THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
Dec.  I,  1896.J 
COFFEE  PLANTfNG  IN  SELANGOR. 
In  his  monthly  report  for  August  (as  given  in 
the  Selangor  Government  Gazette  of  Oct.  U),  the 
District  Ollicer  of  Klang  says  : — 
Duriug  the  month  Mr.  L.  Davidson,  of  Ceylon, 
visited  the  district  and  inspected  most  of  the  coffee 
gardens,  including  “Highlands”  and  “ Golden  Hope” 
estates  as  well  as  Mr.  T.  H.  Hill’s  2,500  acres  block, 
Mr.  A.  Forsyth’s  estate  and  the  Date  Dagang’s  14- 
ear-old  coffee.  He  also  visited  the  Langat  Iliver 
etween  Kuala  Klang  and  Golden  Hope  estate  and 
inspected  a portion  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river 
within  the  reserve  J,  close  to  the  Pedamaran  Java- 
nese holdings. 
'I'he  Acting  District  Oflicer,  Kuala  Langat,  re- 
ports : — 
The  area  demarcated  during  the  month  amounted 
to  370  acres,  which  were  distributed  as  follov/s: — 
A.  I’v  P. 
Bandar  Mukim  . . 115  0 0 
Klanang  Mukim  . . 255  1 21 
Total  . . 370  1 24 
Although  a larger  area  than  usual  has  been  de- 
marcated, applications  are  now  coming  in  with  a 
steady  rush,  and  the  result  is  that  there  are  now 
874  acres  still  undemarcated. 
Klanang,  as  will  be  ^een  from  the  above  retuijn, 
is  flourishing  extremely  and  coffee  land  there  is 
already  beginning  to  fetch  high  prices.  Much  of  the 
land  bordering  on  the  Coast  Road  at  Klanang  is 
really  rich  and  only  wants  capital  and  care  to  pro- 
duce a first-class  berry.  The  Tukang  Kepala  has 
several  acres  of  splendid  coffee  near  the  junction  of 
the  Bandar  and  Klanang  Roads.  Native  tobacco 
has  from  time  to  time  been  very  successfully  grown 
there  by  the  Javanese.  At  Tanjong  Duablas  (Telok 
Besar)  I have  laid  out  a new  karapoog  site,  and 
on  the  whole  the  present  state  of  agriculture  in  the 
district  may,  I think,  be  considered  satisfactory  when 
the  isolated  and  roadless  state  of  the  greater  part 
of  the  district  is  taken  into  consideration. 
PLANTING  AND  PRODUCE. 
CEYI.ON  Tea  and  the  United  States  Makket. 
— From  a communication  from  Mr.  William 
Mackenzie  to  the  chairman  of  the  Ceylon  Planters’ 
Association  in  the  Ceylon  papers  it  appears  that  the 
packing  of  more  than  four  kinds  of  tea  for  the  United 
States  is  deprecated,  and  what  are  regarded  as  suitable 
pricesfor  long  lines  of  tea  are  (luoted,  there  being  an 
objection  to  tasting  or  handling  teas  running  up  by 
single  cents  per  pound.  Complaint  is  also  made 
against  small  breaks. 
Tea  Machineky  fob  China. — As  we  hear  that  enqui- 
ries are  being  made  from  China  with  reference  to  tea 
machinery,  we  advise  those  manufacturers  who  are 
not  already  aware  of  the  little  peculiarities  of  the 
Chinese  to  act  cautiously  before  imparting  information, 
even  if  it  be  in  serious  contemplation  to  use  tea 
machinery.  There  are  no  patent  laws  or  anything 
approaching  them  within  the  Celestial  Empire,  and 
the  imitative  faculty  of  the  Chinese  is  well 
known. 
The  Docks  and  the  Shipping  Cohpanh-s. — The 
Loudon  and  India  Docks  Comruuiee  has,  ii  is  sa:d, 
coucl’  dod  an  i<greemeut  for  live  y.’af.  wi.  h tiio  i^v,nia- 
sular  and  Oriental  Steam  Navigation  Company, 
wherein  almost  every  deman.i  m.uie  by  the  Do  ’ks 
for  increased  remuneration  has  been  surrendered. 
Some  small  payment  for  special  berths  is  to  be  made; 
otnerwise  all  is  to  be  as  before. 
The  Botanical  Survey  of  India.— Some  excellent 
work  has  been  done  by  the  Director  of  the  Botanical 
Survey  of  Inoia  during  the  past  twelve  months.  Thus, 
one  of  the  botanical  collectors,  Harsukh,  managed  to 
visit  Fir  Ghal,  the  highest  peak  in  Waziristan  (about 
11,500  ft.  above  the  sea),  and  other  localities  which 
have  not  hitherto  been  accessible  to  Europeans,  or 
even  to  natives  of  Hindustan.  Again,  the  largest  and 
most  important  collection  made  duriug  the  Chitral  ex- 
pedition was  that  of  head  botanical  collector  luayat 
387 
Kban.  Specimens  were  collected  all  along  the  route 
as  far  as  Chitral,  and  excursions  W'ere  made  from 
several  of  the  camping  grounds  up  to  a height  of 
11,000  or  12,000  feet.  Tlie  Pamir  Boundary  Commis- 
sion was  also  fruitful  in  valuable  botanical  results, 
duo  to  the  exertions  of  Surgeon-Captain  Alcock,  who 
was  attached  to  the  Commission  as  the  medical 
oflicer  and  naturalist.  It  is  intended  to  publish  an 
account  of  his  work  in  a volume  on  the  natural 
history  of  the  Pamir  Boundary  Commission.  Further, 
an  inquiry  has  been  initiated  in  connection  with 
the  outbreak  of  rust  in  Indian  wheat,  which 
is  likely  to  lead  to  a number  of  interesting 
observations  on  this  very  important  subject. 
Coffee. — According  to  Blessr.s.  During  and  Zoon, 
the  European  stocks  on  the  1st  inst.  showed  a decrease 
of  about  700  tons,  whilst  the  visible  supply  .showed  an 
increase  of  about  23,  1)30  tons,  the  figures  being  82,950 
tons  and  219,  300  tons  rc.spectively,  ag.iinst  83,(350  tons 
and  195,370  tons  on  September  1.  I'lie  first  offers  of 
]'j  >st  Indian  colory  coffees  have  made  their  appearance 
in  our  market  already,  says  the  Commercial  Uecord,  but, 
as  usual,  no  business  resulted.  There  is  in  our  belief 
hardly  another  trade  where  the  maxim  of  “give  and 
take”  is  more  needed  and  frequently  practised  than  in 
the  East  Indian  coffee  trade.  Invariably  sellers  and 
buyers  are  shillings  and  shillings  out  at  the  beginning 
of  the  season,  but  judicious  persuasion  of  the  honest 
broker  at  both  ends  of  the  sea  gradually  brings  the 
opposing  poles  into  close  proximity,  and  at  last  busi- 
ness results.  A Coorg  crop  at  95s  c.f.  andaNeil- 
gherryatDOs  c.f.,  although  both  hailing  from  good 
estates,  were  found  xeorbitant  here,  and  bids  of  about  5s 
less  were  proffered  by  speculative  buyers  in  our  market, 
which,  however,  met  with  silent  scorn  ou  the  part  of  the 
Indian  planters.  In  the  face  of  their  small  yields  this 
year,  planters  are  naturally  more  stubborn  than 
usual,  and  will  require  a lot  of  work  to  bring 
them  down  to  reasonable  prices,  but  at  the 
best  the  arrival  business  this  year  will  be,  we 
fear,  confined  to  small  limits  only,  for,  accord- 
ing to  the  latest  reports,  Chickmigur  promises 
to  fall  short  50  to  60  per  cent,  of  last  year’s 
yield,  and  Coorg  at  the  very  least  30  to  35 
qier  cent.  In  other  districts  the  prospect 
are  even  worse;  some  are  returned  at  half  of 
their  last  year's  gatherings.  It  may  interest  those 
dealing  in  these  fine  East  Indian  sorts  that  the  total 
export  from  Coorg  during  the  year  1895-96  is 
shown  to  have  been  about  3,650  tons.  Stocks  of  light 
coffees  in  the  principal  European  ports  are  about  the 
same  as  last  ye.ar,  so  there  is  no  lack  of  available 
stuff,  and  if  Indian  planters  with  to  dispose  of  their 
crops  on  arrival  terms,  it  will  be  advisable  not  to 
hold  out  for  impossible  values,  or  otherwise  they 
might  be  compelled  to  ruu  the  risk  of  the  market  until 
their  gathering  has  reached  the  hammer  of  the 
London  broker.— 7/.  lO  C.  Mail,  Oct.  16. 
A CUP  OF  TEA. 
This  was  the  title  of  a lecture  delivered  last 
week  at  the  Agricultural  Hall  in  connection 
with  the  Grocens’  Exhibition.  The  lecturer  was 
Dr.  Goodfellow,  who  dealt  with  the  .subject  from 
a general  pniat  of  view.  If  tlie  lecturer  suc- 
ceeded in  iin])re<siiig  Ids  audience  wiili  the  ini- 
portanee  of  u-i  g rea  to  f'le  liest  advantage  by 
brewing  io  omperly,  ins  lecture  ivill  liave  served 
a u eiulpuriio.se.  Alter  describing  the  le.  plant 
and  tlie  method  of  dealing  witli  the  leaf,  the 
lecturer  said  : “ The  average  compo-ition  may 
be  taken  as  follows  : General  composition  of 
black  tea— water,  8-10;  tlieine,  3-.35  ; albumin, 
18-Ul  ; nitrogenous  extractives,  5 82  ; dextrin  and 
sectin,  1'21  ; organic  acids  and  oil,  U04  ; tannin, 
17  02;  colouring  matter  and  resin,  3-21  ; cel- 
lulose, 35-89  ; asb,  C-35— lOO'OO.  Green  tea 
diileis  slightly  in  compo.sition  from  black,  con- 
taining considerably  more  tannin  and  .slightly 
more  e.ssential  oil.  A few  words  on  tlie  pro- 
perties of  the.se  bodies  will  prove  of  interest. 
