822 
[June  i,  1896. 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
For  Clearing  and  Separating  Cells  of  Seeds,  by 
Steam-power  or  Manual  Labour. — No.  Ill)  of  181)6. — 
Temulji  Dhunjibhoi,  mill  manager,  now  residing  at 
No.  125,  Hurroguuge  lioad,  Salkia,  Howrah,  for 
cleaning  and  sepai-ating  cells  of  seeds,  by  steam 
power  or  manual  labour. 
Specifications  of  the  undermentioned  inventions 
have  been  filed  under  the  provisions  of  Act  V of 
1888. 
For  Improvements  in  Apparatus  for  Rolling  Tea 
Leaf  and  the  Like. — No.  38  of  1896. — William  Jack- 
son,  engineer,  of  Thorngrove,  Mannofield.  Aberdeen, 
North  Britain,  for  improvements  in  apparatus  for 
rolling  tea  leaf  and  the  like.  (Filed  23rd  March, 
1896.) — Indian  and  Eastern  Engineer,  April  11. 
COCONUT  CULTURE  IN  VENEZUELA. 
Coconuts  are  indigenous  to  the  sandy  soil  of  the 
sea-coast,  requiring  the  warm  and  equable  tempera- 
ture of  the  tropics.  The  coast  belt  of  Venezuela 
possesses  not  only  these,  and  every  other  requisite 
condition,  but  unusual  facilities  for  the  shipment  of 
fruit  to  some  central  point.  For  hundreds  of  miles 
the  coast  presents  a narrow  flat  surface  in  many 
places  extending  some  distance  back ; and  the  moun- 
tainous formation  in  other  places  is  equally  well 
adapted  for  the  prolific  production  of  the  fruit.  All 
the  soap  factories  rely,  to  a great  extent,  upon  their 
own  groves  for  the  oil  from  which  they  manufacture 
their  product;  but  these  groves  are  an  insignificant 
patch,  when  compared  with  the  waste  and  barren 
lands,  unfit  for  any  other  agricultural  purpose,  and 
to  be  obtained  at  a very  cheap  rate.  The  Vene- 
zuela pal’ll  requires  four  years  to  attain  the  fruit- 
bearing period,  after  which  time  its  producing  power 
is  enhanced  year  by  year,  until  its  full  maturity  is 
reached,  about  its  eighth  year;  it  then  produces  for 
•10  years.  From  75  to  100  trees  are  planted  to  the 
acre,  yielding  fully  300  ti  350  coconuts  per  annum. 
The'  profit  of  the  small  producer  is  not  less  than 
about  4s.  per  tree  per  annum.  The  large  grower, 
handling  and  shipping  his  fruit,  would  it  is  said, 
double  that  figure.  The  palm,  while  a tree  of  ex- 
quisite beauty,  yields  one  of  the  most  nutritious 
and  useful  fruits  known  ; as  an  article  of  food,  it  is 
greatly  relished;  industrially,  its  principal  use  is  in 
the  manufacture  of  an  excellent  quality  of  soap,  the 
coconut  oil  being  preferred  to  fat  because  of  its 
ability  to  absorb  much  more  water  than  the  latter. 
The  husk  of  the  fruit  is  now  used  as  fuel ; and  on 
this  point  the  United  States  Consul  says  it  would 
seem  that,  in  countries  such  as  Venezuela,  where 
carpets  or  other  woollen  or  cotton  floor  coverings 
are  discarded,  and  nothing  but  imported  mattings 
used  the  manufacture  of  the  fibre  of  the  husk  into 
cocoa  matting  on  the  spot  would  prove  profitable. 
Such  an  enterprise,  aside  from  the  possession  of  its 
own  inherent  excellence  and  elements  of  success, 
would  probably  receive  great  assistance  and  en- 
couragement from  the  Government. — Joiirnal  of  the 
Society  of  Arts,  April  10. 
the  amsterham  market. 
Our  Amsterdam  correspondent  states  that  last 
Thurday’s  auctions  of  Java  cinchona-bark  in  his  city, 
of  which  a telegraphic  report  appealed  in  our  last 
issue,  passed  off  very  quietly,  but  at  the  same  time 
with  a more  general  demand  than  has  been  shown 
for  some  months.  The  richest  parcel  of  bark  offered 
at  the  sales  was  a lot  of  24  bales  Ledgeriana  stem 
bark  in  broken  quill,  produced  on  the  Malawar 
estate  It  analysed  11'03  per  cent  of  sulphate  of 
undine  and  sold  at  from  38, *c  to  38Jc per  half-kilo. 
The  quantity  of  bark  bought  in  at  the  auctions  re- 
presented an  equivalent  of  6,129  kilos  of  sulphate  of 
quinine  The  demand  for  pharmaceutical  barks  in 
fine  bold  quill  or  good  broken  quill  was  fairly  good, 
and  comparatively  high  prices  were  paid,  wnereas 
common  kinds  were  quite  neglected.  1 he  shipments 
of  barks  from  Ja>a  during  the  month  of  March  arc 
ton  vet  known,  but  they  arc  said  to  bo  modei’atc. 
It  is  also  rumoured  that  the  largest  of  the  new 
Java  quinine  factories  now  in  progress  of  construc- 
tion will  not  be  in  working  order  for  some  time,  as 
certain  conditions  under  which  the  funds  were  granted 
have  not  so  far  been  fulfilled.  The  following  statis- 
tics show  the  result  of  the  first  three  auctions  of 
the  year  1896,  1895,  1894  and  1893 
0)  CA 
Q C5 
CD 
rt  Q ^ 
Ph 
iix) 
o 
H 
Kilos 
rv 
c3 
O 
Kilos. 
0) 
o o 
txo 
*3 
o 
73 
<u 
<! 
Per  Cent. 
a 
'5 
O' 
Kilos. 
o 
Of 
Kilos 
1896. . 
21,040 
1,937,808 
101,938  5 14  to  5-53  81,306 
20,632 
1895.. 
22,751 
1,963,134 
92,289  4-63  to  4-91  49,194 
43,095 
1894.. 
16,869 
1,363,134 
61,005  4-61  1 
;o  5-12  56,899 
7,106 
1893.. 
17,516 
1,468,971 
61,936  4-23  to  4-55  39,537 
22,399 
The 
1 units 
were  as 
follows  : — 
— 
1896 
1895 
1894 
1893 
Cwt. 
Cwt. 
Cwt. 
Cwt. 
First 
sale 
..  3 
2-70 
3-95 
5-80 
Second  sale 
..  2-82 
2-50 
4-40 
5‘60 
Third 
sale 
..  2 80 
2-85 
4-42 
5-28 
— Chemist  an 
d Truf/f/ist,  April  4. 
MAUKAY  COFFEE  ESTATE  COMPANY 
LIMITED. 
Tlie  prospectus  of  the  aboveuamed  Company,  which 
is  now  before  the  public,  is  worthy  of  more  than  a 
passing  notice.  It  has  been  proved  far  beyond  the 
realms  of  doubt  that  coffee  of  the  finest  (piality  can 
be  successfully  cultivated  in  localities  favourable  to 
its  growth.  That  in  our  colony  of  Queensland  there 
are  many  favourable  spots  goes  without  saying,  and 
when  guided  by  the  experience  and  judgment  of 
men  who  have  spent  many  years  at  the  business 
we  need  not  hesitate  in  assisting  to  establish  an 
indusiry  which  is  destined  to  reach  vei'y  largo  di- 
mensions. Since  the  outset  of  the  career  of  this 
journal  we  have  been  firm  believers  in  our  climate 
and  soil  being  in  every  way  suitable  for  coffee 
cultivation  on  a large  scale,  and  we  hope  to  seethe 
time  when  we  shall  rival  Brazil  at  least  as  expor- 
ters of  the  cheering  berry.  The  prospectus  before  us 
is  the  result  of  the  efforts  made  by  Mr.  John  Dan- 
say,  an  experienced  Ceylon  planter,  who  is  profoundly 
impressed  with  the  belief  which  comes  of  conviction, 
that  for  coffee  cultivation  Queensland  is  second  to 
no  country  in  the  vrorld.  This  conviction  has  been 
arrived  at  in  the  most  natural  of  ail  ways.  Mackay, 
he  considers  as  a good  coffee  centre  and  the  pro- 
posed Company  will  operate  in  that  dis  rict.  The 
capital  of  the  Company  is  to  be  £6,000  in  12,000 
shares  of  10s  each,  and  the  payments  are  made  so 
easy  as  to  be  within  the  reach  of  all.  All  the 
names  on  the  directory  are  of  a class  as  to  give 
the  public  the  fullest  confidence.  And  as  if  to 
give  a further  assurance  of  the  bona  fide  nature  of 
the  proposed  Company  the  promoter  or  original 
mover,  Mr.  Uansey,  is  willing  to  accept  shares  equal 
to  one-twelfih  of  the  entir-e  capital,  which  shall  go 
against  his  salary  as  manager  of  tbe  Company  in 
instalments  of  250  shares  per  annum.  Mr.  Dausey 
has  been  engaged  for  four  years  by  the  new  Com- 
pany.— The  Australian  Trojiiculturisl  etc.,  March  21. 
Ceylon  Te.\  in  America.— lii  quoting  two 
extracts  about  Ceylon  tea  in  America  on  page 
818,  we  omitted  to  mention  that  the  papers 
liad  been  kindly  sent  to  us  by  our  Tea  Commis- 
sioner. The  Boston  Herald  from  which  one  of 
the  extracts  was  taken  also  contained  a promi- 
nent advertisement  ol  our  teas  setting  forth  that 
“ the  great  discovery  of  the  X-rays  by  Dr.  W. 
C.  Roentgen  was  not  needed  to  show  tea  experts 
the  extent  of  the  imimrilies  in  a chest  of  China 
and  Ja]ian  tea,”  and  that  teas  “absolutely  pure 
wholesome  and  uncoloured  artilicially  can  be 
obtained  from  India  and  Ceylon.”  A .similar 
notice  also  appears  in  the  Boston  Olobe, 
