754 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[May  I,  1897. 
Zanzibar,  where  he  had  frequently  played  against 
•rews  of  the  various  meu-of-war. 
On  the  north-east  shore  of  Lake  Nyasa  the  high 
mountains  come  down  sheer  into  the  lake,  which  is 
here  very  deep,  no  bottom  being  found  at  300 
fathoms. 
The  German  station  at  Langenburg  is  a very 
smart  looking  fort.  Ii  is  built  of  brick,  and  is  painted 
white.  When  we  were  there  the  garrison  had  just 
returned  from  an  expedition  against  the  Wahehe 
which  had  been  very  successfully  carried  out.  The 
arrisons  of  the  various  stations  had,  at  a given 
ate,  advanced  on  the  Wahehe  from  different 
directions.  They  captured  large  quantities  of  cattle, 
sheep,  and  goats. 
Fort  Hill,  the  recently  foraied  Administration 
station,  is  situated  about  seveu  miles  from  Mwiniwan- 
da’s  stockaded  village  on  the  road.  It  has  a good 
boma,  and  is  pleasantly  situated  at  a height  of  about 
4,300  feet  above  the  sea-level.  Coffee  has  been 
planted,  but  it  is  too  early  yet  to  say  how  it  will 
succeed.  Coffee  which  was  planted,  however,  some 
ten  years  ago  at  Chirenje  Mission  station,  the  site 
of  which  is  within  a few  miles  of  Fort  Hill,  promised 
well,  I am  told,  up  to  the  time  it  was  abandoned. 
Kanyara,  the  B.S.A.Co.’s  station  is  just  over  the 
boundary.  While  I was  there  we  sat  down  six  to 
dinner  on  St.  Andrew’s  Night.  Mr.  Forbes  had  just 
returned  from  a trip  round  the  Chambezi,  where 
he  had  secured  some  fine  heads  of  puku  and  roan 
antelope.  Mr.  Young  had  also  arrived  at  the  station, 
having  been  to  Senga,  where  he  was  hospitably 
treated  by  the  Arabs.”. — Central  Africa  Gazette, 
February,  1,  1897. 
^ 
CATERPILLARS  AND  TEA. 
A Darjeeling  correspondent  writes  us  : — The 
caterpillar  plague  is  fast  spreading.  On  one  gar- 
den here  in  about  a week  tliey  caught  and  des- 
troyed nearly  100,000.  On  one  garden  in  Assam 
about  1,000  coolies  are  daily  employed  in  destroy- 
ing these  pests.  The  weather  here  is  now  per- 
fect, Tlie  March  winds  have  died  down,  and 
we  are  having  beautiful  cloudless  skies. — Indian 
Planters'  Gazette,  March  20. 
» 
NUWARA  ELIYA  AGRI-IIORTICULTURAL 
SHOW. 
(By  one  present,  and  competent  to  criticise. ) 
March  31,  1897. 
Few  people  who  have  visited  the  Show  at 
Nuwara  Eliya  can  conscientiously  deny  that  it 
was  in  almost  every  re.spect  a great  success,  and 
that  in  some  points  it  would  have  put  many  a 
European  Show  of  the  kind  well  to  the  shade. 
All  tne  more  redounds  to  the  credit  of  its  pro- 
moters, when  it  is  considered  the  paucity  of 
such  undertakings  in  the  island,  and  hence  the 
difficulty  in  getting  e.xhibitors  generally  to  take 
as  keen  an  interest  in  it  as  they  otherwise 
would,  everything  as  it  were,  being  out  of  gear 
in  the  long  lapse  of  time  betw’cen  these  Sliow’s. 
Still  the  number  of  entries  w'as  large,  many  having 
to  be  put  down  as  “extra”  when  these  could  not 
conveniently  come  under  the  classes  in  the  schedule. 
Yet  it  is  somewhat  surprising  to  hear,  in  a land- 
like ours,  where  agncultiire  is  the  mainstay  of  the 
population,  some  amongst  us — Europcaius  they  are 
also — express  a feeling  of  general  dissatisfaction 
if  not  disapjKjintment  at  the  whole  concern  ; even 
one  of  our  leading  new'snapers  is  pessimistic 
enough  to  contend  that  such  Shows  cannot  have 
any  beneficent  effect  on  the  agricultural  instincts 
of  the  natives.  But  that  is  an  argument  which 
will  not  receive  the  favour  of  many  of  us.  There 
are  some  i)CopIe,  it  must  be  admitted,  in  Ceylon 
as  everywhere  else,  who  would  find  their  tastes 
more  gratified  at  a tableau  vivant  or  a boxing 
saloon  than  at  a charming  Exhibition  of  the  most 
valuable  and  beautiful  members  of  the  vegetable 
kingdom,  collected  and  brought  together  from 
difi'erent  parts  of  the  country  : 
“ To  me  the  meanest  flower  that  blows  can  give 
Thoughts  that  do  often  lie  too  deep  for  tears.” 
Such  Exhibitions  are,  as  a rule,  the  on  y 
opportunity  many  of  us  have  of  gaining  any 
idea  of  what  has  been  done,  is  being 
done,  and  yet  rem.ains  to  be  done,  by  the 
ageney  of  man  in  the  way  of  impromng 
fruits,  flowers,  and  vegetables,  as  well  as  the 
livestock  of  the  farm.  It  is  impossible  to  realise 
the  wonderful  variety,  the  interest,  the  potenti- 
alities of  new  developments  which  still  lie 
hidden  in  our  soils,  and  nothing  is  better  cal- 
culated to  bring  these  out  than  the  honest,  open 
competition  afforded  by  Shows  to  agriculturists 
and  horticulturists  alike,  be  they  professional  or 
amateur. 
We  have  heard  it  remarked  that  the  best 
feature  of  the  Show  at  Nuwara  Eliya  was  the 
unusually  large  number  of  exhibits  in  the  (Euro- 
pean) vegetable  class ; although  vegetables,  as 
well  as  fruits  and  flowers,  indigenous  to  our  owm 
clime,  were  rather  poorly  represented.  In  the 
way  of  tropical  fruits,  a very  interesting  collection 
was  that  exhibited  by  the  Royal  Botanic  Gardens, 
to  which  also  the  Show  was  indebted  for  a 
magnificent  group  of  jdants,  covering  an  area 
of  about  100  feet  square,  artistically  arranged  by 
Mes.srs.  Nock  and  Macmillan,  the  gorgeous  flower- 
ing plants  therein  being  from  Hakgalla  Gardens, 
and  the  palms  and  foliage  plants  mainly  from 
Peradeniya  Gardens;  but  these,  of  course,  were  not 
for  competition.  The  former  Garden  also  sent  for 
exhibition  a choice  selection  of  cut-flowers,  as 
well  as  a selection  of  potato  tubers,  grown  from 
seed  imported  from  Sutton  & Co.,  which  were  in 
themselves  a worthy  illustration  of  wdiat  can  be 
done  with  good  sorts  by  proper  cultivation,  even 
in  a climate  w'here  spring  eternal  reigns. 
In  view'ing  the  schedule  and  the  exhibits  gener- 
ally, we  were  inclined  to  think  that  a few  improve- 
ments in  the  arrangement  of  things  were  desired, 
and  this,  no  doubt,  will  be  considered  on  a future 
occasion.  For  instance,  some  of  the  judges,  who 
really  ought  not  to  have  seen  the  inside  of  the 
Show  before  the  judging  commenced,  had  actually 
to  arrange  the  exhibits.  All  the  judges  had  their 
w'ork  well  cut  out  for  them  ; but  those  in  classes 
I to  VIII.,  viz.,  Messrs.  Willi.®,  Nock,  and  Mac- 
millan, had  more  than  their  share,  being  hard  at 
it  almost  without  a halt  from  9 a.m.  to  5 30  p.m. 
♦ 
RAMIE:  HOW  TO  START  A PLANTATION. 
Those  desirous  of  starting  plantations  of  this 
valuable  fibre-plant,  so  often  alluded  to  in  our 
columns,  will  find  the  following  of  interest.  The 
Boyle  Fibre  Syndicate  of  London  has  obtained 
a concession  of  5,000  acres  from  the  Sultan  of 
Johore.  The  .soil  is  a loamy  alluvial,  clay  .sub- 
soil, the  annual  rainfall  is  97  inches  spread  over 
the  whole  year.  A sketch  of  the  system  adopted 
will  be  of  value: — 
The  method  of  cultivation  is  also  a point  upon 
which  something  requires  to  be  said.  The  Govern- 
ment of  France  has  expended  much  money  upon 
the  cultivation  of  ramie  in  Algeria,  but  while  the 
production  has  been  fairly  satisfactory,  it  has  been 
found  necessary  to  reap  the  plants  eitnultaneonsly 
over  the  whole  area  cultivated.  In  other  words,  the 
plants  are  treated  as  a crop.  The  prolific  charac- 
ter of  the  plant,  how'ever,  lends  itself  to  a differ- 
ent treatment.  By  obtaining  an  estate  of  a suitable 
