THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
236 
North Travancore, for improvements in transplanters, 
or implemeDts for traiigplanting plants and shrubs. 
(Specification filed 15th July 1897.) 
Improvements in apparatus for Drying I®?') 
Grain, Hop.— No. 277 of 1890.— Samuel Clelaud David- 
son, merchant, of Sirocco Works, Belfast, Ireland, 
for improvements in apparatus for urying tea, gi^ain, 
hop, or other substances. (From 13th August 189/ to 
13th August 1898.) 
Now ceases: — Improved method of and means for 
the Drying of the leaves of Tea. — No. 392 of 1892,-- 
Liouel Maynard Torin’s invention for an improved 
method of and means for the drying of the leaves 
of tea and other plants. (Specification filed 19th 
April 1893 .— and Eastern Enqineer, August 7. 
VARIOUS PLANTING NOTES 
The Pkospects for the Fruit Season — says 
the Acting District Officer, Ulu Langat (Mr. O. F. 
Stonor), in the Selangor Government Gazette^ 
owing to the long-continued rains, ure extreniely 
bad, and the durian crop promises to be the 
worst experienced for many years. On tlie 
Other hfuid, ft Ifti'ger fireft of pftdi land is being 
brought under cultivation than was the case 
last year, planting being fixed to take place in 
about tliree weeks’ time. 
Colonial Rudf.er Estates, Limited.— Capital 
£100,000, in shares of £1 each. This company 
has been formed to acquire certain territories 
on the West Coast of Africa, with the sole right 
to cultivate, gather, and trade in indiarubber 
from such territories. The purchase price is 
£80,000, payable as to £30,000 in shares, £10,000 
in cash, anil the balance of £40,000 in cash or 
shares, at the company’s option, thus leaving 
£ 20,000 for working capital. We do not at all 
like the look of this company, which we should 
advise investors to avoid . — Daily Chronicle, July27. 
Rubber Cultivation by the Ceylon Forest 
Department has not come to much as yet. Here 
is the Report for 1896 , -tx 
Province of Sabaragamuwa : Edangoda and lati- 
powa Rubber Plantations.— No further additions were 
made. The para rubber trees show a most decided 
growth, especially in the flat portions above flood 
level where wash is not felt. I do not think that it 
is yet time to tap the dominating trees, but a be- 
ginning might be made with the suppressed trees, 
which will probably not yield much, as the ratio 
of yield of small trees is much smaller than that 
of large trees. The experiment with jak on poor 
chena land near the above plantations cannot be 
considered a success, especially as the plants 
suffered from attacks of porcupine and mouse 
deer. The expenditure of the year amounts to R361-79, 
and the receipts to R24. 
The Growth of Sisal Hemp continues to pro- 
mise profitable results as a fence plant in the 
Deccan and as a crop adapted for the most ex- 
posed positions on the Western Ghats, under a 
heavy rainfall. A single offset planted out three 
years ago at Rhandalla, wheie the rainfall is 
excessive, has now leaves 4 feet in length ; it is 
planted in stony soil and has not received s))ecial 
culture. A plantation of 170 young offsets has 
been made near Nandgaon on the crest of the 
Western Ghats, 12 miles south of the railway 
station at Louavla. A quantity of Sisal fibre has 
been prepared from the plants grown at Poona 
and despatched to Kew for the opinion of experts 
regarding its value. The rope makers in this 
neighbourhood say the fibre is very much stronger 
than that of Agave vivipara which the plants 
•■•reatly resemble.— Mr. G. Marshall Woodrow, 
Lecturer in Agriculture and Officer in charge 
Botanical Survey, Bombay. 
[Oct. I, 1897 . 
The Tropical Agriculturi.st : A Com- 
pliment, — An upcountry planter who never 
wrote on the subject before, says in the counse of 
a letter received today : — For a planter I know 
of no such useful work as the one you monthly 
produce, and I for one am grateful for the reliable 
information it imparts.” 
Sleepers on the Railway.— This is what the 
Engineer of Ways and Works has to say on 
this subject in his last year’s report : — 
Sleepers. — The use of doon, kumbuk, na, and 
other native wood sleepers that have been sup- 
plied by the Forest Departmeat is not economi- 
cal, as the average cost is R4 each, and the 
average life four years, while creosoted pine 
sleepers from the Baltic ports cost R3'69 each, and 
have an average life of eight years; but if the 
Forest Department could supply satinwood sleepers at 
a reasonable cost, they would be very valuable, as 
they have an average life of twelve or fifteen years. 
Australian ironbark (one of the eucalypiti) has 
pi’oved to be very serviceable for sleepers, as it has 
an average life of eighteen years in Australia and 
England. It would be advantageous to ascer- 
tain if equally good results could be obtained here. 
Prospects in Nyasaland.— On page 232, will 
be found the summary of an interview with. Mr. 
Alex. Whyte, .so well-known in Ceylon, on the 
above subject taken from the Aberdeen Free Press, 
Mr. Whyte speaks in a very .satisfactory, not 
to say jubilant tone. Certainly Central Africa 
has done well for him. Remembering Mr. Whyte’s 
age, and his comparatively poor health latterly 
in Ceylon, nothing has surprised us more than 
his great success as a pioneer botanist, explorer, 
collector and agricultural adviser in Central 
Africa. If Nyasaland is so unhealthy as some 
men say, how is it that Mr. Alex. Whyte has 
done so much there without apparently suffering 
in health ? It is clear, however, that further 
development of the settlement must be slow until 
the much-needed raihvayis made. 
The Trade of the Philippine Islands.— 
Mr. Rawson- Walker, our Consul at Manila, 
states in his last report on the Philippines that 
the islands number about 1 , 20 J and have a 
population of over 7 g millions, including 100,000 
Chinese. The chief industries are all in the hands 
of tin latter, of whom about 59,000 live in 
Manila alone. Next to Manila the chief centres 
of trade are Iloilo, in the island of Panay, and 
Zebu, where some of the chief British merchants 
of Manila have branch houses. The protective 
tariff wnich came into force in 1891 has caixsed a 
large and steadily increasing quantity ot trade 
in cotton goods and yarns to be diverted from 
the United Kingdom to Barcelona, the chief loss 
being in tlie stouter piece goods and in yarns. 
The trade in fine goods still remains with the 
United Kingdom, as Spanish manufacturers have 
hitherto failed to produce cloths made of the 
finer counts at reasonable prices. For some years 
past the hardware trade has been gradually pas- 
sing out of the hands of English firms to German 
and Swiss houses, so that now the latter have 
almost the sole importation of all classes of iron 
and its manufactures. Last year an increased 
scale of export duties, was put in force with 
only 24 liour.s’ notice, to the great injury of the 
trade, and especially of the staple exports, sugar, 
hemp, and tobacco. The wealth of timber in 
the islands is incalculable, and it yields resins, 
gums, mastic pastes, dye products, fine grained 
ornamental woods, and heavy wood for building. 
The value of the sugar exported last year was 
£1,600,000, of the hemp £1,500,000, and of the to- 
bacco and cigars £650,000.— London Times, July 17. 
