Dec. I, 1897.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
427 
JARRAH WOOD FOR CEYLON. 
Amongst the many passengers on their way 
from England to Australia by the O.R. M.S. 
“ Orotava,” is Mr. William Traylen, J.P., of 
Guildford, Western Australia, who is travelling 
between Australia and England for the sixth 
tiiiie within eighteen months and six times he 
Jias landed at Colombo. Mr. Traylen is 
an ex-member of the Legislative Assembly of 
Western Anstralia and while in the house oc- 
cupied the responsible position of Chairman of Com- 
mittees. He is much interested in the introduc- 
tion into Ceylon and India of Jarrah wood, the 
principal indigenous timber of Western Australia, 
and has been the means of bringing to Ceylon 
specimens of the timber for the purpose of mak- 
ing a detinite trial with them. One of these — a 
pile 35 feet in length — he is offering through 
Messrs. Whittall & Co., to the Colombo Har- 
bour Works with the view of it being 
employed (as a test of its staying capa- 
cities) in the new breakwater: other timber 
he is offering to the Public Works Department 
with the view of it being used as railway sleepers 
on the Ceylon Government Railways : further 
specimens deposited with Messrs. Whittall & Co. 
are to prove the superiority of the wood for 
other purposes, especially as shingles, for the 
roofing of bungalows, etc. Though more costly, Mr. 
Traylen claims that the .Jarrah shingles would 
jjrove far more economical in the long run than the 
country-grown ones now in use. Further, the 
wood resists the attack of white ants and the 
torredo in the tropics, and so far as marine 
purposes is concerned it is not affected seriously 
by the attacks of the chilura. In one respect 
at any rate Jarrah is a reversal of the English 
oak, inasmuch as the best tiniber is on the out- 
side. 
“I believe,” said Mr. Traylen, to our repre- 
sentative, “ you will be well satisfied with its 
life, and in years to come you will find it work 
out cheaper than teak. J^.t present I have no idea 
what you pay in Ceylon for Moulmein teak, but 
I understand that it is getting scarcer and dearer.” 
“ And what,” asked our representative, “ is 
the price you ask for Jarrah ? ” 
“ We ask £3 10s. per load of fifty cubic feet 
in Western Australia. There we use the wood 
for every thing, but Avhat interests you most, is 
that it is very largely used for marine Avork and for 
railway sleepers. For the latter purpose I think 
. I can fairly say no other wood is now used by us. 
Messrs. Whittall & Co. have specimens of Jarrah, 
which have been used for thirty years in the 
Avater and you can see Iioav it stands everything. 
Remember you must have Avell groAvn Jarrah. 
Here is Avhat Mr. Ednie BroAvn, our Conservator 
of Forests, .says : — 
In all cases, this tree delights in an ironston® 
formation, and it would almost appear as though th® 
rougher and the more the site is composed of iron- 
stone rocks and barren of almost any other vegeta- 
tation, the better the tree will grow. It is certainly 
beyond a doubt that, under such curcumstances, the 
timber attains its greatest degree of soundness, 
strength, and general durability. There are, it is 
true, some belts and patches of Jarrah forest to be 
found upon many of the lower-lying portions of the 
district referred to, where the geological formation 
of those is composed of ironstone — as for instance in 
the country lying between Quiudalup and Karridale 
— the timber is good in every respect ; but where 
these lower-lying portions have fairly good sandy- 
loam soils the timber is sure to be more gummy and 
less durable than that on the higher ranges, 
53 
Some of this jarrah Avas sent some years ago 
to India and there Avas an unfavourable opinion 
formed of it : but of the hill-groAvn Jarrah Ave have 
received none but good accounts and I am sure 
it Avill suit Ceylon well. We have eight millions 
of acres of it and much of that is actually 
untouched yet.” 
THE FOOCHOW TEA IMPROVEMENT 
COMPANY, LIMITED. 
(Extracts from Prospectus.) 
Capital. — ^250,000, Hongkong Currency. 
Dividend into 5,000 shares of $150 each, of which it is 
proposed to issue at present the sum of $125,000, in 
2,500 shares of $50 each, and the balance of $125’,C00 in 
2,50C shares, as may be hereafter determined on. Of 
the 2,500 shares now to be issued, 500 shares, which 
will be fully paid up, will be taken by the Vendors, in 
full payment of the properties, business, goodwill, 
machinery and effects purchased from them by the 
Company, and the remaining 2,000 shares are now 
offered to the public. 
Directors Mr. Gustav Theodor Siemssen of 
Messrs. Siemssen and Krohn, Foochow, Merchants • 
Mr. Ernest Joseph Moss, of Messrs. Dodwell, Carlill & 
Co., Foochow, merchants ; Mr. 'William Graham, of 
Messrs. Jardiue, Matheson & Co., Foochow mer- 
chants ; Mr. Eichaid Henry Wallace Fraser, of 
Messrs. Fraser, Ramsay & Co., Foochow, merchants • 
Mr. Michael Gabriel Cisselef, of Messrs. Tokmakoff’ 
Molotkoff & Co., Foochow, merchants ; and Lui Yueh 
Yen and Huang Pai An, of F' ochow, merchants. Se- 
cretary: — Mr. William Pitcairn Galton, Foochow. 
The Company is being formed to acquire as a going 
concern the business of Tea Planters and Tea Mer- 
chants heretofore carried on by the Association called 
“ The Foochow Tea Improvement Company,” at 
Foochow and Pehling in the Fohkien Province of 
China. 
Recent experiments in the manufacture of tea carried 
out by the Association at Pehling with the aid of machi- 
nery have been attended with much success, inasmuch 
as teas of grea'tly improA'ed character and quality have 
been prod uced,apd it is therefore considered that the time 
has now arrived when capital on a larger scale can be 
successfully employed in various parts of the Fohkien 
Province. In this connection, it should be stated that 
the Chinese Government officials have shown them- 
selves favourably disposed towards the Company, and 
have expressed their intention to protect and assist 
it in every way. 
The property to be acquired from the Association, in 
consideration of the allotment of the 500 fully paid’up 
shares, comprises the goodwill of the business and 
all trade marks and chops used in connection 
therewith ; the lands and premises in the Foh' 
kien Province of China used for the purpose 
of the business, with a two-storied factory, 100 
feet by 48 feet, and a house for the Chinese 
manager, an office, and coolie quarters ; also machi- 
nery, consisting of a new ‘‘ Venetian ” firing machine 
and three new rolling tables, the largest being a Jack- 
son’s 24 inch ; also a sifting machine ; the whole being 
worked by a water wheel, 12’ in diameter and 2’ broad, 
also the following machinery, namely :— 1 Campbell’s 
oil Engine, 10 horse-power ; one Davidson’s Sirocco, 
two Blackman’s Fans and one Davidson’s cutter ; also 
4,400 withering trays and stands, and scales and requi- 
site godown appliances. The Company is also pur- 
chasing a cash balance at the credit of the Association, 
amounting to $1,795T6. It is proposed that as the 
lands are situate in China they shall be vested in two 
Chinese shareholders as Trustees for the Company. 
This course is necessary, because doubts exist as to the 
legality of Foreigners holding land in China. 
The Chinese growers in the vicinity of the Factory, 
who are extensive growers of tea, have always been 
willing sellers of green leaf, of which an ample supply 
is at ail times available for manufacture at the same 
price as the price which they can obtain from their own 
