526 
THE TROPICAL AGRICDLTURIST, 
[Fee. I, 1898. 
or of olRcial action, and snjrgestioiif? for improve- 
ment will be found in neaily all the Reports — 
and more especially in that for the Kotagalla 
division of Dimbula. Motor Cais electrically 
driven are sufigested by a Mattegama planter, 
the power being taken off periodically from a 
storeage factory placed near a good waterfall. 
This is, of course, quite a feasible idea, which 
may be realised freely in the country by-and- 
bye. Tt is not pleasant to read how the rail- 
way slip sent more of the Uva planters to the 
Hambantota and Ratnapura cart outlets. Our 
Gampola reviewer has much to say about the 
usage and law regulating labour : a higher 
stamp on “ tundus'’ d.s a feasible and piobably 
good idea if it kept coolies steadier at work. 
Fifty-four applications for one vacancy of Super- 
intendent is a lug order ; but we car. quite 
believe it. North Travancore should take off .some 
more of our trained planters. 
PLANTING NOTES. 
Rat Coffee.— W. K. Brooks, the naturalist, in an 
article contributed to Scribner’s Itagazine some time 
ago on “ Aspects of Nature in the West Indies,” 
states that the natives of J.amaica claim that their 
coffee is the best in the world, and that which grows 
on the sides of the high mountains is the best in Ja- 
maica for in high altitudes it acquires a rich flavor, 
w'hich’ commands the highest prices in the English 
market. We are told, however, that the quintessence 
of all tiie rat coffee, or the seeds from berries which 
have been gnawed by ra.ts, for these animals are 
very fond of the aromatic pulp of the cherry-like 
fruit which encloses the seeds ; and as their fastidi- 
ous taste leads them to select the best, children are 
employed to gather among the bushes the berries 
which'they have gnawed, and this_ coffee is set apart 
as the finest and most delicious of all . — American Gro- 
cers' Journal. 
Cacao CuLTivATK N m Ceylon, -u e omitted 
yesterday to call special attention to the excel- 
lent and re-assuring letters fnm practical plan- 
ters in answer to the London imragraph of a Cey- 
lon cacao pessimist wliicli we quoted the other 
day. We were of course aw.are of the old trees 
in Peradeniya Gardens, in Kandy town, and in 
front of the Palakelle bungalow ; but a few 
detached trees growing in this way cannot be 
taken as a fair test of a field or “ cacao walk. ' 
Still it is quite evident from what our correspon- 
dent says that there is no re.nson to fear dying 
out in the latter case when proper land has been 
selected and the plants put in and treated judi- 
ciously. The very fact tb.at ( nr export m 1897 
shews so large an increase — 15 per cent above 
that ot 1896— may be taken to iticlicale that “the 
cacao industry” has come to stay with us. 
The Ceylon Land and Peoduce Company. 
—We can do no more today than call attention 
to the summary of the Directors’ Report for 
this Company. It is a very full and 
extremely satisfactory document, and we con- 
gratulate the sharebolder.s on once more get- 
ting 15 I'cr cent of dividends- a rale that has 
continued without interruption since 1892 and 
this notwithstanding that cocoa has fallen from 
96s 5(f. average per cwt. in that year to C6s Irf. 
in 1897 and tea from 7 '81(1. to 6’51d. per lb. 
The crons have however, increased : cocoa from 
1 431 cwt. in 1892 to 2,266 cwt. in 1897 and tea 
from .503,293 lb. (average 364 1b. jier acre) to 
748 994 lb. (average 476 lb. per acre) in the same 
neriod.s Mr. James Wilson, the Chairman, of 
this prosperous Company is now in Ceylon and 
be reports favourably 011 the prospects of 1897-8. 
Cinchona Pro.spects. -A Java correspondent 
writes as follows about Cinchona : — 
'■ Cinchona continues to rise, the price of the unit 
being per iast telegram 7 cents (1 2, 5d) to 8 cents 
(13/5d) at the Am.^terdam auction, and higher rates 
being realized for lots sold privately. This is a big 
rise from 24 cents in March of this year, and 
thanks alone to the starting of two Quinine Fac- 
tories out here, which have for the moment broken 
the back of the German ring, who for the last 4 
years have made the price just what they 
liked.”— Batavia, Dec. 15. 
The Racali.a Tea Estates, Limited.— The 
Directors’ Report dated 24tli Decetnber last will 
be found on another page and affords very full 
information respecting the Comiiany ai d estates. 
Dividends were paid up to July last; but for 
the current year, tlie Directors rejairt they can- 
not declare a dividend on llie oidinary shares. 
They are, however, very sanguine about pros- 
pects in the near future with young te.a coming 
into bearing, a new factorj’, &c. Certainly Ra- 
galla ai d KelLiiine are both verj' valuable projjer- 
ties, and ought to do well. 
A New Product for Export.— Not long ago we 
stated that there was a good business done between 
Colombo and the Persian Gulf ports in coffee husk, 
which was practically refuse thrown away by planters 
after pulpirg and cteaning the ci ffee beiries. The 
Arabs, especially, make use of the husk in place of 
the civilized preparation of caje noir. We now hear 
that, besides coffee husks, dried cardamom husks 
have a marketable value, and that shipments of these 
are being made to some Continental prals. In grad- 
ing the cardamoms, the '‘splits” are utilized lor this 
purpose after "seeding” (hem. and the husks can be 
placed on the market without being thrown away as 
refuse. Planters would do well to note tbi.s fact, and, 
in sending the different grades, to add " husks” to the 
existing classification. — Local " Times.” 
“ The Agricultural Annual and Mark Lane Ex- 
press Almanac for 1898” has just hern issued from 
the cffice of this worldknown journal, li contains, 
as in former years, a series of articles on top es of 
interest and j:rcfit to farmers, the comributors being 
experts in their different depiirlmeuts. Amongst tbe 
mole notable will be found one entitled “Can the 
Empire Feed Itself?” by Mr. C. Kains Jacksrn ; 
' Malt and M- nure,” by Mr. H. Stores; and ‘‘Ex- 
tended Stock Farming as a remedy for Depression,” 
by Mr. J. Daiby. Tbe importance of ‘‘Chemical 
Analysis” to the farmer is pointed out by Mr. A. 
E. Sibson, and Mr. T. Ironmoi'ger describes, “The 
Position of Foreigners in the Hop Field.” An im- 
portant contribution is one on ‘‘ Teat Troubles,” by 
a Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Sur- 
geons, ar.d Mr. Sanders Spencer explains the great 
use and profit of ‘‘ Grass as Food for Pigs.” Mr. 
W. Scarth Dixon describes the ‘‘ Cleveland Bay, 
and their Place on the Farm,” and Mr. E, G. F. M'alket 
treats of “The Seamy Side of English Dairying.” 
Other topics are ‘‘Small Fruit tor Small Grewers; 
by Mr. G. H. Hollingworth ; and ‘‘How to Combat 
Foul Brood in Bees ” by Mr. C. N. White. Mr . J. 
T. Critchell directs attention to ‘‘Australasian Food 
Exports to Great Britian,” and Iheir relation to the 
food supply of the Kirgdom, whilst Mr. J. B. Simp- 
son contributes an interesting aiticle cn the “Futire 
of the Leicester Breed of Sheep.” The Editor (Mr, 
A. J. Stenton), as usual, contributes a summary of 
“Agriculture in 1897,” which will be read with con- 
siderable interest, as setting out the principal events 
of the year The Annual is W'ell illustrated, and 
more profusely so than ever, the pictures being up- 
to-date, iiicluding Jyjr. Wortley’s cross-bread steer 
“ Genei;al,” which took champion prize at iheNorwich, 
Birmingham, and Smitlifield Shows this winter. 
The frontispiece is an admirable portrait of tbe Rt. 
Hon. Earl Spencer, K.e., President of the Royal 
Agricultural Society of England. 
