428 
THE TROPICAL 
agriculturist. 
countrymen, and from the first they have always 
welcomed foreigners. 
As regards the prospects nf the financial success 
of the Company, the Directors would particularly draw 
attention to the advantage China now has over India 
and Ceylon in cheap silver, the exchange value of 
the rupee exceeding that of silver by fully twenty- 
five per cent. — This fully compensates for the taxa- 
tion which China tea has at present to bear. The 
cheapness of land ; the low scale of wages, and the 
excellent quality of Chinese labour are likewise facta 
which cannot be overlooked. 
The machinery has been erected by, and is in charge 
of an English Engineer, who is the manager of the 
Company’s property and resides at the Factory, and 
who has for some years been in charge of a tea fac- 
tory in India. The Chinese manager resides at the 
Factory, and was recently sent to Ceylon by the Asso- 
ciation, where he had practical experience in tea making 
on several large estates. It is proposed to take over 
the business as a going concern as from the 10th July 
1897. The present intention is to enlarge the existing 
factory at Pehling, and to establish other factories in 
suitable districts. 
COFFEE IN BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA. 
The following list will give an idea of the extect 
of the estates in Cholo ; — 
Mr. Adamson 200 acres of young and old coffee- 
Mr. McKinnon 200 acres, in bearing. Mr. Hnnter 
200 acres, 80 in bearing. Mr. Cox 250 acres, 80 in 
bearing. Mr. Whyte 200 acres, young coffee. 
Messrs. Buchanan 150 acres, in bearing. Mr. Noits 
200 acres, 80 in bearing. Messrs. Pettitt 400 acres, 
200 in bearing. Clamp & Stroud 100 acres young 
coffee, and 50 acres ready for planting. Mr. Taylor 
140 acres young cofiee and 60 ready for planting. 
Mr. Sinderham 250 acres, 60 in bearing. Mr. Kaes- 
sar 200 acres, 50 in bearing. Mr. Boyd 120 acres, 
40 in bearing. Mr. Blair 100 acres young coffee. 
Messrs. Sharrer 150 acres young and old coffee, do. 
200 acres ditto. 
The following estates are on the Blantyre-Katun- 
gi’s road ; — 
Mr. Sharrer 120 acres of young coffee. Mr. 
McClaggan 120 acres in bearing. Messrs. Lamagna 
700 acres in bearing. Mr. Hunter 100 acres, 20 in 
bearing. Mr. Sinderham 100 acres, 20 in bearing. 
Messrs. Pettitt 100 acres in bearing. Mr. Lloyd 50 
acres of young coffee. 
COFFEE IN ZOMBA DISTRICT, B.C. 
AFRICA. 
Mr. R. Ross Stark has supplied us with the fol- 
lowing information. Songani estate, which is situ* 
ated about 6 miles north of Zomba, (the head- 
quarters of the Administration), has a total extent 
of 1,787 acres. 250 acres of this have been cleared, 
and 200 are planted. 100 acre? cames into bearing 
this season, yielding a crop of 18 tons (or 3 cwt. 
per acre). Next year, as more land come into bear- 
ing, a crop of 25 to 30 tons is confidently expected. 
The plantation was opened some 4 years ago and a 
small crop of 3 tons was taken off a small acreage 
in bearing last year. The Zomba-Liwonde road 
passes within two or three minutes of the estate and 
this gives us direct communication with Blantyre 
and the lower river on the one haii'^, and Liwonde 
and the Lake on the other. The prospects of coffee 
in this district are excellent. At first the elevation 
of Songani, (about 2,500 feet,) was considered by 
some to be rather low for successful coffee planting, 
but this has been proved to be a mistake. As shade 
is now becoming the rule in B.O.A., the lower ele- 
vation estates will benefit the most from it, and 
should give more remunerative crops, lhan those at 
the higher elevations of over 3,000 feet, 
[Dec. I, 1897. 
PLANTING NOTES. 
has not been subjected to 
seisimc disturbances I read that the planters 
tneie are erecting factories entirely of iron; this 
^ direction and 
y emulation on the part of Assam people, 
of whom, I am concerned to hear, 
'loout to reconstruct their buildings of 
masonry. _(7or.. The Planter. 
Cattle Food.— The Tndische 
recent 
^uMiering ot German cliocolate manufacturers 
ne m in Hamburg it was stated inter alia that 
fnn!f *‘''sks as cattle 
J mlded favourable results. This is good 
eacao planters, and ought to cause a 
rise in the price of the beans ! 
th« Cultivation at the Gold Coast.— During 
rnfchm ‘ Government has introduced 
^ ‘="*'ing coffee, and con- 
, ooffee and cacao from the Gold 
forwarded through the Crown 
afford^^^ London market. This plan 
tW produce, and the result shows 
rsnlm. f West Africa 
\ * realising good prices in European markets. 
Much, however, still remains to be done to induce 
tne natives to cultivate and cure their produce in a 
satisfactory manner.— H. aurf C. J/fli7, Nov. 5. 
West AusTnALiAN JAPaiAii.-We call atten- 
uoii to the inteview 0:1 thus subject on the 
preceding page. We visited the chief Jarrah Forest 
ot Western Australia in 1895. and have ever 
Since watched tlie development of the use of 
the timber. Mr. Traylen has left a copy of 
a valuable work with us 
Repoi-t on the Forest! of Western Australia, their 
Desciiption, Utilianioii, and Proposed Future 
Management, with Plan and Illustrations, bv J 
Ednie-Brown, f.l.s., f.h.h.s.. Conservator of Forests 
for Western Australia, Late Conservator of Forests 
tor bonth Australia and Director-General of Forests 
in New South Wales). 
Are Bananas Beneficial ?— In an exchange 
we read that a boom in bananas, baked bana- 
nas, has been started in the United States, the 
well-known fruit being now said to be an “ideal 
lood for the nervous, the anmmic, and for brain- 
workers. Strange to say, the raw fruit is said 
to be dangerous, as it contains “germs”; but 
when baked it acquires properties never heard of 
before. In this country we cannot get bananas 
in perfection ; but they have them in fine con* 
dilion in New York, to which city and other 
places on tlie Atlantic seaboard they are quickly 
transported from tlie Bahamas. Fruits of Musa 
paradisiaca and M. sapientum, the banana and 
the plantain, have long been known as a staple 
article of food in tropical countries, where they 
are cultivated just as the cereals and the fari- 
naceoii.^ tubers are in temperate regions. In fact 
cultivation has produced considerable variety in 
form, colour, and flavour. Humboldt and Bous* 
sin^ault estimated that in a suitable climate, and 
well cultivated, a banana plant will produce on 
an average three bunches of fruit weighing 44 lb 
‘ ^°num, and that in liot climates more 
than 130,000 lb. of good food could be grown 
per acre-an .amount greatly in exce.ss ol the 
yield of potatoes, which are, moreover, said to be 
less nutritious. That has, however, been disputed ; 
but all travellers and inve.stigators aver that the 
banana is an excellent food baked, roasted, fried 
or boiled. In this country bunches weighing as 
much as 80 lb. have been grown in hot-houses. 
