Sept,  i,  1896  ] 
THK  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIS  I'. 
>99 
YAEIOUS  rLANlJKG  K01ES. 
The  Indian  Forest  Departmen'I'.  —The 
Forest  Administration  Report  for  the  whole  of 
India,  is,  we  see  from  Indian  contemporaries,  on 
the  whole  distinctly  favourable,  the  net  revenue 
being  considerably  in  advance  of  the  revenue  re- 
ceived in  1892-93  and  1893-94.  On  the  whole, 
there  is  a slight  increase  in  the  net  profits  al- 
though much  new  country  has  been  opened  since 
the  publication  of  the  last  Annual  Report  at  no 
inconsiderable  cost  to  departmental  funds. 
Tea  Grown  in  North  Dakota.— The  Phila- 
delphia Grocery  World  of  May  25  says ; - 
When  asked  what  products  are  grown  from  North 
Dakota  soil,  one  thinks  readily  of  wheat,  rye,  oats 
and  flax,  but  who  in  the  world  would  name  lea  as 
one  of  the  cultivatable  crops  ? Yet  tea  is  grown,  and 
giown  successfully,  'n  North  Dakota.  State  Com- 
missioner of  Agriculture  Laughlin  has  made  the  dis- 
covery that  a colony  consisting  of  twenty  Russian 
families  in  Mercer  County  raised  lea  last  year  from 
seed  obtained  from  Russia.  The  experiment  is  re- 
ported to  have  been  a decided  success,  and  tea  cul- 
ture will  be  tried  on  a much  larger  scale  in  that 
State  this  year.  It  is  known  as  the  Asiatic-Russian 
tea-plant,  and  the  quality  is  said  to  be  every  way 
superior  to  the  black  tea  sold  by  merchants. 
The  Orange  Beetle  Tea  Pest.— Mr.  S.  R. 
Peal  writes  from  Sib.sagar  to  the  Englishman  : — 
I understand  that  a correspondent  of  the  Planter 
refers  to  the  above.  I think  he  will  find  it  figured 
and  described  by  me  in  the  “Tea  Encyclopaedia,'’ 
many  years  ago— under  the  rather  elaborate  name 
of  the  “ Dinpromorpha  Melanops."  It  is  naturally 
a grass  feeder,  and  is  becoming  a tea  shoot  eater, 
and  in  some  cases  can  cause  serious  damage,  by 
eating  the  stem  of  the  soft  shoots,  thus  causing 
them  to  fall  over  and  die.  But  it  can  be  eradi- 
cated by  a little  perseverance,  by  means  of  a few 
smart  little  boys  with  butterfly  nets,  made  of 
strong  “Marking  Kapra  ” a foot  in  diameter  20 
inches  deep,  and  handles  4 feet  long.  The  net 
s’'ould  have  a pointed,  V-sliaped  bottom,  and  each 
boy  has  a wide-mouthed  bottle,  half  full  of  water. 
As  a rule  each  boy  can  catch  and  drown  1500  to 
2000bee..les  per  day,  and  being  slow  fliers,  they 
are  easily  captured.  It  does  not  jirojiagate 
rapidly,  like  “ green  fly  ” or  the  ‘ mosquito  ” (tea 
bug),  and  is  not  found  in  forest,  but  where  there 
is  some  gras.s,  such  as  “ulu”  and  the  small 
“ kagra.” 
Coffee  Planting. — Thus  the  Pioneer  : — 
Almost  every  year  the  Chancellor  of  the  exchequer 
remarks  that  the  consumption  of  coffee  in  the 
United  Kingdom  has  been  either  .stationary  or 
shows  a decline,  being  supplantetl  in  popular  favour 
by  tea  and  cocoa  which,  as  popularly  prepared,  are 
niore  jialatable  and  refreshing  beverages.  But  it 
does  not  by  any  means  follow  from  this  thatcolfee- 
planting  is  au  un))rolitablo  occupation  ; on  the 
contrary  the  enormous  reduction  in  Ceylon, 
Southern  India,  and  the  West  Indies  of  the  area 
under  colfee  and  of  the  exports  of  the  berry  owing 
to  the  devastation  of  the  leaf  disease  that  attacked 
the  trees,  have  resulted  in  sending  u])  the  price  and 
keeping  it  at  a high  level.  Brazil  has  seized  the 
opportunity  to  largely  extend  her  plantations  and 
is  now  the  chief  source  of  supply,  the  exports  from 
Ceylon,  once  the  great  centre  of  production,  having 
fallen  from  over  a million  to  about  fifty  thousand 
hundredweight  in  the  last  eighteen  years,  and  the 
smaller  quantities  from  South  India  and  the  West 
Indies  having  diminished  by  .about  fifty  jier  cent. 
In  the  two  first  named  districts  tea  has  usurped  the 
place  once  occuiiied  by  coffee,  but  a new  coffee- 
growing enterprise  has  sprung  up  in  Coorg,  and 
plantations  are  also  being  opened  out  in  Java.  But 
the  supply  as  yet  is  barely  equal  to  the  demand, 
and  so  long  as  that  is  the  case  prices  will  remain 
high  and  co(fee-]ilanting  be  anything  but  a ruinous 
occupation. 
Bananas  in  England. — Says  the  Fruit-Grower  ot 
Julyl: — From  time  to  time  we  read  of  the  con- 
demnation of  large  bunches  of  bananas  which  have 
been  seized  by  the  sanitary  inspectors  of  the  Local 
Authorities  as  being  unfit  for  food.  It  would  be 
interesting  to  have  a case  stated  settling  the  point 
as  to  when  a banana  is  in  this  condition.  This  is 
a peculiar  fruit,  and  if  exposed  to  the  wind  or  wet 
will  immediately  become  discoloured  on  the  outside, 
while  the  interior  fruit  is  perfectly  good  and  eatable. 
Fruiterers  make  the  mistake  of  hanging  their  bun- 
ches of  bananas  in  prominent,  exposed  positions 
entirely  unprotected.  We  advise  them  to  use  a 
semi-circular  shield,  which  could  be  made  of  straw- 
board  or  of  thin  tinned  iron,  and  which  would  be 
promptly  supplied  by  fruiterers’  and  greengrocers’ 
sundriesmen.  The  shield,  if  made  of  tin,  should 
have  a turned  edge  round,  and  should  hang  well 
above  and  below  the  bunch  of  fruit. 
A Mammo’i’h  Planting  Concern.— Our  Coo- 
noor  confcemporay  says Messrs.  Finlay  Muir 
& Co.,  of  the  North  and  South  Sylhet  Compa- 
nies, had  not  been  long  in  Southern  India,  when 
it  was  recognized  that  their  unlimited  capital 
and  enterprise  would  soon  be  a powerful  faccor 
in  the  .shaping  of  the  future  of  our  planting  in- 
dustry. But  neither  Ave  nor  any  of  our  con  tern  pora- 
ries,  in  India  or  in  Ceylon,  were  prepai-ed  for 
the  very  big  thing  they  have  just  floated  suc- 
cessfully in  London.  The  Consolidated  Tea  and 
Lands  Company,  Limited,  is  indeed  a mammoth 
concern,  but  the  app.arent  ease  with  which  it 
lias  been  floated  is  another  case  in  point  of  the 
large  .amount  of  idle  capital  at  home,  idle  only 
for  want  of  snllicient  outlet.  The  capital  of  the 
Company  is  two  millions  sterling  and  the  pro- 
])erties  proposed  to  be  acquired  consisted  of 
180.000  acres  of  land  in  Northern  and  South 
India  and  Ceylon ; the  cultivated  area  beiiK' 
31,120  acres,  two-thirds  being  in  bearing  unde*r 
tea,  coflee,  cocoa  and  coconuts.  Of  tlie  hu"e 
reserve,  90,000  acres  are  on  the  Kan  an  Devans 
two-thirds  of  which  are  computed  to  be  at  between 
4.000  to  6,500  feet,  a grand  elevation  for  the  best 
(]ualities  of  tea  and  coffee.  We  are  glad  to  note 
that  coffee  is  to  be  taken  in  hand  vigorously 
if  only  for  the  fact  that  it  will  leave  less  to  be 
planted  up  with  tea.  The  Assam  and  Ceylon 
reserves,  19,000  acres,  are  to  be  planted  up 
rapidly  ; avo  suppose  at  least  tAvo-thirds  will  be  in 
tea.  Of  the  tAvo  millions  of  capital,  £1,600,000 
are  to  go  in  the  purchase  of  the  lands  to  be 
acquired,  at  the  rate  of  £48  per  acre  for  the 
cultivated  and  .£1  per  acre  for  the  reserve.  VVe 
are  not  accustomed  to  large  Companies  in  South 
India,  and  we  fancy  more  regret  than  apprecia- 
tion Avill  be  felt  on  the  part  of  i>roprietors.  The 
swalloAving  up  of  the  little  by  the  big  i.s  inevi- 
table perhaps,  but  distinctly  to  be  regretted  for 
many  reasons.  On  the  other  hand,  such  a lar^e 
influx  of  capital  and  enterpri.se  must  do  a lot 
to  infuse  prosperity  in  a humlred  diflerent  Avays 
into  the  members  of  our  body  politic.  It  is 
useless  to  mourn  over  the  change  that  Avill  , surely 
take  place  ; let  it  rather  be  our  object  to  strive 
to  benefit  thereby  as  much  as  Ave  can.  For  o-ood 
or  for  ill,  all  the  Avorld  oA’er,  big  Companies 
have  come  to  stay,  and  small  holdings,  the  dream 
of  statesmen  and  philanthropists  of  all  nations 
Avill  ore  long  fade  utterly  aAv.ay,  despite  all  pious 
aspirations  and  legislation  to  the  contrary. 
Planting  Opinion,  July  18. 
