July i, 1897.1 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
37 
very valuable oil concession in Sumatra, which 
they are now developing, and the success attend- 
ing tlieir operations in Sumatra has led to their 
acquiring a like concession in British North 
Borneo. 
THE TOMATO. 
The tomato is rich in possibilities in the hands of a 
skillful cook. It can enter into and give tone to 
endless soups ; it can be made into purees and sauces 
and stews ; it can be eaten au r/ratin, with macroni 
or vermicelli, and en salade. There is no reason why 
it should not be seen more often on our break- 
fast tables. Carefully grilled and placed on slices 
of grilled fat bacon, it makes a delicious dish. Then 
again, we can stew it, place it at the bottom of a 
dish, and gently deposit thereon poached eggs ; or 
we may vary this by placing scrambled eggs round a 
pyramid of stewed tomatoes. Farcie they can be 
introduced at breakfast, lunch or dinner ; and, as a 
writer justly points out, “farcie tomatoes miy not 
easily be surpassed. Upon your whim or choice it 
will depend whether you stuff them or cut them in 
half for so ineffable a purpose. And upon your whim 
likewise depends the special forcemeat used. Chopped 
mushrooms, parsley and shallot, seasoned with dis- 
cretion, leave little to ask for. Prepare, instead, 
sausage meat, garlic, parsley, tarragon and chives, 
and the tomatoes so stuffed you may without pedantry 
call a la Grimod Je la Reyniere. But whatever you 
call them, count upon happiness in the eating.” — 
Epicure. 
NORTH BORNEO AND MR. HENRY 
WALKER. 
We refer to another page for such particulars 
of the attractions now offering in North Borneo 
to planters and capitalists as may well make the 
men envious, who have paid sweetly for their 
lands in this colony and in other le.ss liberal coun- 
tries. We have been surprised to learn how ac- 
cessible North Borneo and Sandakan its capital 
are being made by Holt’s steamers — a regular 
and numerous coasting line — apart from Holt’s 
ocean-going fleet. The proximity to Labuan which 
is a busy calling-port for the Far East gener- 
ally, is also a great advantage. We have no doubt 
that Mr. Walker will have a good many inter- 
viewers from among our younger planters, while 
in Kandy, and that a strengthening of ‘‘ New 
Ceylon” with a fresh reinforcement of men of the 
riglit stamp may be the result, is decidedly, 
what we should wish to see. Mr. Walker him- 
self is a man in a thousand, and any pioneer 
can feel safe with him ; while few men have 
now had so much experience of North Borneo 
added to a long spell in Ceylon. 
America, for improvements in machine.? for separat- 
ing and clearing the fibres of plants of every des- 
cription. {Specification filed 22ud April, 1897.) 
Improvements in the Methods, Machinery and Ap- 
pliances used for Withering or Dessicaiiug Tea 
Leaf. — No. 267 of 1890. — Charles Arthur Burton, 
manager, Lukwah Tea Co,, Upper Assam, for im- 
provements in the methods, machinery and appli- 
ances used for withering or dessicating tea leaf. 
(From 12th May 1897 to 12th May Indian 
and Eastern Engineer, May 15. 
THE TRAVANCORE TEA ESTATES 
COMPANY. 
(From the Prospectus.) 
The capital of the Company is £15,000, divided into 
75,000 six per cent, cumulative preference shares of £I 
each, and 75,000 ordinary shares of fl each; but the 
present issue will consist of only 35,000 preference 
shares and 35,000 ordinary shares, of which 10,000 pre-- 
ference shares and 14,000 ordinary shares will be issued 
fully paid to the vendors as part payment of the pur- 
chase price. The Directors of the Company are Messrs 
H. K. Rutherford, D. Reid, G. A. Talbot, H. Tod, and 
W. Mackenzie, while the agents are the Ceylon Tea 
Plantations Company, and the Secretary, Sir William 
Johnston, Bart. The Company is formed primarily for 
the purpose of acqiriring, working and developing tea 
and other estates in Southern India, and it is intended 
with the present issue of capital to purchase and work 
the following estates as from 1st July, 1896 Bon Ami 
estate. Mount estate, Munjamally estate, and Kobe 
Kanum estate, all situate in the Peermaad District of 
Travancore, Southern India, at elevations ranging 
from 2,500 to 3,900 feet. The approximate acreage of 
each estate is as follows ; — 
Tea not 
Tea to 
Junsfle 
Tea m 
iu 
be plan- 
and Total. 
Bearing. 
Bearing. 
ted 1897. 
Grass. 
Bon Ami 
509 
98 

202 
R09 
Mount 
135 
— 

15 
202 
Munjamally 
— 
— 
400 
160 
KoJie Kanum 
— 
202 
300 
298 
800 
Totals 
644 300 
700 
675 2371 
The estates have been inspected, reported on and 
valued by Mr. U. V. Masefield, the Manager of the 
Ceylon lea Plantations Company, Limited, who re- 
commends their purchase. 
The prices per acre at which the planted and un- 
^auted lands of Bon Ami, Mount Munjamally and 
Rohe Kanum are to be transferred to the Company 
have been agreed, and it is expected when the various 
acreages are ascertained that the sale price will amount 
to £43,000 more or less, payable as to £20,000 in fully 
pam shares of the Company, and the balance in cash. 
ia,king the reserve lands at a value of £3 per acre, the 
price being paid by the Company to the Vendors for 
the planted area of the last mentioned properties is 
equivalent to about £39 per acre. 
^ 
INDIAN PAENTS. 
Applications in respect of the undermentioned 
inventions have been filed, under the provisions of 
the Inventions and Designs Act of 1888, during the 
week ending 1st May 1897 : — 
Improved Paddy-husking and Rice-clearing Machine. 
— No. 166 of 1897. — Johwar Chandra Majumdar, son 
of the late Haranatha Majumdar, talukdar of village 
Aghaid, in the district of Dacca, for au improved 
paddy-husking and rice-cleaning machine. 
No. 187 of 1897. — Amended application— See No. 
144 of 1897. 
Improvements in Machines lor Separating and 
Cleaning the Fibres of Plants of every Description.— 
No. 381 of 1896, — Samuel Benjamin Allison, gentle- 
man, of New Orleans, Louisiana, one of the United 
States of America, at present of Guatemala, Central 
4 
THE GREAT W’ESTERN TEA COMPANY 
OF CEYLON, LTD. 
MANURING : ARTIIi-ICIAL AND BULK. 
Mr. Ryan said that if he wa.s not taking up the 
time of the Director,? he would ask a question or 
two about manuring. He found that it was stated 
in the Report that practically 21 percent had been 
spent in manuring. He would like to know what 
the total acreage inanured was. 
Mr. Bois : — 187. 
Ml. Rian .said that he ke]it a dairy and cattle 
and he was of opinion that cattle manure on paper 
did not pay. It w^as very dilficiilt to make it pay 
on [laper. 
Ml. Lois said it was well if they had not a cattle 
