Oct. I, 1897.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
277 
PLANTING IN REUNION : 
Sugar, Vanilla, Coffee, &c. 
( From Report Inj Consul Bennett,') 
There still remains, however, plenty of land fit for 
cultivation besides the sugar belt running round the 
island, and up to about 1,500 ft. on the slopes. The 
upland plains of Salazie, Pilaos, Plaine des Cafres, 
Plaine des Chicots, and Dos d’Ane, among others 
situated at from 3,000 to 5,000ft., are all cultivable, 
and, except the Plaine des Chicots, more or less 
cultivated, but from 5,000ft. upwards the soil is practi- 
cally non-existent, and cultivation is impossible. 
Sugar and Vanilla. — “ The Reunion sugar culture 
has been fully explained in my report above re- 
ferred to, and calls for no further remark, except to 
observe that the fall in the price of sugar and the 
beet competition have been felt almost as acutely 
in Reunion, in spite of Protection, as in the 
British West India colonies. A distinction, however, 
must be drawn between planters and millwoners. In 
spite of hard times, millowners have been able to 
offer to planters prices for canes brought to the 
mill to be crushed which have given fair profit 
to the planter. The better the mill the better 
the sugar product, and, therefore, if the planter 
elects to be paid in sugar, the bigger profit for the 
planter who chooses the best mill available. It is 
the millowner who has chiefly felt the pinch. Cen- 
tralisation of mill has long been recommended, and 
under given circumstances works well. Decentralisa- 
tion, i,e., division of labour, would perhaps, work 
better, the millowner striking to his trade t\s miller 
and the planter to his as planter, mutual coutracts 
existing between millowner and planter as to lands 
to be cultivated and the labour to be supplied on 
more or less the lines of the Queensland Sugar Acts. 
But Reunion' would be in a far worse plight today 
than she actually is if she had depended entirely 
upon sugar. It is hardly too much to say that her 
planters, or many of 1 hem, have been saved from 
ruin by having a second string to their bow. Many 
a deficit on sugar has been covered by a handsome 
profit on vanilla, backed up by sales of manioc, coffee, 
tobacco, perfumes, cloves, and market garden produce. 
The largest of all these secondary [products is un- 
doubtedly vanilla. There is hardly a sugar estate in 
the island which has not more or less land under vanila 
varying naturally in extent according to the nature 
of the locality. On the other hand, in certain districts 
are to be found large planters who cultivate nothing 
but vanilla, and as regards the quarters of Ste. Rose, 
St. Philippe, and St. Joseph, it is no exaggeration to 
say that the mainstay of the people is vanilla. The 
yards and courts and little plots of ground round the 
huts are covered with the vanilla creepers. When 
the pods are ripe they are sold green to a neighbour- 
ing merchant, realising] quite a small fortune for the 
grower. The only drawback to this crop is that it 
gives rise to an immense amount of theft and dis- 
honesty. The pods are stolen by night, and in spite 
of stringent laws are passed from hand to hand, and 
finally lost for ever to the grower. Many consider- 
able fortunes are knovn to have been accumulated 
by illicit vanilla buyers, but the detection [of the 
culprit is almost as difficult as that of a diamond 
thief at the mines. 
Self-supporting Estates.— In conclusion. Consul 
Bennett writes : The main industry will be seen to 
be sugar; coffee and vanilla and tapioca forming the 
only serious aids to counteract low prices and losses 
on sugar. But the fact must not be overlooked that 
large Indian corn, bean and pea crops are grown 
upon all estates, and that market garden produce is 
largely cropped either for family consumption, for 
supply to neighbouring towns, or for export to Mauri- 
tius and Madagascar. With the exception of flour, 
beef, and rice, all of which are imported, a well- 
managed Reunion estate is practically self-supporting 
as regards men and beasts and fuel for the mill, for 
no coal is used in the mill furnaces ; and according 
to its vicinity to town or railway can make a con- 
siderable yearly income by tne sale of market pro- 
duce, &c. Continuous efforts kte made to substitute 
Indian corn, peas, beans, lentils, and mandioca for 
imported rice, and one of the results of the plague 
at Bombay has been to very largely aid in forcing 
the inhabitants to look to native products in view of 
the great rise in the price of rice. Asa rule, how- 
ever, the market gardner is sadly hampered by want 
of means of commur ication ; he can grow beautiful 
produce, but before he can reach the consumer 
freight has eaten up the profits. Neither are export 
duties charged at the ports favourable to the develop- 
ment of a trade with foreign or nei ^hbouring countries. 
Something has been done to save the island from 
depending solely on sugar, but there is room for im- 
provement. Reunion ought to grow all its own corn 
on its fertile upland plains. Horse and cattle rearing 
could be profitably extended, and sheep-raising on a 
smaller scale, with the by-products of soap, candles, 
and manures. 
PLANTING &C. AT THE STRAITS. 
The Acting District Officer, Ulu Langat (Mr. 0. P, 
Stonor), Reports for July : — 
Advantage has been taken of the moderately dry 
weather of the past six weeks to burn off numerous 
clearings throughout the district, many with but 
average success, owing to the enforced delay during 
the recent prolonged rainy season, and a consequent 
anxiety to take advantage of the earliest opportuniiy, 
Padi, at the time of writing, is being transplanted 
from the nurseries, to the fields and the people are 
looking forward to a prosperous year, should present 
prices be maintained. 
That energetic miner planter, Mr. Goh Ah Ngee, 
has applied for a grant in respect of 29 adjoining cus- 
tomary holdings near Semenyih (measuring altogether 
some 550 acres) which have recently been transferred 
to his name. I have referred in former reports to the 
promising work being done on this estate, which is, for 
the most part, worked by Christian Chinese. 
Amongst native coffee growers I am glad to notice 
signs of an increasing belief in the practice of “ top- 
ping” the trees — a practice which is, I believe, gene- 
rally advocated by European planters. The condition 
of many of the older Malay gardens is certainly no 
advertisement to the contrary, though the systematic 
cultivation of lalang, and various sorts of weeds, has 
probably more to do with the result achieved. Remon- 
strance is invariably met with the plea of want of 
labour, the proprietor preferring to concentrate his 
energies on crops which yield a quick return, and leave 
the coffee to take its chance. 
Good progress is being shown in the construction 
of the Suugei Cheow Road bridge over the Langat 
River. To enble the. metalling of the road to be 
proceeded with forthwith, and to provide better means 
of access to the temporary railway station, it has been 
decided to construct a connecting road between the 
present foot-bridge and the Sungei Gheow Road, of 
sufficient width to carry a light line for trucks. Work 
is now in progress. 
The opening of the railway extension is expected to 
take place during August, rails have been laid, at the 
time of writing, as far as the temporary station, 
I am glad to notice a steam roller at work on the 
Cheras Road, the surface of which has long been a 
source of supreme discomfort to travellers. — Selangor 
Government Gaaette, Aug. 27. 
The District Officer, Ulu Selangor (Mr. 
R. C. Grey), Reports On the evening of 
July 27 th there was a slight disturbance 
in Kuala Kubu village. Some thirty or 
forty Chinamen, armed with sticks, effected an 
entrance to a brothel and committed an assault 
on one of the inmates, against whom they had 
a grudge. On the jiolice inteifering some of them 
were beaten also. TTie following morning tiventy- 
fiv 3 mining coolies were charged befor^me with 
riot and four men comicted. Serjeant-Major Mat 
deserves great credit for the proi.vipt action he 
