TO  OU  R READERS. 
In  closing  the  Sixteenth  Volume  of  the  ‘‘  Tropical  AgTiculturist,”  we 
would  as  usual  direct  attention  to  the  large  amount  of  useful  information  afforded  and 
to  the  great  variety  of  topics  treated  in  the  several  numbers.  From  month  to  month,  we 
have  endeavoured  to  embody  in  these  pages  the  latest  results  of  practical  experience  and 
.scientific  teaching  in  all  that  concerns  tropical  agriculture ; and  our  ambition  has  been 
to  make  our  periodical  not  only  indispensable  to  the  planter,  but  of  service  to  business 
men  and  capitalists,  never  forgetting  that  agriculture  trenches  upon  every  department 
of  human  knowledge,  besides  being  the  basis  of  personal  and  communal  wealth. 
While  directing  our  attention  chiefly  to  the  products  prominently  mentioned  on 
our  title-page,  we  have  always  taken  care  to  notice  minor  industries  likely  to  fit  in  with 
sub-tropical  conditions  ; and  our  readers  have  an  ample  guarantee  in  the  index  pages  before 
them,  that,  in  the  future,  no  pains  will  be  spared  to  bring  together  all  available  informa- 
tion both  from  the  West  and  East,  the  same  being  examined  in  the  light  of  the 
teachings  of  common  sense  as  well  as  of  pi'olonged  tropical  experience  in  this,  the 
leading  Crown  and  Planting  Colony  of  the  British  Empire. 
Special  attention  has,  during  the  past  year,  been  given  to  the  extension  of  the 
fibre  industry  (rhea,  sisal,  &c.);  rubber;  cacao  in  Guiana  and  the  West  Indies  as  in  Ceylon  ; 
coffee  and  other  prodiicts  in  IN yassaland,  British  Central  Africa  ; Liberian  coffee  and  other 
products  in  Sumatra,  Java,  the  Straits  Settlements ; and  to  other  new  developments  in 
coffee,  coconuts  and  tobacco  planting,  &c,,  in  the  Malayan  Peninsula  and  North  Borneo. 
The  Tea-planting  Industry  has  sprung  into  so  much  importance  in  India  (South 
as  well  as  North)  and  Ceylon,  as  also  in  Java,  that  a considerable  amount  of  space 
is  naturally  given  to  this  great  staple  ; and  we  think  it  will  be  admitted  by  impartial 
judges  that  the  Tropical  Agriculturist  should  be  filed,  for  the  convenience  of  planters, 
in  every  Tea  Factory  in  this  Island,  in  India  and  in  Java. 
A full  and  accurate  Index  affords  the  means  of  ready  I'eference  to  every  subject 
treated  in  this,  the  sixteenth  volume,  which  we  now  place  in  our  subscribers’  hand.s, 
iu  the  full  confidence  that  it  will  be  received  with  an  amount  of  approval,  at  least 
equal  to  that  which  has  been  so  kindly  extended  to  its  predecessors. 
To  show  how  fully  other  Products  besides  Tea  are  treated  in  this  volume  we  may 
mention  the  number  of  entries  under  several  headings  as  follows  : — Coffee  (including  Liberian) 
86;  Cacao  16;  Indiarubber  26  ; Coconuts  and  other  Palms  20  ; and  Miscellaneous  Products 
nearly  1,000.  In  the  16  Volumes,  the  references  to  Coffee,  Rubber,  and  Cacao  number 
many  thousands,  as  also  to  Coconuts  and  other  Palms. 
We  are  convinced  that  no  more  suitable  or  useful  gift  can  be  made  to  the  tropical 
planter  or  agriculturist,  whether  he  be  about  to  enter  on  his  career,  or  with  many  years 
of  experience  behind  him,  than  the  sixteen  volumes  of  our  periodical  which  we  havs 
now  made  available.  They  are  full  of  information  bearing  oti  every  department  and 
relating  to  nearly  every  product  Avithin  the  scope  of  sub-tropical  industries. 
In  conclusion,  we  have  to  tender  our  thanks  to  readers  and  contributors,  and 
our  wish  that  all  friends  may  continue  to  write  instructively  and  to  read  with  approval; 
for  then,  indeed,  must  the  “ Tropical  AgTicilltlll’ist  ” continue  to  do  web. 
Colombo,  Ceylon;  Lst  July  1897. 
J.  FERGUSON. 
