THE TROPICAL 
AGRICUT.TURIST. 
691 
April t, 1898.] 
invaded by the weeds, will take the bull by his 
horns and make six three-weekly weedings, and after 
that he can rest and go over to monthly cheap 
weeding. 
10-11. I think It is necessary to stimulate the 
needs of our working people putting them in the 
“ boutiques,” “ tuudus ” or shops useful goods before 
the eyes, so they acquire slowly the notion of 
civilised life ; but I cannot condemn hardly enough 
the sell of “ aquardiente,” arrack, “ pulque,” etc., 
etc, — which is the source of all crimes of the natives 
and too, a source of difficulties between the planter 
and drunken labourers. 
I saw 'n your magazine Mr. Green’s suggestion to 
graft Caraccas cacao on Forestero. Has this been 
realized, and if so, please be so kind to indicate to me 
the manner it has been done. — Ed. Bogaert, c. e., and 
Planter. 
Mr. Bogaerts appears to be well off for labour 
which costs no more than Is a clay. We have 
not heard of any successful grafting being carried 
out as yet of Caraccas on Forestero cacao in 
Ceylon ; but if such has been the ease will h >pe 
to learn, with results, in answer to the present 
enquiry. We should be glad to hear from Mr. 
Bogaerts as to the pro.spec.s of Planting in San 
Domingo and how the staples pay as compared 
with the re.st of the West Indies. 
BUYING CATTLE IN INDIA. 
MR. STURGES.S AT BOMBAY AND KURRACHEE. 
Mr. G. W. Sturgess, the Veterinary Surgeon 
of the Ceylon Government, returned from Kurra- 
chee on 12th Mar h after an absence in India of 
nearly a month. . He went from Colombo by the 
M. M. ss. “Laos” to Bombay, starting on the 14th 
and landing on the 17th. Feb. Everything in that 
ei'y, he said, seemed to be in confusion : he 
stayed at the Esplanade- hotel and there and 
every where he Went there were evidences of 
precautions ag.ainst plague, disinfectants of various 
kinds been freely used. At the Esplanade-hotel 
he found M. Euinat, of the M. M. Company, 
residing : he was in good health and spirits. Mr. 
Sturgess saw funerals in Bombay, “ one after 
the other ” ami the whole town 
.SEEMED UNDER A CLOUD. 
He left on the 18th for Kurrachee in the B. 1. 
ss. “Dunera” and on board that vessel were 
600 natives, who had been to Bombay to witness 
thedeparture for Europe of Agliakiian, a Persian 
prince. The natives (Mahommedans) were re- 
turning to Kurrachee and on ar ival there the 
boat was boarded by si.\ doctor-^ (four male and 
two female), who examined every one on board, 
WHETHER NA'I'fVE OR EUROPEAN. 
The result was that ten passenger.s were sent 
back (five men and five women), their tempera- 
ture being too high. They were suspected c.ases 
only and there was no actual plague on board. 
All the natives were quarantined at Kurrachee, 
but the same rule did not apply to Europeans, 
who were allowed to laud. Arrived at Knriachee 
Mr. Sturgess set about selecting cattle and for 
that purpose visited the principal villages and 
settlements within ten miles of the town. For 
this purpose he .secured by hire a Kurrachee 
police camel. The cattle in the district 
weie not in ,as good a state as they were 
last year, one of the results of the famine, 
but prices were about the same. In the dis- 
trict around Kurrachee there were no traces of 
plague and the effects of the famine were 
not very^ apparent. Mr. Sturge.ss secured his 
cows (32 in number) at 60 rupees each and also 
brought a bull, all being of the Scinde breetl 
He shipped them on board the ss. “ Independent,” 
which came direct to Colombo so saving the 
costand risk of transhipment : anci had a pleasant 
voyage home, until Cape Cormorin was seen, when the 
roll of the north-east monsoon produced a motion 
in the vessel not very pleasant. However 
the cattle were none the worse when they reached 
Colombo, none being lost on the way, and 
they W'ere driven y<'=terday aflernoon to the 
Government Dairy m good health. By the same 
vessel there arrived 
FIVE HUNDRED SHEEP 
which have been brought to Ceylon as an ex- 
periment in trading by an Indian merchant. 
The sheep are of the IScinde breed, black-faced 
and long-woolled. They cost in Kurrachee about 
B5 per head but it is understood that they will 
realise KIO here. They were landed in good 
condition. 
Whilst at Bombay Mr. Sturgess visited the Vet- 
erinary College, where there are seventy stu- 
dejits studGng for veterinary degrees. Amongst 
them is one from Ceylon, Mr. Chinniah, who 
is reported to be doing very well. There are 
near the College splendid wards for sick cuttle. 
Many of them were given by wealthy Parsees, and 
there i.s also on the premises a laboratory which 
is at the present time being used for plague 
inoculation. 
A correspondent adds:— “The herd consisted 
of .32 corvs (14 with calves) and a bull. Most 
of the cows are young animals, and it is to be 
hoped they will be found to be good milkers 
as the milk supply of the dairy is just now 
short of the demand from the hospitals.” 
RAMIE FIBRE. 
la the course of an interview with Mr. Kershaw, 
who is visiting the Australian colonies with a view 
to opening up a trade in certain cotton thread 
fabrics, of which he is an extensive manufacturer 
in Manchester, the subject of fibre plants other than 
cotton was introduced. With regard to cotton, Mr. 
Kershaw said that it certainly would iw I'. y togrow 
cotton in Australia for shipment to the liome mar- 
kets. The American grower got from 4 to -JJ cents (2d 
to 2Jd) per lb for his cotton. But it was not so 
much the fibre that paid the farmer as the by- 
products, such as cotton seed oil, oil cake, &c. 
These were worth more than the cotton itself. Speak- 
ing of other flbre.s, he said he did not profess to 
be an expert in Sisal hemp, but the demand for it 
was very great — in fact, almost unlimited. The 
quotation in the home markets of £40 per ton, he 
said, should yield a very handsome profit even if the 
working expenses and charges amounted to fifty per 
cent. If one ton of clean hemp is obtained per acre 
then, at even £12 per ton, it should pay well. On, 
tlie subject of jute and ramie, Mr. Kershaw was 
more emphatic. There is absolutely no limit, he said, 
to the market for ramie fibre. It was in every way 
superior to jute, and whilst the finer silk-like fabrics of 
jute, can be distinguished from pure silk, ii. is almost 
impossible to do so in the case of ramie fabrics. 
As to the price quoted - £30 per ton for clean fibre 
that was absurd. £.30 per ton meant about 3Jd 
per Ih. ; whilst the fibre commanded at least fid 
per lb. in the open market, or £56 per ton. The 
improved machinery wou d even have the effect of 
increasing the price, llamie was a fibre which lent 
itself to the most delicate fabrics, as well as to the 
coarser ones. From his knowledge of the trade, and 
from what he bad learnt whilst in the colonies on 
the subject of the adapts hility of tire soil and cli- 
mate of Kew South Wales and Queensland to the 
cultivation of the plant, he came to the conclusion 
that it was eminently worthy of attention — Queens- 
land Agricultural Journal, Feb. 
