302 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Nov. I, 1897. 
A few months after his death the clerks and 
native employes presented tlie Company witli a 
very sjood and handsome oil painting of their 
late master to be hung in the office. After tlie 
presentation the manager, astonished at the 
costly character of the work, expressed to the 
chief clerk, who headed the movement, his fear 
that the cost must luive been more than tlie men 
could well afford from their pay. It was then ex- 
plained to him that at first it was proposed to 
levy a percentage from the pay of each of the 
workmen and staff'. “But we thought, ” said the 
clerk, “ that Mr. Walker would not like that, as 
it would seem like forcing contributions. So last 
pay day we placed a box at the gate for the men 
to put in it whatever they felt inclined to give; 
and we got more than was required.” Motliing 
could have been more in harmony with the spirit 
of him who was so long their master, and it shows 
that even the native clerks had caught something 
of the spirit of his teaching. 
* * * 
There is a little thatched cottage occupied by 
a small farmer or crofter in the West Highlands of 
Scotland. A merchant from Glasgow one summer, 
when on a holiday, visited the cottage, and on 
looking round the parlour was surprised to see on 
the mantelpiece a photograph of Mr. Walker. 
“ Doyouknow Mr. W'alker ?” askedthemerchant. 
“ O yess, ” replied the farmer’s wife, with the 
sweet Highland accent; “he used to bring his 
fa-.nily here for the holidays when the children 
were young. He iss a good man. 
“ Yes, ” said the merchant, as he looked again 
at the photograph, “ there is no better man walks 
he streets of Glasgow.” 
* 
“ When I die, put near me something that has 
loved the light, and had the sky above it always.’ 
These words express exactly the feeling of Mr. 
Walker, for though death had no terror for him he 
often said that he hoped he would never be buried in 
a city cemetery— like the Glasgow Mecropolis— 
where flowers cannot grow and Heaven’s light is for 
the most part of the year made dim with the dark 
canopy of smoke overhead. And so, on June 16th> 
1891, he was laid to rest in the little country grave' 
yard belonging to the parish church at Cathcart’ 
“until the day break, and the shadows flee away.’ 
So passed away in his 67th year, one of the 
truest and best men who ever came to this 
Colony of Ceylon: his “pioneering” in one 
direction alone led to the expansion of indus- 
tries with a staff under 50 to one of over 1,200 
workmen, and he lived to see the usefulness of his 
Colombo and Kandy houses not only recognised all 
over Ceylon, but in India, the Straits Settlements, 
Java and Borneo as well as in far-distant Brazil and 
in the West Indies ; while not a few ocean-going 
steamers have benefitted by the prescience which 
established the Colombo Iron Works. With these 
Works, the nameof William Walker will ever be in- 
dissolublyassociated, while all who knew him will 
acknowledge with us that a more single-hearted 
and altruistic Christian never lived : 
“Only the actions of the just 
Smell sweet and blossom in the dust. ” 
A HOME-MADE ARROWHIOOT MILL. 
We were lately asked by a farmer in the Blackall 
Range how to make an arrowroot-grinding machine. 
He had arrowroot growing on his farm, and wished 
to make enough starch for domestic use. The only 
method he knew of was to grind down the bulbs 
on a large tin grater, but the results did not com- 
pensate for the labour. As we were once in exactly 
the same predicament, we cannot do better than 
describe the primitive machine which we invented, 
and which proved eminently successful. Being far 
distant from any place where a machine could have 
beeu constructed, not to mention the detail of a 
scarcity of cash, we constructed the machine as 
follows: — First, a log about 2 feet in diameter and 
8 feet long was hollowed out by axe and adze into 
a trough. At the head of this trough was fixed a 
framework much like the wooden stand of a grindstone. 
A large wheel was then cut from a sound log. T’his 
wheel was about 3 feet in diameter and 1 foot wide. 
Tin plates, turned into graters (which required frequent 
renewal) by punching holes in them with a nail, 
were next nailed on to the edge of the wheel, to 
which a wooden axle was fitted. The wheel, when 
placed in position, turned in the water with which 
the trough was filled. Above it was a w-ooden hopper, 
through which the bulbs dropped on to the wheel. 
This was turned by a man with ease, and the grated 
bulbs went into the water in the shape of pulp and 
starch. The latter gradually settled at the bottom, 
and the pulp was removed with a narrowtiued fork 
and also by hand. After a short interval to allow 
the starch to settle down firmly, pegs were withdrawn 
from the lower end of the trough, and the water 
drawn off. The arrowroot was then dug out of the 
bottom of the trough and passed through calico 
stretched over a tub. By stirring it round with the 
hand on the calico, and at the same time pouring 
water on it, the whole of the starch passed through 
into the tub, leaving the gross impurities behind. 
This operation was performed three or even four 
times, until the arrowroot was perfectly white and 
quite free from any foreign substance. After the 
last washing, it was placed on shallow trays and 
dried. With the machine described, we not only 
made sufficient arrowroot for our own use, but we 
sent a quantity home to our friends, and sold the 
balance in Brisbane at Is. per lb. This was in the 
year 1863. Such a machine, however, would scarcely 
enable a grower to-day to make a profit out of 
arrowroot . — Queensland Agricultural Journal. 
THE CULTIVATION OF CACAO IN MEXICO. 
( From a Special British Consular Report.) 
The tree that products the “food of the gods” 
(chocolate), “ theobroma cacao ” of Linnaeus, “ cacari, ” 
or “ caoava quahuitl ” of the ancient Mexicans, and 
“cacao” of the Spaniards, is a native o^ Mexico. 
Long before the conquest, the Aztecs and other 
ancient Mexican tribes used the fruit as one of their 
alimentary beverages. They prepared a drink called 
chocolatl by mixing the seeds after having crushed 
them on the nietatl, together with a fine corn meal, 
vanilla (“ tlilxochitl ”), and a species of spice called 
“ rnecaxochitl, ” and those that drank it were a picture 
of health, preserving handsome and vivid features even 
to old age. All nations subjugated under the Aztec 
eagle had to bring, among other valuables, a certain 
