5^4  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIS P.  [Nov.  2,  1896. 
COFFEE  AND  liUBBEK  CULTIVATION 
IN  CEYLON. 
Coffee  ami  rubber  are,  at  this  moment,  the 
two  tropical  products,  the  su[)ply  of  winch  is  in 
no  danger  of  c.\ceeding  the  demand,  and  at 
profitable  prices.  Attention  has  been  very  pro- 
minently drawn  by  us  in  tlie  columns  of  the 
London  Times  to  the  falling-off  and  scarcity  in 
the  supply  of  coffee — and  in  connection  therewith 
to  the  small  encouragement  there  is  for  extend- 
ing the  cultivation  of  tea  beyond  India,  Ceylon, 
and  perhaps  Java.  We  do  not  at  all  want 
home  capitalists  to  be  led  into  the  foolishness 
of  embarking  their  money  for  the  opening  of  tea 
gardens  whether  in  Africa,  South  or  Central 
America  or  elsewhere.  We  doubt,  indeed,  whether 
our  Java  neighbours  would  not  do  better  in 
keeping  to  coffee  and  cinchona  ; but  that  is  their 
outlook.  On  the  other  hand  in  respect  of  our 
old  staple,  coffee,  there  is  strong  encouragement 
to  extend  the  culture,  and  one  result  of  the 
attention  drawn  to  the  subject  is  that  we  find 
new  and  influential  Companies  brought  before 
the  British  public  for  the  promotion  of  coffee 
cultivation  in  Brazil  as  well  as  Costa  Bica. 
With  both  of  these,  well-known  leading  Ceylon 
planters— Messrs.  H.  K.  Rutherford,  J.  Huntley 
Thring,  J.  L.  Shand  and  G.  A.  Talbot — are 
connected  as  Director.®  ; and  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  the  result  will  be  a considerable 
impetus  to  production.  The  pity  is  that  with 
a product  so  much  in  demand  as  coffee,  a special 
effort  cannot  be  made  to  revive  the  culture  in 
Ceylon  on  a considerable  scale.  We  by  no 
means  lose  sight  of  what  is  being  done  to  con- 
serve the  area  planted  in  Uva,  notably  Haputale  ; 
and  still  more  do  we  recognise  the  enterprise 
which  has  marked  the  cultivation  of  a good-sized 
clearing  of  Liberian  coffee  in  the  Kelani  Valley. 
May  a full  measure  of  success  attend  the  experi- 
ment. But  what  is  wanted  to  ensure  further 
and  wider  attention  to  coffee,  is  surely  that  all 
interested  in  the  product  here,  in  India  and  at 
the  Straits  should  unite  to  support  the  mission 
to  import  the  ladybird  beetles  from  (.Queensland 
to  prey  on  the  “bug”  and  other  enemies  of 
coffee.  When  this  is  done,  there  may  be  jirsti- 
lication  for  new  clearings  in  the  hill-country  as 
well  as  the  lowlands. 
But  to  turn  to  the  other  product.  India-rubber, 
we  can  at  once  with  a clear  conscience  rtrge 
its  wider  culture  in  our  island  as  a subsidiary 
product  to  tea,  if  not  in  separate  clearings.  The 
demand  for  rubber  in  Europe  and  the  United 
States  is  increasing  every  day.  The  uses  for  it 
are  multiplying  in  all  directions.  The  “Cycle” 
industry  alone  has  created  an  immen.se  demand. 
All  the  supply  from  the  primeval  forests  of  Africa 
as  well  as  from  the  basin  of  the  Amazon  is  not 
equal  to  the  demand  and  must  year  by  year 
now,  become  less  so.  One  source  of  supply, 
Madagascar,  is  for  a time  cut  off;  and  the  ex- 
ports from  India  and  the  Eastern  Archipelago 
are  not  increasing.  The  price  of  raw  rubber  is 
firm  if  not  steadily  upwards.  It  is  under  these 
circumstances  that  we  would  urge  increased  at- 
tention to  tlie  species  most  desirable  for  cultiva- 
tion in  C'eylon.  Some  of  the  kinds  originally 
tried  here— the  Ceara  for  instance— did  not  suc- 
ceed so  w-ell  as  was  anticipated,  although  possibly, 
sufficient  time  was  not  allowed  for  a fair  trial. 
On  the  other  hand,  there  are  certain  sj)ecies, 
the  Landol2)hla  may  be  si)ecilied,  which  are  likely 
to  give  a liaudsome  return.  It  would  be  well  if 
tUeXonmjittee  of  the  Flauters’  Association  made 
inquiries  as  to  wiiat  may  be  generally  recom- 
mended to  planters  inclined  to  take  up  the 
cultivation.  We  know'  that  British  manufactur- 
ers of  rubber  goods  are  getting  anxious  about 
their  supplies  ; and  one  large  Company— the 
North  British,  alluded  to  in  our  letter  from 
Gla.sgow', — may  be  sending  out  a Commissioner 
erelong  to  examine  and  report  on  likely  new 
sources  of  supply,  as  w'ell  as  to  urge  extended 
cultivation  wlierever  practicable.  Under  such 
circumstances,  Ceylon  ought  not  to  be  behind 
in  competing  as  a ])roducing  conntiy — more  es- 
pecially becau.se  to  diversify  and  divide  our  tea 
gardens  with  some  suitable  as  well  as  profitable 
product,  would  be  one  of  the  best  means  of  en- 
suring the  continued  prosperity  of  the  great 
stajiie  of  our  planting  districts. 
MARKET  FOR  TEA  SHARES. 
Sept.  10,  1896. 
Business  during  the  past  week  has  been  rather 
brisker  than  for  the  last  week  or  two,  the  Stock  Ex- 
change official  list  showing  as  many  as  seven  or  eight 
different  markings  in  one  day.  Prices  on  the  whole 
keep  firm,  w'ith  a slight  upward  tendency'. 
Mincing  Lane  Market  keeps  steady,  and  biddings 
have  been  fairly  active,  teas  with  quality  making  very 
good  prices. 
CEYLON  SHARES. 
C.  T.  P.  Co.  Ordinary  have  changed  hands  down 
to  29L  with  shares  now  offering  at  29f 
Associated  Company  shares  have'  again  changed 
hands,  the  Ordinary  and  Prefs.  together  at  lOi,  and 
the  Prefs.  alone  at  lOJ. 
Dimbula  Valley  Ordinary  have  changed  hands  at 
6J  and  6|,  with  possibly  a few  more  shares  to  be 
had  at  the  higher  fipre.  There  is  no  business  to 
report  in  the  Prefs.,  but  shares  might  probably  be  had 
at  a little  over  G^. 
Eastern  Produce  and  Estates  Ordinary  are  again 
said  to  have  been  done  at  6|. 
Ouvah  coffee  have  been  done  at  12¥.—J[omc  and 
Colonial  Mail. 
THE  SUPPLY  OF  RUBBER. 
The  following  article  is  fiom  the  Manche.ster 
Guardian  of  Sept.  11th.  It  shows  that  although 
Western  Africa  has  greatly  increased  its  export 
of  rubber  of  late  years,  yet  there  is  .some daiu'er 
of  the  supply  henceforw'ard  falling  off: “ 
“It  is  fortunate  for  the  prosirects  of  the  cycle 
industry  that  the  new  supply  of  india-rubber 
from  Lagos  promises  to  be  abundant.  The  “Kew 
Bulletin”  publishes  the  latest  intelligence  of  this 
fresh  colonial  product,  which  affords  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  instances  of  rapid  development 
of  natural  resources  in  our  times.  The  “ Kick, 
xia  Africana,”  w'ild  forest-plant  growing  abun- 
dantly in  theinterior  of  Lagos  from  which  the  new 
rubber  is  derived,  differs  considerably  from  the 
tree  furnishing  the  Brazilian  rubber.  It  was  dis- 
covered in  Lagos  in  the  latter  half  of  1894,  and 
the  first  exports^  of  any  consequence  w-ere  made 
in  January,  1893.  In  that  montb  theshipments 
amounted  to  21,131  lb.,  valued  at  .Pl,213.  Thcncc 
forward  there  was  a steady  increase  month  bv 
month,  and  in  October  last  the  quantitv  reacbml 
1,059,1581b.,  and  the  value  .£57,1 17,  the  returns 
lor  November  and  December  showing  only  a sli<r|it 
decrea.se.  In  the  whole  of  last  year— the  lirst^of 
the  existence  of  this  trade— the  exports  "from 
Lagos  were  5,069,504  lb.,  of  which  tlie  declared 
value  was  .f269,892.  The  collection  and  premia 
tion  of  this  raw  product  are  carried  on  entirely 
by  ineauQ  of  native  labour,  and,  although  forj, 
