THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 
[Nov. I, 1897. 
308 
the i^ei’vice is by horse ; from Djibouti by boat. 
Addis Ababa, the capital, has a jjennanent 
population of some 50,000 ; the total number 
of inhabitants of the country is 15,000,000. Addis 
Ababa is an important centre of trade. Harrar 
is the residence of Pas Makonen ; it has a po)iu- 
latioti of 4'2,000. This is the point of transit of 
all the commerce from the southern )>rovinees. 
The goods .are brought to the city from the in- 
terior by mules, and carried thence to the ports by 
camels. The annual vfilue of the trade of Harrar 
amounts to over£l, 000,000, .and is growing steadily. 
— Journal of the, Society of Arts, Aug. 27th. 
• o 
AREKAS-PLANTAINS— PLUMBAGO. 
KEGALLA DISTRICT (CEYLON) AND ITS INDUSTRIES. 
We have already reviewed Mr. Davidson’s 
admirable Administr.ation lleport for 1896 on the 
Kegalla District; but it was so full of matter 
vvorthy of notice, that we could only give 
samjdes at the time. On ne.Nt page will he 
found an extract sunjilying useful information bear- 
ing on the local industries in new and old pro- 
ducts — in plantains (of wliicli ne.arly .8,500 tons 
were carried from Pambukkana to Colombo last 
year !) as well as in arekanuts, Liberian coffee, 
cacao, and rliea. About arekanuts Mr. Davidson 
gives us new and valuable information accom- 
panied by suggestions well worth the attention 
of the Government. He estimates the gross re- 
turn from arekas (iropeiiy planted at R90 an 
acre ; and as the exiieuse of upkeep and collec- 
tion must be comparatively moderate, there would 
seem to be a margin quite as good as that in 
coconut palms. Mr. Davidson does not mention 
how long it takes to bring arekas into bearing ; 
but from our own little guide for areka ])lanters 
(out of type, but which we must at once reprint) 
we see’ the time required is five to .six years 
only— a great advantage over coconuts. Curiously 
enough, Mr. Davidson’s estimate of gross return 
(K90) agrees very closely with that of the late 
Mr. Borron (R87), although the latter, planting 
10 by 10 ft. had far fewer trees to the acre. 
Tlie natives, according to Mr. Davidson, would 
allow 1,200 arekas grow to the acre— far too 
many ; but while he would cut this down to 
750, Mr. Borron would have less than 500 areka- 
r.uts to the acre in order to do them full justice. 
Tlie diiferent views w’ill be fully discussed in 
our little m.anual. 
What we want to ask is wdiy should every tea 
estate in the Kelaui Valley not have its boundaries 
marked by areka palms? If there is room for 
a double or treble row' (ea,ch tree 10 feet apart) 
so much the better. As a .supplementary jn-oduct 
to tea in the Kegalla district — the favourite 
home of the areka — there can he r.o better cul- 
tivation, unless it be pepper of which, how’ever, 
Mr. Davidson sa.ys nothing, although it was the 
special staple of the di.strict up to 100 yc-'-s 
ago or so. The time has come when we 1 ,,.. 
press on all lowcountry planters to give special 
attention to arecas, pepper and nutmegs. 
In regard to plumbago in the Kegalla district, 
Mr. Davidson affords interesting information. 
'I’he next time the Governor visits the valley, he 
should 1)6 taken over a selected areka palm 
grove ; and down into a jilumbago piit, if His 
Excellency w'ould care to venture into the latter. 
AVe cannot hel]) anticipating a considerable deve- 
lojmient of 'plumbago mining as certain to follow 
a ; h'ological Survey. Mr. Davidson mentions one 
Kegalla piit w'hich employs no few'er than 200 
labourers ! 
CINNAMON ; THE LAST LONDON SALES. 
The particulars which have reached us of 
the last quarterly Cinnamon .Sale.s, held in 
London on the ,30th Aug., give no cause for 
anxiety reg.arding the position and pro.spects of 
one of the principal ancient staples of the Island. 
There w'ere 1,289 bales ottered, as against only 
779 bales at the corresponding s.ales last year; 
and of these 1,120 were disposed of in the auc- 
tion rooms, at rather better jirices than ))re- 
vailed at the M.ay sales. It may be remembered 
that in M.ay only about one-haif of the large 
offering of 1,676 bales found buyers at auction ; 
and fears were expressed that already the trade 
was being overdone, and tliat (lie better prices 
W'hich obtained, conse<iuent on a steadiei' demand, 
were leading to a rush. We woiked out some 
^ures in our article on those sales, published 
in June last, in which we .showed a very large 
progressive incre ise during the past four years. 
We at the same time puhli.shed an extract from 
the “London Commercial Record” which con- 
tained some pointed remarks on the probable 
effect of swamping the market with inferior 
spice, and drawing attention to the absence from 
the auctions of two ot the principal buyers. 
We ourselves have more than once commented 
on the facility with which stich an article as 
Cinnamon might be overdone — as indeed its re- 
cent history, when over-production led to an 
almost ruinous fall in prices, shows— and warned 
producers, both against any great extension of 
ultivation, and the shipment of coarse and 
adulterated qualities; but the article in the 
“Loudon Commercial Recor'l” seemed to us 
more partisan than judicial, and to express the 
views of one section of the buyers which was 
rather irritated at the departure from the older 
practices of the trade. However that may be, the 
sales now under review prove tlnat the supply is not 
yet in excess of the better demand for the spice 
which has sprung up within the last two or 
three years ; for the competition for the 
ots was free, and led to an advance of Id and 
even 2d in some marks. As usual Golua Pokuna 
heads the list, with its Firsts commanding Is 
7d, and one lot fetching as high as Is lOd per 
lb., which quite recalls old days. Wester Seaton 
cinnamon realised up to Is 4d, and J.D.S.K. 
Is 3d ; while the common kinds averaged about 
ll\d some marks fetching up to Is. Nor was 
“unworked” spice neglected; so that altogether 
cinnamon proprietors are to be congratulated on 
the results of the last sales, and on the prospects 
before them. With all that, there is the danger 
of overproduction ; and if all we have heard be 
true of large sales of seed for nurseries in the 
Southern Province, the next decade may witness 
an inevitable fall. Here is a statement of the 
exports to 14th September for four years : — 
Qnills. Chips. 
• . , ■ •” '■>■'>3 lb. .. 379.543 lb. 
. . . ■ - 1 „ . . 478,048 ,, 
1».j6 .. 1.3-1(5,298 „ .. 551,898 ,, 
1897 .. 1,656,057 „ .. 726,404 ,, 
It will be seen how large and steady has been 
the increase during the jiast four years. 
Planting in Seychelles.— It might be in- 
ferred from our notes of yesterday that “ 800” 
feet was the present limit of planting in the 
island. Not so, coffee and even vanilla planters 
have gone up alre.ady to 1,6-. 0 or even 2,000 feet 
above sea-level. As much as 22s (id net has been 
got for Seychelles Vanilla (ordinarjq) in the early 
part of this year, and 30s for very line samples. 
