difficult  years  had  been  surmounted,  had  leisure  to 
remember  the  fair  gardens  and  stately  pleasaunces  of 
their  native  land,  and  began  at  once  to  make  orchards 
and  to  plant  gardens,  and  to  import  trees  and  seeds 
from  the  Old  Country  to  the  new  England  over  the 
sea.  There  is  a love  of  discovery  and  adventure 
in  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  to  which  the  history  of 
tlie  early  British  settleiuents  in  North  America 
must  especially  appeal  ; what  youthful  reader 
need  be  content  with  a lictitious  Ivobinsou  Cru- 
soe or  Man  Friday  when  he  can  state  his 
imagination  with  the  true  adventures  of  the  Pil- 
grim Fathers  aud  their  faithful  Indian  Squanto  ? 
The  settlers,  in  spite  of  many  hardships  for  want  of 
proper  food  and  shelter  from  the  rigorous  New 
England  winters,  found  themselves  before  long  in  a 
land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey,  the  shores  of 
Massachusetts  Bay  and  the  adjoining  country  yielded 
abundant  crops  when  cultivated  and  manured,  Indian 
fashion,  with  fish ; and  fruits  and  vegetables,  native 
and  imported,  grew  as  well  or  even  better  than  in 
the  Old  Country,  There  are  many  I’eferenccs  to  the 
planting  of  orchards  and  fruit-trees  in  early  New 
England  records,  but  Mr.  Slade  says  (p.  1T2)  that 
“ few  records  exist  of  the  horticultural  progress  during 
the  succeeding  one  hundred  years,”  ana  a paper  written 
by  the  Hon.  I’aul  Dudley  in  172i5  speaks  of  the  cul- 
tivation of  fruit  and  vegetables  in  Koxbury,  but  makes 
no  mention  of  flowers.  Boston  always  seems  to  have 
been  celebrated  for  its  gardens,  ^\''ood  writes  about  lt>33: 
“This  Towne  [Bostonj,  although  it  be  neither  the 
greatest  nor  the  richest,  yet  it  is  the  most  noted  and  fre- 
quented, being  the  Center  of  the  Plantations  where  the 
monthly  Courts  arc  ko]it.  Here  likewise  dwells  the 
'/he  JhVolulioii  oj  Jlorttculliirc  in  Xeto  England.  Uj 
Daniel  Demsou  Slade.  London  : G.  P.  PutnanTs  Son 
