Jan. I, 1898.1 
fHE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
477 
13 as great as a tune played by a good orchestra, and the 
Same tune by a German organ ! Mr. Popoff does not 
believe in the Ceylon and Indian methods : those 
of the Chinese planter are far superior. At the same 
time he was much pleased with my pamphlet, “ How 
tea is grown and prepared in Ceylon,” and asked if he 
might keep one. 
I sail from “ Odessa,” on the 13th, and arrive at 
Batoum on the 17th, and at Mr. Popoff’s garden on 
the 18th instant. 
Mr. Popoff is giving me a sample of tea made on his 
garden. This will be very interesting. 
Pew can have any idea how much behind the times 
this great city is; even the houses in the streets are 
not numbered. Cold v/eather has set in, and I shall 
be glad when I see the last of it and of Eussia. I hope 
to be in Colombo the first week in January. — 
Yours, &c., E. V. \VEJ3(»TEE. 
— Local “ Times.”] 
THE “ WAR A ” 
I have just got a tin of “Wara” seed from 
the Coast and intend giving it a trial. I send you 
by same post a little sample of the “ War.i ’’ cotton, 
which is said to have very valuable medicinal 
properties. It looks very fine. — Planting Cor. 
♦ 
PLANTING NOTES. 
Tea Cultivation and Prevention of Wash. 
— We can only now direct tlie attention of 
Estate Managers and Proprietors to the very 
suggestive letter, which Mr. E. E. Green sends 
us on the subject started in our columns by a 
veteran planter. 
Oil Engines. — With the rebate on Kerosine 
oil coming into force from the beginning of the 
year, there ought to be a considerable run on 
“Oil” Engines of the type that has already 
given satisfaction. It was the nonsuccess of 
“ Priestman’s ” in Kandapolla, we think son.e 
years ago, that gave a bad name for <^he time 
and left an unfavourable impression on our 
mind as to Oil Engines. But there have been 
evidently’’ great improvements in other inventions, 
as may be seen from what i.s stated by Messrs. 
Walker Sons & C<'., Ld. in reference to the “Camp- 
bell Oil Engine.” One of these — 9 horse-power— we 
learn, is to be erected in Colombo shortly to di i\ e 
rice-hulling machinery and we have no doul t it 
will be an object of interest to very many in 
search of a reliable, simple and cheap motor. 
Trade Allowances on Tea.— “Udapussellawa” 
writes to a conceniporary “ One pound per pac- 
kage, on full chests amounts to say 1 per cent, 
each chest containing roughly 100 lb. teii, but 1 lb. 
a package, on half-chests amounts to 2 per cent. 
This is most unfair for several reasons. Packing 
in half-che.sts is more e.xpensive per pound than 
in full chests. Half-chests are more suitable for 
grocers, and therefore, more attractive for buyers. 
Several producers are obliged to pack in half-chests, 
owing to tlie distance they have to send their 
tea on coolies’ heads to the nearest cart road. 
Thus in fairness half-che.sts, should be taxed at 
a lower rate in London, as they cost more in 
proportion than full chests, at any' rate they 
should not he taxed by the buyer at a higher 
rate than full chests, which is being done at 
present.” — We think this i)ro|)osal a very reason- 
able one, and one that ought to be taken up 
by the Tea Committee of the Ceylon Association 
in London. 
The “ Ceylon Foeestee,” a quarterly magazine so 
Forestry, Natural History and Shikar. Edited by 
H. P. 0. Aimitage, Assistant Conservator of For- 
ests, Colombo. Contents for the 3rd quarter, 1897. 
are as follows: — Ourselves; On Ceylon Ferns; The 
Girdling of Trees ; A Tour in the Western and 
Sabaragamuwa Provinces ; Feather Shooting in 
Ceylon; Reviews; Administration Report of the 
Royal Botanic Gardens, 1896 ; Practical Hints of 
Forest Zoology; Collection of “ Dorana Tel” or 
Bambarabotuwa ; More about Raobab Trees ; Cobrain 
Stray Notes; Tit Bits on Forestry; Notes on Ceylon 
Birds. 
GEMMING IN Ceylon.— Mr. W. S. Lockhart 
and Mr. Goldie cannot fail to be interested if 
not edified by the letter which Mr. A. De 
Dominico— the well-known Colombo watchmaker 
— sends us and which is reproduced on page 
471. Allowance mus; be made for the use of 
what is, practically, a foreign language to the 
writei and then it will be found that the letter 
gives some practical information. It is quite 
possible that the Prospecting Company may 
devise some method of excavating by machinery 
to get over one difficulty pointed out by our 
correspondent. But if not, the risks of loss can- 
not be nearly so great with a Separator as 
under the old system. Still there are difficul- 
ties before the new experiment ; but we may 
hope to see them overcome by the combined in- 
genuity of Messrs. Loekhart and Goldie. 
Rapid Growth of the Ceylon Tea Trade ; a 
Record '.—Pearson's Weekly of Nov. 20, in its 
column for queries and replies asks “ State which 
is the Most Striking Instance of the Rapid Growth 
of a “ Trade.” The reply is as follows : — 
Taking the word “ trade ” in its widest sense, the 
answer would be the trade of Ceylon. In 1883 Ceylon 
produced only one million pounds of tea. In five 
years this grew to about twenty millions. T he re- 
duction of the duty in 1890 to fourpence led to an 
enormous increase in consumption of tea generally, 
and this has, of course, greatly stimulated the 
Ceylon trade. Five years later the output had risen 
to the enormous figure of 67,718,371 pounds. The his- 
tory of trade affords no parallel to this development. 
Of course the cycle industry is a case in point, but 
that is rather the development of a branch of the 
long-established engineering trade than the creation 
and development of a new industry. Given this limi- 
t„.ion, however, the growth of the cycle trade 
would make a good second to the development of 
tea industry of Ceylon. 
Well done the first of Crown Colonies 1 
Jamaica Ramie. — Mr. Leon Bernstein, Manag- 
ing Director of the Jamaica Fibre Company, Limited, 
having forwarded to the Imperial Institute, London, 
two samples of Ramie filasse, prepared here by the 
Macdonald-Boyle process — says the Journal of the 
Jamaica Agricultural Society — has received a most 
encouraging report from Sir F. A. Abel, Hon. Secre- 
tary and General Director of the Institute. The best 
of the samples was declared by Mr. E. E. Colly er, 
the Expert to whom they were referred, to be “ very 
good quality degummed, excellent in colour, and 
yielding a large percentage of top.” He adds : 
“Supplies repiesented by it would probably realize 
T60 per ton and upwards here, if sufficient quantities 
can be guaranteed.” The other sjieoinien, derived 
from very young stems, though not so satisfactory, 
was estimated to be " orth £45 to £50 per ton. An 
extensive firm of Produce Brokers, having seen the 
samples, have written offering to take a quantity of 
filasse. A good market for the fibre thus seems 
a-sured, and we trust soon to hear that the Company 
has started planting operations. 
Samples are a poor test after all : one would like 
to see a quantity turned out and to learn the cost. 
