637 
March t, 1898.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
per acre was an excessive one. I enclose you a 
copy of his reply ; but at tlie same time, as I 
have always said, I wish it clearly to be under- 
stood, that, these figures may not apply to Ceylon 
. — if the Ceylon Planters wish to know what the 
yield per acre is, they will have to plant up 
one and test the results. 
Correspondent D, in your issue of the 1st No- 
vember last asks, how I account for the variation 
between the yield in An-tr.alia, and that in the 
Straits. My answer is, that in consequence of the 
dryness of the Au.stralian climate, the weight of 
the stems would be much less there, than in the 
humid climate of the Straits, where they con- 
tain 80 per cent of water- From experiments in 
Kwala Lumpor, it was found that the actual 
yield of cleaned filasse, vvas 2^ per cent. I assume 
that 4 per cent rvould not be excessive for a dry 
climate — we get 3 per cent in Algeria— the stems 
all contain the same amount of fibre ; but the 
yield depends upon the quantity of water they 
contain. 
As to his second question, let us see what 
Ceylon can produce. We will then consider how 
fai’ we can meet the Planters on the question 
of machinery. I, however, repeat my advice : go 
slow; wait the result of our estate at Joimre; 
and in the meantime test the capabilities of your 
land and climate.— Yours truly. 
j. M. Macdonald. 
Suugei Puloh, Klang, Dec, 14th, 1897. 
Messrs. MacDonald, Boyle & Co., 39, Victoria 
Street, Westminster, London. 
Dear Sin, —In reply to your inquiry, I may 
state that in my opinion your estimate of 70 
tons of stems per acre' is well within the mark given 
soil such as I have experimented on and from my 
personal knowledge the soil and climate of Muar 
where you have got a large concession of land is 
very similar to the soil here. I would go further and 
state that I consider more than 70 tons can be got, 
judging from results I have got since you were here 
—in fact the growth was so marvellous that I pub- 
lished the facts in our local paper and send you a 
copy per same mail. In addition to what I have 
there stated I may tell you that each of the unrooted 
cuttings planted on the 5th October last bad six 
stems four of which are now almost ready for cut- 
ting, 'and I yesterday exhibited an average stem 
at a Committee meeting of the United Planters 
Association, of which I am Secretary, and it was 5 
feet 4 inches long. Further, from calculations I have 
carefully made and based on actual results I find 
that given one acre of Eamie say four months old, 
you can plant up 1,000 acres in 12 months. Please 
note that I am only counting on cuttings from the 
original acre and make no allowance for cuttings from 
the first and second seiies of plantings. 
I consider yon are exceerli^ gly fortunate in getting, 
such a valuable concession of land at Muar and it may 
interest you to hear that $5 per acre has been offered 
for a large area on the opposite side of the river to 
your concession. 
As you know from experience planters want a lot 
of convincing before yon can get them to take np 
a new prolneh, and possibly you may have been disap- 
pointed that a. greater interest was not taken in tho 
tnaiter after the demnnslvation vouiave in Kwala 
Lumpor, and which, in niy opinion wa.s a success, 
but I may ti-11 you that I can o.leaviy see tbn.t a de- 
cided interest A being taken and I am confident that 
all those who have land .suitable for the product 
will go in for it more or less. 
In Selangor wo have thousand.s of acres of nllnvipl 
land suitable for Ramie cultivation and there is also 
a large area in Perak. Muar Va'ley has also thou- 
sands of acres of similar land and it is bound to 
go up in value. I believe there is a great future 
for Ramie in the Straits and the Malay States, in 
fact we seem to have exactly the climate required 
for the cultivation. 
Let us produce the stems and you can do the rest 
and there will be no cause to grumble. — Wishing 
you every success, I remain, dear su- . yours faith- 
fullyq ” (Signed) Tom Gibson. 
{Extract from the "'Malai/ Mail,” Dec. 9th, referred 
to above) Ramie Cultivation. 
To the Editor of the ^Milaiay Mail.” 
Dear Sir,— Your planter re.tders may be in- 
terested in the follow'ing facts as to the growth of 
Ramie in alluvial K;aiig laud: — 
1. Several clumps of Ramie, having an average of 
20 stems each were cut down to within three inches 
of the ground on the 16th November last and the 
stools today (21 days from cutting) have an average 
of 40 stems, three feet to three and a half feet 
long and nearly half an inch in diameter ; there 
are besides about 20 young shoots on each stool about 
one foot high. 
2. About 150 unrooted cuttings six inches high 
were planted on the 5th October last and in 28 days 
averaged four feet in height and are now all five feet 
and almost ready for cutting. — Yours faithfully, 
Tom Gibson. 
CEYLON HIBISCUH AND OTHER FIBRES. 
Londcii, E.C. dan. 19. 
Dear Mr, Editor i 1i;..vc mmsblfrable 
trouble witli '.Lie ilbie i iiai you .sent ; 
one of tlie fibre liriii.s here value ilii.s ai £9 per 
toil, but tliey .say tbat ibey would prefer to have 
this fibre sent home in ifie form of “ribbons.” 
In this torm tlie China Grass comes to the market 
now, and the process is very simple for treating it 
without breaking the fibre. In sending home any 
fibrous material at the present time, you must 
remember what the standard one may be for 
string or for weaving, the other is for paper : if it 
is to compete for paper you must remember that 
the standard is pine-wood, the pulp from which 
comes away perfectly white and pure, without 
any dirt, and cannot be valued at much over Id, 
per lb., if as much as that. Ever since pine- 
wood pulp has got to such a pitch of perfection 
it is only first-class fibres that they use for 
spinning or for strings and rope. — Y^ours truly, 
THOS. CHRISTY. 
WOODCOCK IN CEYLON. 
Ratuatenna, Jan. 20tli. 
Dear Sir,— If Mr, Massy, of Cainiethan, Ram- 
boda, had read the local papers he would have 
come to the conclusion, that the woodcock is not 
so rare in Ceylon as is supposed. The common 
woodcock lias been shot in the island, on several 
occasions, and as I noted last week it is an 
annual migrant to these parts, and I freiiuently 
come across it between the months of October 
and May. E. G, R. 
SCIENTIFIC M\NURTNG AND COCONUT 
CULTIVATION. 
Sib,— T he writer of !he article on scientific manur- 
ing in your impressiru of 26th Jan. is not au 
cowremf with local agiicuUural literature. He will find 
a very full and lucid summary of the startling dis- 
covery of denitrification in the November number of 
the “ AgiicuUnnv! Slagazine.” It will be interesting 
to know what English agricultural chemists of the 
standing of Lawes, Warrington and Gibson liave to 
say on the subject, they will no doubt ere this have 
instituted practical experiments to test the results 
of the German scientists. 
