136 the tropical agriculturist. [Aug, 2 , 1897 . 
COFFEE IN SERDANG, SUMATRA. 
An old planting friend writes : — 
Serdang, Sumatra, 15th June Unprecedented rain 
these last days. Roads are terrible. Health good 
and labour plentiful. Coffee planting is making rapid 
progress, and weeds are also taking advantage of the 
fine growing weather. The rinderpest has at last 
abated, and our roads are once more opened for 
bullock traffic, having been closed for over two months. 
Difficulties of transport during this period have been 
beyond a joke. Crop is ripening up rapidly and 
coming in hand-over fist. One estate is said to be 
picking 174 pikuls per acre from it’s four years old 
coffee, i. e. over a ton an acre. This makes one’s 
mouth water. I doubt if British India, Ceylon or 
Java has ever equalled it. It seems that Serdang is 
not to be the only coffee growing district of the East 
Coast. It is being planted in parts of Deli and 
Langkat, and I hear that some who have come too 
late for land in Serdang are opening in Assahan. — 
Singapore Free Press, June 22. 
COCONUTS AND RICE IN THE EASTERN 
PROVINCE OF CEYLON. 
The highly satisfactory results which are seen on all 
sides of a vigorous irrigation policy which has been 
steadily carried on for the last thirty years, and the 
large area under coconut cultivation, call for early 
action on the part of Government to improve inter- 
nal communication and facilitate transport of pro- 
duce. Every encouragement should be given towards 
the improvement of the steam service on the lake. 
Among the schemes mooted for the development of 
the resources of the Province, and one which deserves 
favourable consideration, is the construction of a light 
railway from Batticaloa to the foot of the Madulsema 
hills. The country which it would traverse presents 
no physical difficulties, for the first 30 miles is almost 
a dead level and the remaining 25 miles slightly un- 
dulating land. A railway like this would enable the 
ricegrower to transport his produce to theUva estates 
and sell it there at a cheaper rate than the price 
paid for the imported rice. 
” The extent of land sold last year amounted to 3,886, 
the highest on record for the last ten years, as will 
be seen from the annexed statement : — (We quote 
three,) 
Year. 
Extent sold: 
Amount sold 
Average 
A. R. P. 
for Rupees. 
Price per 
1894 
. . 4,196 0 25 
. . 80,146 . . 
Acre. 
R. c. 
19 10 
1895 . 
4,584 1 24 
.. 77,797 .. 
16 97 
1896 
. . 4,886 2 32 
. . 72,871 . . 
14 91 
Also the following 
from Mr. Lushington 
The larger blocks were bought chiefly by Euro- 
peans for coconut planting, which appears to contri- 
butes BO much towards the prosperity of the country. 
Very little new land has been opened for paddy, pro- 
bably because the extent already brought under cul- 
tivation is so enormous as to leave little for further 
extension, unless new irrigation works are provided. 
In no part of Ceylon has irrigation produced such 
successful results as it as here. 
Annexed is a statement of land under paddy and 
coconut cultivation ; 
Acres. 
Paddy •• •• 67,377 
Ceconut . . . ■ 19,200 
KEW AREAS 0» CULTIVATION. 
The first attempt to take up coconut cultivation 
on a large scale was mado during the year past, when 
three blocks of land aggregating 504 acres were pur- 
chased for the purpose of growing coconuts. These 
lands are situated at Uppu-aru near the mouth of the 
Mahaweli-ganga, and seem to be well suited to coco- 
nut growing Unfortunately, one of the purchasers, 
Lieu^ Maloney, has left the Island. There is much 
land suitable for coconut cultiuation in the district, 
and I hope to see a considerable extension of this 
produce within a few years. In addition to these 
large blocks of land, 152 lots aggregating 551 acres 
were sold by the Crown, chiefly for paddy cultivation, 
much of the land sold being irrigated by Kantalai 
tank. Three acres were granted on payment of half 
improved value, and 55 acres were settled on certifi 
cates of quiet possession. 
The Cost of Citric Acid. — Messrs. Nascio, 
Aveline & Co., manufacturers of citric acid write 
from Massina that the present selling-price of citric 
acid is barely equal to the cost of producing the 
drug. They work it out this way The theoretical 
yield of one pipe of cone, lemon-juice (of 108 im- 
perial gallons) at 64 oz. of acid per gallon is 432 
lb. But in practice it is from 15 to 20 per cent 
less, according to the season and the expertness of 
the manufacturer. There is also a trade-discount 
given on citric acid, to meet which a further 5 
per cent must be deducted from the yield — i.e., in 
all 20 per cent, or 108 lb., leaving a net result of 
324 lb. At £12 5s per pipe this makes the prime 
cost of crude citric acid 9d per lb. The cost of ma- 
nufacturing, packing, &c., is close upon 4d per lb., mak- 
ing a total of 13d per lb., or, say, the same as the 
present selling-price . — Chemist and Druggist. 
Manchester Geographical Society. — At a meeting of 
this Society Mr. A. T. Wardrop, Customs and harbour 
officer for the port of Sandakan, the chief seaport 
and capital of North Borneo, gave an address on 
“North Borneo, the new Ceylon.” He described the 
country as wonderfully rich in natural products, and 
as I'kely soon to become an important centre for 
trade. Cotton, coffee, tobacco, and cocoa, he said, 
could be grown there easily; many plantations (or 
the cultivation of tobacco and coffee were already 
established and doing very well. A railway stretching 
across the entire country would soon be completed ; 
the telegraph and telephone wires were already laid, 
and great progress was noticeable in many other 
directions. Mr. Wardrop’s story was confirmed by 
the Rev. Father Jackson, a Catholic missionary, who 
has spent several years in Borneo, and on a visit 
to Manchester attended the meeting in company with 
the Rev. Dr. Casartelli. The interest of the meeting 
was increased by the presence of two natives of 
Borneo, known as dyaks, or head hunters. They 
form part of the band which has been sent to 
England to take part in the Queen’s Jubilee cele- 
bration. and are believed to be the first of the natives 
of Borneo to visit Europe . — Manchester Guardian. 
Honduras and its Banana History is the 
subject of a consular report by Mr. J. Eugene 
Jernigan, the United States’ representative at 
Utilla. He states that two islands in the bay 
of Honduras were the first to engage in banana 
culture for export, which is now the greatest ot 
all the industries of Hondur.as. The Consul adds 
that there are no wharves, piers, or warehouses 
where vessels can take fruit in the Gulf of Hon- 
duras, and in most cases they are obliged by 
the treacherous coast to anchor a thousand yards 
or more off shore, and the plantation owner has 
to convey his fruit in small dories and skiffs 
through the surf to the vessel, where it is inspected 
and received or rejected. The Consul remarks, 
that the royal road to fortune through a banana 
plantation in Honduras is a myth. True, millions 
of the fruit are produced annually, but the price 
paid the producer in the great majority of in- 
stances is not greater than the cost of production 
and delivery alongside of ship. It would have 
been interesting if Mr. Jernigan had inquii-ed 
into the causes of these low prices. Perhaps his 
district, like that of Belize, is a prey to the mono- 
poly of a shipping company, to whom the 
merchant or the planter is bound to sell his 
fruit at whatever price the company likes to give, 
— British Trade J ournal. 
