May  I,  1897.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
759 
excess  mi«ht  be  olt'ered.  Let  an  impulse  be 
given  to  the  cultivation  by  such  means  and  by 
accepting  delivery  of  the  cotton,  on  behalf  of  the 
Spinning  and  Weaving  Company  at  the  nearest 
Kaclicheri,  till  there  is  a railway  to  Anuradha- 
pura ; and  we  are  sure  the  Government  will  not 
be  a loser  by  a liberal  far-seeing  policy.  Both 
directly  in  the  recovery  of  taxes,  .ind  indirectly 
in  a larger  revenue  from  importeil  food  stuffs 
and  in  smaller  expenditure  on  Hospitals  and 
Dispensaries,  it  will  reap  a certain  reward.  And 
may  the  credit  for  its  initiation  be  Governor 
Ridgeway’s  ! 
♦ 
PRODUCE  IN  GERMAN  EAST  AFRICA. 
The  Germans  appear  to  be  endeavouring  to  make 
the  most  of  their  possessions  in  East  and  West 
Africa,  and  appeals  are  consequently  being  made 
from  time  to  time  in  Berlin  for  capital  for  new 
companies  intended  to  carry  on  the  work  of  afforest- 
ation and  coSee  and  tobacco  planting.  The  most 
of  the  money  raised  hitherto  appears  to  have  been 
allocated  to  the  coffee  industry,  and  to  have  been 
raised  fairly  easily.  For  example,  a company  to 
work  the  plantations  in  Victoria  (Cimeroons)  was 
recently  floated  in  Germany,  and  the  capital  of 
2,500,000  marks  was  over-subscribed  by  700,000  marks. 
Other  companies  of  a similar  sort  floated  during 
the  last  three  years  have  also  been  generally  over- 
s ibscribed,  capital  only  now  being  required  for  the 
plantations  of  Sakarra. 
In  German  East  Africa  the  Government  has  in- 
augurated a number  of  nurseries  and  experimental 
plantations  of  various  descriptions.  Coffee  culture  is 
considered  to  have  prospered  beyond  the  experi- 
mental stage,  the  last  crop  at  Usamberre,  for 
instance,  having  sold  for  an  extraordinarily  high 
price.  The  coffee  bean  is,  therefore,  excluded  from 
the  scheme  of  the  experimental  plantations,  four 
of  which  have  been  established  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Dar-es-Salaam,  a coast  town  a 
little  to  the  south  of  the  Island  of  Zanzibar. 
Professor  Woltmann,  of  Bonn,  some  time  ago 
analysed  specimens  of  soil  taken  from  near 
Dar-es-Salaam,  and  found  the  ground  unsuitable  for 
the  cultivation  of  many  tropical  plants ; but,  on  the 
other  hand,  in  the  experimental  plantation,  located 
in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  this  place,  vege- 
tables are  grown  which  find  a ready  sale,  and  young 
eucalytus  and  palms  are  reared,  which  are  sub- 
sequently removed  and  planted  in  the  public  thorough- 
fares of  Dar-es-Salaam,  or  distributed  among  the  other 
coast  and  interior  stations,  whither  have  also  been 
sent  consignments  of  seeds  and  young  trees  which, 
it  is  hoped,  the  local  authorities  will  endeavour  to 
carefully  cultivate.  The  Karazini  nurseries  comprise 
45  hectares  of  ground,  mostly  given  over  to  the 
entivation  of  cotton.  At  Msimbari  Schamba  coco- 
nut palms  have  been  planted,  one  to  the  hectare, 
although  this  seems  giving  a great  deal  more  ground 
to  the  tree  than  it  really  requires.  These  should 
begin  to  produce  in  their  seventh  year,  and  will 
continue  to  do  so  for  from  thirty  to  fifty  years. 
During  that  period  a net  annual  profit  should  result 
of  three-quarters  of  a rupee  per  tree.  A coconut 
palm  plantation  has  also  been  established  in  close 
Eroxiraity  to  the  powder  magazine  at  Dar-es-Salaam  ; 
ut  the  primary  function  of  this  appears  to  be  the 
Erotection  of  the  magazine  from  bush  fires,  which 
ave  hitherto  been  somewhat  frequent  in  the  locality. 
Mulberry  planting,  which  had  been  tried  in  different 
parts  of  the  colony,  has  now  been'  discontinued  in 
view  of  the  unsatisfactory  experience  of  planters  in 
India. 
More  important  than  any  of  the  above  enterprises, 
however,  are  the  Government  plantations  at  Mohorrq, 
situated  south  of  the  delta  formed  by  the  Rufidji 
River,  and  chiefly  devoted  to  tobacco.  The  soil 
appears  to  be  of  a highly  favourable  character,  and 
two  Sumatra  planters  whose  opinion  is  prominently 
quoted  in  the  official  return  consider  the  tobacco 
97 
plants  of  Mohorroofa  vary  high  quality.  The  small 
quantity  of  plants,  however — there  ware  27,000  in 
1S95— has  not  allowed  of  fermentation,  and  it  has, 
the-efore,  not  been  possible  to  estimate  the  value  of 
the  crop.  Indeed,  ic  doos  urt  quite  seem  as  though 
the  tobacco  would  ferment  sucoe  tsfully  at  all  ; for  it  is 
spoken  of  by  Dr.  Paul  Neubauv,  of  Berlin,  as  a“  non- 
fermeutative.”  The  same  authority,  however,  states 
that  many  German  tobacco  merchants  of  consequence, 
whose  names  he  mentions,  are  unanimous  in  the 
belief  that  the  Mohorro  tobacco  has  a very  good 
future  before  it  from  a trade  point  of  view.  The  soil 
in  which  it  grows  is  good,  plain,  heavy,  and  eminently 
suitable.  There  is  plenty  of  cheap  timber  eisily 
accessible,  and  the  plantation  is  at  no  great  distance 
from  the  sea.  These  conditions,  co-operating,  with  the 
fairly  healthy  climate,  should  make  the  working  of  the 
plantation  a task  of  some  promise.  Last  year’s  plants 
showed  a fine  and  thin  leaf  of  light  colour,  which,  if 
it  could  only  be  brought  to  properly  ferment,  would, 
in  the  opinion  of  the  Sumatra  planters  already  re- 
ferred to,  be  equal  to  a good  Sumatra  leaf.  It  must 
be  admitted,  however,  that  the  most  unsatisfactory 
experience  gained  in  connection  with  the  plantations 
at  Levvahas  considerably  shaken  confidence  in  to- 
bacco culture  in  German  Bast  Africa.  To  re-establish 
this  confidence  is  probably  the  reason  why  the  Go- 
vernment is  devoting  itself  with  unusual  ardour  to  the 
cultivation  of  the  plant  at  Mohorro. 
The  skilled  work  appears  to  be  in  the  hands  of  Chi- 
nese, 3.3  of  whom  were  recently  imported  from  Singa- 
pore, the  more  mechanical  labour  being  performed  by 
negroes,  whose  daily  wages  average  about  16  pesa.  The 
needs  of  the  Chinese  are  being  studied  with  a genero- 
sity which  verges  upon  the  lavish.  A large  house  has 
been  erected  for  their  accommodation,  and  Mozambique 
pigs,  Bombay  ducks,  and  European  chickens  have  been 
introduced  into  the  settlement,  apparently  for  their 
special  benefit.  Other  structures  which  have  recently 
made  their  appearance  at  Mohorro  embrace  stables, 
stores,  and  a large  building  intended  to  be  devoted  to 
the  process  of  fermentation.  Medical  men  consider  the 
climate  relatively  good : but  it  is  stated  that  one 
Chinaman  has  already  died  of  fever,  and  that  most  of 
his  fellow  immigrants  since  their  arrival  have  suffered 
from  maladies  of  various  sorts.  The  German  officials, 
however,  contrive  to  keep  in  fairly  good  health,  and  are 
now  occupying  themselves  with  planting  experiments 
of  divers  description.  Vanilla,  gutta-percha,  and  coffee 
and  among  the  products  which  it  is  being  sought  to 
place  under  cultivation  ; and  for  all  of  these  the  Go- 
vernment believes  there  is  a profitable  future.  Mean- 
while, it  does  not  appear  that  individual  enterprise  is 
being  encouraged  to  any  extent,  and  with  the  exception 
of  one  or  two  sanguine  persons,  mostly  of  British  na- 
tionality, traders  continue  to  leave  German  East 
Africa  severely  alone. — 11.  rO  C.  Mail.,  March  19. 
va 
New  Method  of  treating  the  Vanilla  Pod. — A 
communication,  dated  22nd  May  last,  has  been  rj- 
ceived  at  the  Foreign  Office  from  Mr.  Courtenay 
Bennett,  Her  Majesty’s  Couusul  at  Reunicn,  in- 
closing extracts  from  the  Independent  Creole  of 
Reunion,  containing  a paper  read  by  M.  Dolabart2, 
Manager  in  Reunion  of  the  Credit  Foucier  Colonial, 
at  a recent  meeting  of  the  Rsunion  Syndicate  Agri- 
cole upon  a new  process  of  treating  the  vanilla 
pod  ; — According  to  M.  Dolabartz  the  operation  con- 
sists of  drying  tin'  vanida  in  an  hermetically  closed 
vessel  by  means  of  chloride  of  calcium  in  the  pro- 
portion of  about  one  kilog,  for  every  kilog,  of  dried 
vanilla  obtained.  The  diloride  of  calcium  is  not 
lost,  as  it  can  be  easily  regenerated  by  heating  it 
in  an  iron  or  copper  receptacle  ; one  lot  of  chloride 
of  calcium  is  thus  sufficient  for  several  processes  if 
kept,  after  rcgriiieration,  in  an  hermetically  closed 
vessel.  According  to  information  received,  2'981 
kilogs.  of  I'aw  vanilla  will  produce  about  a kilog.  of 
j)re]pared  vanilla.  It  cui  be  easily  understood  that 
vanilla  dried  in  an  air-tight  vessel  must  lose  much 
less  vanillins  than  when  dried  by  the  ordinary  pro- 
cess, by  which  it  is  exposed  in  the  open  air  for 
several  weeks.  {Hoard  of  Trade  Journal,  August 
— Kiw  Bulletin,  1890.) 
