574 
THE  TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
[Feb.  I,  1897. 
The  leaves  of  this  plant  have  a strong  avonrtic 
smell,  which  the  Sinhalese  assert  is  noxious  to  the 
Madura  or  Mosquito,  and  they  hang  cluster.s  of 
branches  over  their  sleeping  places,  in  order  to  rid 
themselves  of  these  nocturnal  pests. 
Plants  of  the  Madurutala  are  easily  procurable  and 
could  be  successfully  grown  in  pots. — Yours  truly, 
HOUSEHOLDER. 
MAURITIUS  GRASS:  THE  GREAT 
FODDER  PLANT. 
Sir, — During  the  past  few  years  the  cultivation  of 
Mauritius  or  water  grass  {Panicum  Nolle)  Las  im- 
mensely increased,  every  available  space  has  been 
taken  advantage  of.  Cinnamon  has  been  uprooted  and 
large  tracts  of  ground  which  were  before  entirely 
reserved  foi  the  spicy  shrub,  are  fast  disappearing, 
to  make  room  for  the  great  fodder  plant  which  sus- 
tains our  equine  and  bovine  stock.  Yet  the  demand 
for  grass  is  not  equal  to  the  supply  and  resort 
has  to  be  had  to  imported  hay  and  chaff.  Besides 
the  regular  daily  supply  to  houses  in  the  town  and 
its  suburbs,  numerous  carts  heavily  laden  wdth  grass, 
wend  their  way  every  evening  to  the  Municipal  and 
other  markets,  in  the  Pettah,  Slave  Island,  Kollu- 
pitiya,  Grandpass,  &c.,  where  a brisk  trade  is  car- 
ried on.  Each  bundle  is  priced  at  B cents,  and  before 
nightfall  almost  every  bundle  is  sold ; these  sales 
are  almost  entirely  confined  to  the  natives  who  own 
and  hir'e  carts  and  hackeries.  Apart  from  the  sale 
of  this  (imported  variety)  grass,  there  is  a fairly 
large  quantity  of  country  grass  or  Kattu  pillu  sup- 
plied for  the  consumption  of  horses;  this  trade  is  ex- 
clusively in  the  hands  of  the  town  Menatchies,  who 
thus  materially  supplement  the  monthly  wage  of  the 
town  Ramasamies — (their  husbands). — Yours  truly, 
HOUSEHOLDER. 
Coffee  and  Tea  in  Southern  India.— The 
following  is  an  extract  from  Planting  Opinion, 
Jan.  23  : — 
On  the  Nelliampatties,  w'e  note  the  average  yield 
of  coffee  is  said  to  be  about  3 cwt.  per  acre,  while 
on  the  Lower  Pulnies  the  yield  runs  out  to  slightly 
Under  2 cwt.  per  acre,  though  it  must  be  noted  that 
almost  half  of  the  individual  returns  in  this  case 
are  marked  as  “ uncertain,  probably  considerably 
underestimated.”  In  Central  Travancore  the  average 
works  out  to  a little  over  IJ  cwt.  per  acre.  No 
figures  are  given  for  the  other  districts.  The  only 
figures  relating  to  tea  yields  are  from  Travancore. 
The  Central  District,  with  a probable  yield  of  slightly 
under  1 1-5  million  pounds,  averages  390  lb.  per  acre 
for  tea  over  two  years;  and  South  Travancore  shows 
a yield  of  3G0  lb.  per  acre,  or  say  about  2 million 
pounds.  We  assume  the  total  plantation  area  to  be 
about  650,000  acres,  of  which  321,540  are  cultivoted, 
with  coffee  (300,900),  tea  (18,000),  and  cinchona  (6,500). 
We  estimate  Mysore  at  143,030  acres  of  coffee,  Coorg 
at  84,000,  Nilgiris  and  Wynaad  at  48,000,  Sliovaroys 
at  11,000,  Travancor-e  at  6,000,  Nelliampatties  at  5,000 
and  the  Pulnies  at  3,000.  Of  the  18,000  acres  of  tea 
we  have  reckoned  that  Travancore  has  about  10,000 
acres,  the  Nilgiris  6,500  and  the  Wynaad  about 
1,500  (the  figures  for  the  latter  district  will  probably 
be  3,000  acres  at  least  by  the  end  of  the  next  plant- 
ing season). 
How  can  there  possibly  be  300,000  acrc.s  kept 
up  under  coffee  and  a total  annual  export  of  less 
than  300,000  cwt.  of  coffee  ! 
rx  r A r M C Q 0 describing  a really 
ULnrlHLOOi  genuine  Cure  for  Deafne.ss, 
Ringing  in  Ears,  Ac.,  no  matter  how  severe  or  long- 
.staiuling,  will  be  sent  post  free. — Artificial  Ear- 
drums and  similar  ai)pliances  entirely  superseded. 
Address  THOMAS  KEMI’E,  Victoria  Cham- 
bers, 19,  Southampton  Buildings,  Holborn, 
London, 
TEA  IN  MATALE:  A BIG  YIELD. 
Mr.  II.  Storey  has  supplied  a contemporary 
with  tire  following  ligures  showing  the  yield  on 
Warakamure  Estate,  Maiale  tor  a series  of  years. 
No  manure  has  been  used,  and  Mr.  Storey  says,  the 
figures  he  quotes  have  been  equalled  if  not 
exceeded  by  neighbours  : — 
Warakamure  Estate,  Matale,  23rd  Jan.,  1897. 
Year.  Acreage.  Total  crop.  Yield  per  acre.  Rainfall. 
1892  . . 
73 
52,225 
715 
76  inches. 
1893  . . 
194 
134,966 
695 
59  „ 
1894  . . 
194 
136,310 
702 
61  „ 
1895  . . 
194 
157,552 
812 
87  „ 
1896  . . 
198 
196,681 
993 
104  „ 
The  year  1894  was  characterised  by  a heavy 
drought  in  January,  February  and  March,  of  68 
day.s’  duration.  1893,  though  showing  a smaller 
total,  had  a better  distribution. 
INDIAN  TP:A  SALKS. 
(From  William  Moran  iL-  Co.’s  Market  Report,) 
Calcutta,  Jan.  27. 
The  sale  of  the  21st  inst.  comprised  11,497  chests, 
all  of  which  were  sold.  There  was  no  material 
change  to  note  in  price.s.  For  this  week’s  sale  about 
10,000  chests  are  advertised. 
Reuter’s  Telegrams,  received  since  our  last,  report 
as  follows : — 
Indi.vn  Tea  : — 
January  21st — Auctions. — “ Offered  59,000  packages. 
Sold  49,000  packages.  Firm  with  a good  demand. 
Average  price,  9Jd.” 
Ceylon  Tea— 
January  2lst — Auctions. — “ Offered  23,000  packages. 
Sold  22,000  packages.  Firm.  Pekoe  souchoug,  6d. 
Average  price  8Jd.” 
Total  quantity  of  Tea  passed  through  Calcutta 
from  1st  April  to  25th  Jan. 
Great  Britain 
Foreign  Europe 
America 
Asia 
Australia 
1896-97. 
127,491,724 
420,358 
1,825,853 
4,014,985 
6,573,055 
1895-96. 
116,189,865 
271,085 
1.071,664 
4,277,740 
6,380,521 
1894-95. 
109,371,426 
240,144 
548,460 
3,598,401 
4,692,213 
139,325,975  128,190,875 
118,450,644 
♦ 
Tea  in  Ceylon  : — The  Yield  of  tue  Scrubs  Es- 
tate,— Everybody  is  acquainted  with  the  Scrubs 
estate.  No  one  can  enter  or  leave  Nuwara  Eliya 
without  noticing  how  vigorous  its  tea  appears,  and 
how  complete  a cover  it  forms  on  the  steep  hillside. 
Situated  at  nearly  7,000  feet  elevation,  the  yield 
per  acre  is  a great  deal  higher  than  the  average 
of  any  district  in  the  island,  and  higher  than  that 
of  most  estates  in  the  lowcountry.  The  following 
figures  speak  for  themselves  : — 
YIELD  OF  THE  SCRUBS  ESTATE. 
1894  , . 507  lb.  per  acre. 
1895  ..  671  „ 
1896  ..  667  „ 
We  do  not  think  we  are  far  wrong  in  saying  that 
this  Yield  on  an  estate  at  the  great  altitude  of  the 
Scrubs,  and  without  the  aid  of  manure  is  more  re- 
markable than  even  the  yield  from  the  101-acre  field 
in  Mariawatte,  seeing  that  the  latter  can  be  matched 
in  India,  ^wo  believe,  but  wo  do  not  know  of  any 
estate  at  /,000  feet  in  India,  or  el-ewhere,  giving 
Dhe  fine  field  which  the  Scrubs  estate  is  doing.  Wo 
may  add  that  the  average  yield  for  the  nineteen 
estates  belonging  to  the  Ceylon  Tea  Plantations  Co, 
for  1896  wag  470  lb.  per  acre.— Local  “ Times,” 
