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THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Dec.  I,  1896. 
the  planters  ? Well,  this  I know  full  well — that 
planters  who  are  Volunteers  will  have  to  go 
throuijh  their  martial  exercises  within  a few 
miles  of  their  totums,  and  not  expect  to  go 
to  Camp  meetings  in  remote  regions  far  away 
from  their  estates. 
YOUNG  PLANTS. 
Looking  over  your  report  from  the  (’onservator 
of  Forests  in  Ceylon,  1 could  not  help  being 
surprisetl  to  lind  that  so  many  young  tree 
plants  had  died  so  >n  after  planting.  .Surely  our 
Foresters  may  learn  from  past  experience  lirst 
to  jilant  only  sturdy  plants  ; and  secondly  to 
closely  see  to  the  planting  of  these  plants  them- 
selves,  and  to  choose  suitable  soil  for  the  various 
kinds  of  trees  they  wish  to  propagate. 

PLANTING  AND  PRODUCE. 
Indian  Te.v  Companies  in  the  United  Kingdom. 
— We  publish  elsewhere  a list  for  the  compilation 
of  which  we  are  indebted  to  Mr.  George  Seton,  of 
the  Joint  Stock  Indian  Tea  Companies  with  head- 
quarters within  the  United  Kingdom.  The  acreage 
of  the  properties  owned  by  the  various  companies, 
the  district,  and  the  capital  are  given  together  with 
the  official  address,  and  the  names  of  the  directors 
brought  up  to  date. 
Pianos  and  Packet  Tea. — The  grocers  of  Birming- 
ham  are  sore  about  an  extension  of  the  “ present  ” 
system  in  connection  with  the  tea  trade  in  the  Mid- 
land capical.  A retail  tea  company  is  offering  pianos 
to  those  of  its  customers  who  purchase  a certain 
quantity  of  its  tea.  The  idea  is  to  send  in  a certain 
number  of  bags  denoting  the  purchase  of  the  tea, 
and  this  system  is  denounced  by  the  trade  as  a “grow- 
ing evil.”  It  has  grown  to  such  dimensions  that  we  may 
look  tor  a gift  of  a cottage  or  of  a landed  estate  in  time. 
How  About  Poiitugal. — Should  the  planters  of 
India  and  Ceylon  desire  to  push  their  teas  in  Portu- 
gal the  exhibition  to  be  held  in  Lisbon  next  year  will 
give  them  the  opportunity.  The  London  Chamber 
of  Commerce  recently  held  a meeting  in  support  of 
the  project  which  is  called  the  Vasco  da  Gama  and 
Indian  Celebration  Exhibition.  Sir  A.  Kollit,  M.P.. 
President  of  the  Chamber,  was  in  the  chair  at  the 
meeting,  a d letters  were  read  approving  the  pro- 
posal and  promising  their  assistance  from  the  Lord 
Mayor,  the  Governor  of  the  Bank  of  England,  Sir 
Clements  Markham,  C.B.  (President  of  the  Royal 
Geographical  Society),  Lord  G.  Hamilton,  M.P. 
(Secretary  of  State  for  India),  Sir  George  Birdwood, 
and  others.  The  assodaim  of  the  celebration  with 
India,  it  was  pointed  out,  made  it  a matter  of 
interest  to  Britain.  A committee  was  formed  to 
assist  the  movement,  and  it  was  also  resolved  to  request 
the  co-operation  of  the  Foreign  and  Colonial  Depart- 
ment, the  Trinity  House  and  other  public  bodies’ 
Bba/.il  and  It.s  Coffee  Industtu. 
The  financial  position  of  Brazil  and  the  effect  on  its 
merchants  and  planters  of  the  enormous  fall  in  the 
Brazilian  exchange  is  the  subject  of  much  comment  in 
trading  circles.  Br.izil,  it  is  said,  has  enjoyed  for  a 
number  of  years  past  a considerable  amount  of 
prosperity,  owing  to  the  high  pric..a  obtained  for  her 
coffee  and  rubber.  This,  however,  means  mainly 
prosperity  for  the  planters  and  high  prices  in  terms 
of  the  paper  currency.  As  the  exchange  has  declined 
the  paper  price  haveiiseii,  and  as  wages  and  other 
costs  of  production  and  fixed  charges  have  been  paid 
in  paper  the  producers  are  said  to  have  been  m.ikiiig 
profits  at  tho  rate  of  100  to  ‘200  per  cent.  Of  course 
the  continual  decline  in  the  exchange  must  ha\e 
been  proportionately  distressing  to  importers  and  to 
the  Government  and  all  indivulu.sls  and  companies 
having  gold  debts  abroad  to  meet.  It  may  also, 
under  the  circuinstaiices,  be  assumed  to  have  induced 
a considerable  rise  in  ihe  cost  of  living,  as  many 
other  prices,  and  particularly  tlie  prices  of 
import-,  have  probably  advanced  in  Brazilian  currency 
to  some  extent,  though  not  equally  with  the  prices  of 
coffee  and  rubber.  But  the  upward  movement^mean- 
wJiile  seejus  to  hkve  had  a remarkable  influence  in  sti- 
mulating production  in  Brazil.  Daring  the  current  sea- 
son there  has  been  gathered,  it  is  saio,  the  most  pheno- 
menally large  coffee  crop  ever  grown.  Instead  of  a crop 
of  5,000,000  to  6,000,000  bags,  a ydeld  of  from  8,000,000 
to  9,000,<XK)  bags  is  reported.  Recent  advices  from 
Rio  de  Janeiro  and  Santos  have  indicated  that  those 
markets  were  becoming  glutted,  and,  naturally,  prices 
have  fallen.  According  to  some  American  authorities 
the  prices  of  coffee  still  mean  a profit  (in  paper)  of 
100  per  cent,  to  the  planter,  as  against  a profit  of 
200  per  cent,  last  year.  As,  however,  there  appears 
to  be  a disposition  in  New  York  to  utilise  the  position 
in  Brazil  with  its  depreciated  currency  as  an  object 
lesson  against  the  free  coinage  of  silver,  it  seems 
not  improbable  that  this  statement  is  an  exaggera- 
tion. It  is  difficult  to  believe  that  the  expen- 
ses of  the  planters  expressed  in  paper  have 
not  risen  to  some  extent  with  the  depre- 
ciation of  the  paper.  Any  way,  dealers  and  merchants 
are  said  to  be  talking  very  alarmingly  of  the  decline, 
and  to  be  doing  their  utmost  to  arrest  it  by  sending 
out  adverse  reports  with  regard  to  the  next,  or 
growing  coffee  crop,  with  the  object  of  inducing 
the  consuming  markets  to  buy  the  crop  now  in 
hand ; and  they  are  attributing  the  failures  reported 
to  the  reduced  price  of  coffee. 
Rubber  Froduction  in  Brazil. — The  production 
of  rubber  has  been  greatly  increased  with  the  constant 
advance  in  its  paper  price.  Twenty  years  ago  the 
Brazilians  asserted  that  they  could  not  produce  more 
than  8,000  tons  per  annum  without  killing  off  the 
trees,  whereas  at  present  they  are  said  to  be  pro- 
ducing at  the  rate  of  20,000  to  21,000  tons  annually. 
Judging  supei-ficially,  the  case  of  Brazil  seems  to  offer 
another  striiiiug  illustration  of  the  iuflueuce  of  a depre- 
ciating currency  in  artificially  stimulating  production 
in  particular  directions,  and  of  the  financial  and  com- 
mercial disorganisation  which  must  eventually  result. 
Vanilla  in  the  West  Indies. — Planters  in  the 
West  Indies  are  on  the  look  out  for  new'  sources  of 
income,  and  some  of  them  are  growing  vanilla.  A 
sample  of  vanilla,  grown  and  cured  at  the  Botanic 
Gardens,  Trinidad,  was  lately  received  (says  the  Kew 
UuUetin)  from  Mr.  .J,  H.  Hart,  f.l.s.,  the  superin- 
tendent. The  pods  w'ere  produced  by  plants  ori- 
ginally supplied  from  Kew  of  what  is  known  as  the 
“Sion  House  variety”  of  YaniUa  planifolia,  Andr. 
In  the  present  instance  tiie  quality  is  not  so  good 
as  might  be  desired  ; but  now  the  right  sort  is  esta- 
blished in  the  island  it  might  be  worth  while  to 
carry  on  further  experiments  with  the  view  of  improv- 
ing the  quality  of  the  produce. — //.  <(;  O.  Mail,  Oct.  23. 
Curing  of  Vanilla— Pruparation  of  Papain, 
— Tlie  Chemist  a)ul  Drtujf/ist  oi  Sept.  26,  has  the 
following  replies  to  a correspondent  : — 
E.P.  (Fiji). — (1)  Curing  of  Vanilla. — After  the  pods 
are  plucked  they  are  dipped  in  boiling  water.  Next 
they  are  packed  in  hardwood  cases,  6 feet  long,  4 feet 
wide,  and  2 feet  deep.  A blanket  is  first  put  in  the 
box,  then  the  beans  to  about  the  depth  of  a foot, 
and  a double  thickness  of  blanket  on  the  top  of  them. 
The  bor.  is  then  covered  with  glass,  and  placed  in  the 
sun  for  a fortnight,  during  which  time  the  beans  fer- 
ment, or  sweat.  Only  experience  can  tell  when  that 
process  is  complete,  and  the  beans  are  ready  for  the 
dry  shed.  This  should  be  an  airy  shed,  w'ell  protected 
from  rain,  and  not  too  much  exposed  to  the  sun.  It 
should  have  a series  of  wire  shelves  all  round  it 
amd  on  the  top  shelf  the  beans  are  placed  in  single  layer, 
not  too  crowded.  They  are  turned  over  every  day 
or  second  day,  and  in  the  course  of  ten  days  removed 
to  the  second  shelf,  then  to  the  third,  where  they 
remain  until  they  are  quite  dry  and  fit  for  packing. 
(2)  All  that  w'e  can  tell  you  about  the  manufacture  of 
Pap.vin  is  that  the  juice  is  pressed  out  of  the  fruit, 
clarified  by  filtration  through  a twill  bag,  and  the 
ferment  precipitated  by  alcohol.  It  is  then  dried,  but 
sometimes  purified  by  treatment  with  water.  The 
supply  of  p.ip.iiii  is  more  than  equal  to  the  demand, 
and  we  do  not  think  it  would  pay  you  to  manufacture 
it,  although  it  seems  probable  that  it  should  be 
more  plentifully  used  by  Indian  natives,  whose  caste 
prejudice  prohibits  them  from  using  pepsin. 
