Dec,  I,  1896.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
395 
8ome  native  overseers  (originally  boys  educated 
at  the  Missions)  are  now  landowners  and  planters 
on  their  own  account.  1 emertain  great  hopes  of 
the  intellectual  development  of  the  negro  of  central 
Africa. 
Allu.sion  is  made  to  native  ])iiuters,  tele- 
graphists, masons,  cari)cnters,  &c.  ; also  to  the 
introduction  of  cattle,  huHa  oes  and  goats  from 
Imlia.  Then  we  are  rightly  told  that  “Road- 
making”  comes  next  to  the  Labour  (Question,  and 
mention  is  made  of  several  roads  made,  in  ]iro- 
gress  or  in  contemplation.  The  more  the  better 
for  the  rapid  development  of  the  country.  Still 
more  important  is  the  news  of  the  survey  party 
being  at  work  to  report  on  the  best  railway 
route  between  Blantyre  and  Chirimo  at  the  head 
of  the  all  the  year  round  feasible  tvater  com- 
munication with  the  rest  of  the  world.  It  is 
surprising  to  note  how  large  a number  of  steam- 
ers of  all  descriptions  are  found  in  the  lakes 
and  rivers.  Over  lUO  arc  speeilied  — from  gun- 
boats and  passenger  steaimu's  to  cargo  Ijoats  — but 
the  total  tonnage  is  not  miual  to  one  large  ocean- 
going steamer  of  the  present  day.  The  report  con- 
cludes with  an  account  of  the  excellent  relations 
maintained  witli  the  Cxerman  and  Portuguese  Agent 
in  adjacent  territories  a fact  that  reflects  the 
greatest  po.ssible  credit  on  ISir  Harry  Johnston’s 
tact  and  inHuence. 
But,  ])erhaps  the  three  appendices  attached 
to  the  report  contain  information  as  interesting 
as  any  alread.y  noticed.  The  first  is  on  the  “Big 
Game”  of  the  country,  a paper  principally  due 
to  Mr.  Sharpe — second  in  command — and  added 
to  by  our  old  ac(piaintance,  Mr.  Alex.  Whyte. 
It  is  of  .special  interest  to  .sportsmen  and  naturalists. 
Still  more  worthy  of  preservation  is  the  paper  in 
which  Sir  H.  Johnston  sums  ui>  the  history  of  coflee 
planting  in  his  state  from  the  day  in  1878  when 
Mr.  Duncan,  a church  of  Scotland  lay  agent, 
introduced  three  plants  from  the  Edinburgli 
Botanical  Gardens.  I’lie  progress  in  _ 17  years 
has  been  slow  as  compared  with  a similar  period 
in  Ceylon;  but  then  we  speak  of  1837  as  the 
be'dnning  of  our  Euro[)ean  enterjn'ise  when 
the  export  was  already  3o,0U0  cwt.  The  export 
from  British  Central  Africa  this  year  is  exported 
to  reach  to  3.r0  tons,  or,  to  take  the  more  uni- 
versal expression,  to  7,U00  cwt.  But  the  100 
planters  at  work  are  bound  to  develop  the 
planting  and  trade  rapidly,  as  the  following  sum- 
mary made  from  the  report  indicates:— 
Names  of  Proprietor 
° d 
'3  3 
1 -2  s 
p.v5 
1 • 
0 03 
'P,  S 
0 w 
pS 
S 
oS 
w 
Euro- 
Acres. 
Acres. 
Cwt. 
peans. 
Buchanan  Bros. 
, — 
900 
2,000 
9 
E.  C.  M.  Sharrer 
,m>5,ooo 
900 
(iOU 
19 
H.  B.  Bradshaw 
. — 
300 
400 
— 
Pettitt  Bros. 
. 50,000 
300 
400 
5 
J.  W.  Moir 
. — 
230 
200 
3 ' 
H.  Brown  . . 
— 
— 
200 
— 
K.  Stebleki 
. — 
200 
2-tO 
— 
Nyassaland  Coffee  Co. 
African  Lakes  Corpor 
A* 
25U(?) 
-> 
*4 
tion 
Zambezi  Industrial 
~ 
Mission  . . 
. — 
— 
— 
— 
6 Native  Owners 
. — 
— 
— 
— 
The  map  of  the 
Shire  H 
ighliinds. 
, wliich  ac- 
companies  Sir  H Johnston’s  rei)ort,  shows  very 
clearly  the  location  of  all  the  estates  devoted 
to  cottee  i)lanting,  as  also  much  Crown  or  State 
anti  not  yet  taken  up.  This  map  as  tvell  as 
the  naper  on  Coll’ee  in  full,  we  hope  to  give 
in  the  Tropical  A(jriculliu'i8t  in  an  early  number. 
.Several  of  the  more  extensive  j)ro)n-ietors  come 
to  the  country  for  sport — to  hunt — including 
Messrs.  Pettitt  Brothers,  Sharrer,  &c.  The  only 
reference  to  any  coll'ee  enemy  is  a mention  of 
“green  bng  ” which  “shade”  and  “good 
manure  ” remedies  ; but  the  Shire  Highland 
planters  will  have  to  get  the  enem.y  of  the 
“cuccus”(along  with  the  Ce.ylon,  India,  the  Straits, 
and  Java)  Irom  Australia  in  the  tiueensland 
“ ladybird  ” insect  Finally  in  a third  appendix. 
Sir  li.  Johnston  gives  ns  an  account  from  his 
point  of  view — a generally  accurate  and  fair 
one — of  “ Missionra.y  work  in  British  Central 
Africa”;  and  this  we  shall  reproduce  in  instal- 
ments in  our  “ Da.y  of  Rest”  column.  Con- 
sidering the  close  relations  alread.y  established 
between  Myassalaiid  and  Ceylon,  we  cannot 
know  too  much  about  the  rapidl.y  advancing 
countr.y  so  ahl.y  ailniinistered  by  Sir  Harry 
Johnston,  who  has  our  best  wishes  for  con- 
tinued succe.ss  in  his  good  work. 
THE  NILGIRI  AGRI-HORTICULTGRAL 
SOCIETY. 
This  Society,  says  Plnntinq  Opinion  of  Oct.  24, 
now  consists  of  some  ol  members,  and  the  Ge- 
neral Committee  is  a strong  one,  bearing  such 
well-known  names  in  the  Agri-Horticultural 
Madras  side  world  as  Messrs.  C.  Gray,  T.  Grittiths, 
Generals  Baker  and  Jennings,  Messrs.  Minchin, 
Proudlock  and  Standen.  'I’he  first  show  will  be 
held  next  Ma.y.  A capital  practical  start  has 
heen  made  b.y  circulating  the  following  queries, 
answers  to  which  by  members  will  be  published 
next  month  : — 
QUERIES. 
Whatllowcrs  can  be  produced  at  their  best,  for  the 
Flower  Show  in  Ma.y,  from  an  (Jotacamund  Garden? 
What  month  should  Gladiolus  bulbs  betaken 
up  and  how  long  should  they  be  kept  out  of 
ground  ? 
What  month  should  Pink  and  Carnation  slijjs 
be  putihrwn  in  Ootacamunil. 
1)0  Grevillea  Plants  do  best  planted  late  or 
earl.y,  in  the  monsoon. 
1 1 does  .seem  a pity  that  for  some  cause  or 
other,  perhaps  undue  modesty,  the  Madras  Agri* 
Horticultural  Society  has  not  a real  live  journal 
of  its  own.  It  doss  useful  work  indeed,  but  to 
mofu-silites  its  value  is  only  very  partially 
appreciated. 

MARKET  FOR  TEA  SHARES. 
Thursday  Evening  Oct.  22. — In  our  appended  usu.  d 
table  of  tea  companies  it  will  be  observed  tbit  we  now 
place  all  the  companies,  wheth  r quoted  ■ r unquoted 
slocks,  in  one  strictly  alphabetical  li«t , and  we  trust 
this  will  commend  itself  to  our  readcis  as  being  more 
easy  for  reference. 
This  table  now  represent.^,  it  will  be  seen,  about 
H.J  millions  of  share  capital,  beri  lesmore  than  a quar- 
ter of  a million  of  debenture  capital. 
Notwithstanding  the  present  inherent  weakness  of 
the  stock  markets,  all  tea  shares  of  repute  have  been 
strong,  with  a somewhat  advancing  tendency. 
Mi.NciNCi  Lane  shows  some  signs  of  a slight  re- 
covery, although  prices  for  tho  majority  of  teas  re- 
main still  rather  low. 
FRESH  ISSUF..S. 
Con.solidated  Tea  and  Lands,  we  now  understand 
are  soon  to  obtain  a Stock  Exchange  special  settle- 
ment and  quotation.  There  is  no  business  to  report 
in  any  of  the  issues. 
Empire  of  India  and  Ceylon,  as  notified  last  week, 
are  shortly  to  get  a quotation,—//,  and  C,  Jluil,  Oct,  23, 
