Aug. 2, 1897.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
127 
3. — The Teapot is the altar where the mamage cere- 
mony is performed ; in other words five minutes infu- 
sion or ceremony make the two into one life. 
4. — The liquid lea is the married life, free from bit- 
terness, wholesome, refreshing, and two in one, goes 
forth doing good to all : soothing, comforting, and 
invigorating. 
5. — Sugar and cream are alike riches and luxury. 
To many, life is incomplete without them though some 
think that they spoil its fragrance. 
6. — All other teas being soiled by the ton h of many 
unclean hands, (here metaphor) can or.'y make un- 
happy unions resulting in nerve disturb aioe and re- 
pulsion. 
PLANTING NOTES. 
OoFFiJE Shade Tf.ees. — -Sun-dried Erythrina 
Lithosperma loppings, etc., contain per ton ; — 
61'50 lb. Nitrogen ; 57 .38 lb. Potash ; 14 92 lb. 
Lime ; 13'68 lb. Phosphoric Acid. — Planting Opinion, 
July 10. 
Coffee : Cost op High Cultivation. — While high 
cultivation is eminently desirable, it is also extremely 
costly. We have been told of a certain Nilgb’i 
estate that spends over R300 an acre in cii ■ - 
vation and manuring, and finds it so profitable 
that even these rates are likely to be exceeded. 
— Ihid. ^ 
Mr. Patrick Geddr.s'.s Picture of what 
MIGHT BE DONE IN CYPRUS, ill the June Con- 
temporary is well worth ve.ading. Mr. Gediles, 
who has been trying to provide for Armenian 
refugees in Cyprus, shows in glowing periods how 
a little trouble and skill would open the springs 
choked by calcareous deposits, restore the dying 
silkworms, make the island a garden, and estab- 
lish a school of colonial management whose lessons 
would be of value throughout the empire. 
Japanese Bamboo. — Bamboo and bamboo wares 
constitute an important item in the miscellaneous 
export commerce of Japan. Bamboo for ship- 
ment abroad is grown in districts adjoining 
Kyoto and Osaka, and in Shikoku, and in 
Kyushiu, the varieties differing somewhat, ac- 
cording to localities. In Hiroshima the black 
and the spotted varieties grow ; tlie former is 
produced in Kochi, also in many parts of 
Kyushiu. — Indian and Eastern Engineer, 12. 
Wood Flour. — Messrs. Esdaile & Co., Ltd., of 
City Saw Mills, WenlockRoad, London, N., have 
obtained from the Central Cyclone Company, Ltd., 
the monopoly for grinding sawdust and waste wooil 
products for the manufacture of wood flour. This 
material is very extensively used in the manufac- 
ture of linoleviin, floorcloth, dynamite, &c. 
Thousands of tons are sold annually, reduced by 
the p ilverizers of the abovementioned company. 
— British Trade Journal, June 1. 
Loeffler’.s Bacillus in Samoa.— In 1896 a 
firm at Samoa, in the Pacific, imported a su))ply 
of Professor Loelfler’s “ mice-typhoid-bacillus,” 
with whicli to exterminate rats on the coconnt- 
jilantations. Rats, mice, and flying-foxes (Pter- 
opus Panioensis) were inoculated with no very’ 
ceitain results, except in the case of the flying- 
foxes ; but after a time an extraordinary epide- 
mic of chicken-cholera arose among domestic fowls, 
and dogs also died in great numbers. It has |not 
been ascertained for certain, however, whether 
these facts were due to the “miee-typhoid-bacillus” 
or to the unprecedentedly hot and dry weather. — 
Chemist and Druggist, J une 5. 
Two Tfaspoonfuls of fj.uiNiNE Were taken 
by a woman recently. A fit followed, .and it re- 
quired the close attention of a doctor for .several 
days before she was quile out of danger. The 
case is re[>orted in the Lancet, page 12, '2, and 
we mention it as one of the results of cheap qui- 
nine, as it w.as wordi 6d. she took, in the old 
days 6d. worth would have done her no harm. 
— Oheniist a}id Druggist, June 5. 
Coconut Cropping North of Chilaw.— 
The Rajakadaluwa district continues to show 
its fitness as a rich cocoinit-producing district, 
wherever due care is taken in cultivation. We 
have the following return for a tyjiical garden 
of about 160 acres of palms ; — 
“ Last picking aggregated about 37,000 good nuts, 
making total for the 12 months 107,000 against an esti- 
mate of 65,000. A^ery satisfactory this for a planta- 
tion of 8 to 8.J years and proprietors are to be 
congratulated. How does this yield compare with 
that of Kandongamuwa" ? 
Coffee Now and in Days of Old.— A re- 
tired Ceylon merchant writes with reference to 
our remarks on the change which has come over 
Coffee: — “ I agree with you in all you write about 
coffee. Before Free Tratle between the thirties and 
forties, -Jaimaica chiefly and Berbice with a small 
addition to Mocha siqiplied the whole of the 
coffee consumed in Great Britain. There was 
some little Ceylon native also home called “ Ele- 
phant trod” unpicked full of blacks and almo.st tri- 
age. Duties were then dift'erential.” — “Elephant 
troil” as a term applied to native coffee, is new to ns. 
Java Cinchona. — Tire annual report of the 
Planting Company “Pondok Gedeld' of .Java, for 
1896, which has just been published, shows 
that the year has been a good one for the con- 
cern. The ordinary shareholders will receive a 
dividend of 7 per cent, (the distribution for 1895 
was 4 |)er cent.), and a larger sum is carried for- 
ward than in the foregoing year. With regard to 
cinchona, which, (next to tea and coffee) is the 
principal product of the company’s land, it is said 
that the net jirofit on that culture was 16,304 f. 
(about 1,360k). There are still about 200,000 trees 
left on the company’s plantation. — Che7niri and 
Druggist, June 5. 
Price’s Patent Candle Company (Limited) 
attained its Jubilee 011 Saturday last. May 29, 
and we read in a home paper of its intere.sting 
connection with Ceylon as follows : — 
On May 29, 1847, it acquired, for 250,000k, the 
business of Edward Price & Co., which had been es- 
tablished in 1830 by Mr. William Wilson and his 
partner, Mr. Lancaster. That business was formed 
for the purpose of working an acquired patent for the 
separation of coconut oil into its solid and liquid 
constituents, with a view of utilising the former, 
coconut sLearine, as a substitute for tallow, and the 
latter, coconut oleine, as a lamp-oil. In consequence 
of the difficulty of obtaining regular supplies of 
coconut oil, Edward Price & Co. established first a 
branch house in Ce>lon for the purchase of the oil, and 
ultimately steam-mills for crushing coconuts, in o der 
to extract the oil a.s the new material for their London 
works. More capital being required for their opera- 
tions in Ceylon for other purposes, Mr. Lancaster- 
sold his share to three capitalists — Messrs- Cockerell, 
Brownrigg, and Larpeut, and with these as sleeping 
partners, with the addition of Mr. Brice Pearse, in 
1815. Mr. Wilson continued to carry on the business 
until it was arquirod by Price’s Patent Candle Com- 
pany (Limited) in 1847. Blr. V.'i!!iam Wilson became 
tlie first chairman of the new c.i.upany, and his two 
sons managing directors. One . f tliese, Mr. George F. 
Wilson, r.E.s., is still a director ofthe company. The 
company have published a vei-}' interesting memoir of 
their fifty years’ history, beautifully illustrated by 
reproduced photographs. 
