324 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Nov. I, 1897. 
visit the better parts. Kuala Lumpur is a very 
pretty place, and tl.eir puldic buildings Mould 
do credit to a town tM'enty times its size, Mr. 
Spooner has ceitainly left liis mark there, as I 
believe he designed and built these buildings by 
the P.VV.D., they are of rMoorisli architecture, 
and very beautiful, and Mell linished. 
After spending a leM- very [ileasant days at 
Kuala Lumpur, I returned to Singapore on the 
4tli September to find my steamer did not sail 
until the 6th, when I started for 
B.N. BORNEO. 
Arrived at Labuan on the 9th, spent one day 
there, left for Kudat on the 11th, arrived there 
on the 12th, spent tM O days there, and Ment on 
to Sandakan, 14th, arriving there on the 15th 
left for “ Sahad Datii ’ in Darvel Bay on the 
S.-E. side of B.N. Borneo and returned to San- 
dakan on the 19th and spent four days at Gov- 
ernment Hou.se Mhere Mr. and Mrs. Beaufort 
were extremely kind to me, and maae my visit 
a very plea.sant one. On the 23rd I left for 
Maruda Bay in Kudat, Mhere I found some 
very fine land, and visited some tobacco estates 
as M'ell. 1 also saw some good land in Darvel 
Bay. Beturned to Ceylon, 12tli Sept. At [ire- 
sent the B.N. Borneo Co. have only touched 
the fringe of the country ; the interior is yet 
unknoMii. Lheie are great possibilities for this 
counti'Y, but they want men and money to deve- 
lojie it ; a young felloM’ M’ith £2,000, and his 
head screMeil on the right May might do Mell 
there with coconuts, Ac. 
EOBESIBY IN THE ISLE OF IMAN. 
We have received, from the genial editor, a 
copy of the Journal of the Isle of Man Natural 
Hisiory and Antiquarian Society, published on 
September 2nd, 1897, edited by I’. M. C. 
Kermode (m.b.o.U., f.s.A. Scot.), ^Tlume III., 
Part V. 'Ibis pamphlet coveis a year’s pro- 
ceedings of the Society, and includes a lull 
account of the very successful and instructive 
British Association Excursion in September 
last year, in M’liich we took part and the 
memory of M'hich m ill always allord us pleasure. 
But Me do not mean to lefer to this nor to 
the many attraction.s — archaiological, geological, 
botanical or geographical— connected with the 
Isle of Man and recorded in the pages before 
us. We M'ish rather to make one quotation 
of some practical concern to Planters in Ceylon 
who are interested in forestry and mIio should 
note the very large number of trees (5,500) 
planted jier acre in the Isle of Man in experi- 
mental plantations and the object M'itlr which this 
was done. At an excursion ;to Archallagan, 
lOtli July 1896, (Leader, Mr. G. W. Lamplugh, 
E.G.s. ) M'e read : — 
“Mr. Drinkwater M'as called upon lor some 
particulars of the experiment of planting the 
M’aste land of the Island with trees. Archallagan 
Plantation Mas, he stated, planted in 1883 by 
Lord Loch, being one of a series of three Govern- 
ment plantations— this the earliest, next in order 
of date iSoiith Barrule, and the latest Greeba, 
Archallagan is about 381 acres in extent, and 
about 5,500 trees were planted per acre, or in 
round numbers over tM'o million of tiees at the 
first planting. Of the trees per acre there were 
of Larch 1,368, Scotch 1,368, Austrian 684, 
Corsican 684, S|>ruce 350, and Silver Fir 350, and 
the remainder hard M'oods — Oak, Turkey Oak, 
Sycamore, Ash, Elm, Birch, Beech, Alder, and a 
feM' Mountain Ash. The hard Mood has almost 
entirely disappeared. The principle of modern 
scientific planting is to keep the trees so thick 
that the liranche.'^ die of! and clean symmetiical 
boles are formed, the trees being .supported by the 
air space above them rather than laterally, it 
becomes, ilierefore, important to consider tlie 
relative speed of groMth lest one tree should 
overto)) its neighbour, and so steq) its groMth. 
In Greeba the trees have been fu.ther arranged 
in grou[KS so that the colours may stand out in 
the landscajie — by Mliich he meant that the 
[irincipal trees are so placed that m hen the nurses 
are thinned out, the remainder Mill [iroduce a 
distinct ell'ect — mass by mass. A further point 
of interest is that the ash and sycamore have been 
placed to the best advantage for naturally seeding 
the plantation. Turning again to Archallagan, 
the speaker continued: You Mill notice patches 
where the trees are not croM'ded, according to my 
statement of the piincijiles of forestry. You may 
attribute these either to the chaiacter of the soil 
being unsuitable, or to the fact that the drainage 
in the particular place is deemed too costly to be 
M'orth doing. As to the future value of the 
plantations, a good deal dejiends upon Mhether 
or not the yield of timber’ is in excess of the 
demand or the reverse. Until comparatively 
recently there has been a reckless destruction of 
timber. Nom’, in SM'itzerland, and I believe in 
Noruay and America, there are regulations 
about replanting so many trees for each one cut 
doMn ; and in India great attention is being 
devoted to scientific forestry. The age is such 
an inventive one that if the sujrply runs short 
before these trees arrive at maturity in some 50 
or 60 years’ time, some substitute for M’ood is sure 
to be forthcoming, and even already pa]ier is used 
to some extent instead of M'ood. 1 he Government 
plantations here are in a [nirely experimental 
stage, and are in consequence the more inter- 
esting.” 
THE DEMAND FOE CEYLON TEAS. 
The figures given by Messrs. Gom’, Wilson & 
Stanton in their “blue circular” issued by us 
ypsterdayq shoM’ing the consumption of teas in 
the United Kingdom and Export for the first eight 
months of 1897 as compai ed M’ith 1896, are very 
satisfactory' as far as “ Ceylons” are concerned. 
The “home consumption” in the period named 
Mas 55,951,359 lb. against 52,397,003 lb.- or an in- 
crease of 3,554,3561b. This amount is, in excess of 
the increase in imjiorts ; but apart from it there 
is also an advance in the quantity taken for 
Export, thus : — 
Expert of Ceylon Tea from U.K. Jan.-Aug. 1896-7 
1897. 
Continent of Europe. , 3,692,683 
United States .. 1,337,406 
Canada .. 1,096,543 
Other Countries .. 711,84-1 
1896. Increase. 
2,826,899 865,784 
9.50,229 387,177 
825,553 269,990 
603,854 107,990 
Total lb. .. 6,837,476 5,206,535 1,630,941 
The total demand-increase, therefore, for the eight 
mouths may thua be given : — 
lb, 
Home Consumption , , 3,554,356 
Export . . 1,630,941 
Total . . lb. 5,185,297 
while the eomparative increase in imports was 
only 3,037,726 lb. This is decidedly satisfactory. 
