AGRICULTURIST. 
773 
MaV 2, i89S.;1 the tropical 
ally as the director of the Bandoeng- factory said, wiien 
the unit was very low, that he could produce quinine 
sulphate at a cost of 3Jd per oz. At present it is 
worth 6d in the bark, so that there is sufficient margin 
to make it merchantable and to cut the price — if 
the European makers do not get before Java on the 
latter point, which is not improbable, seieng that 
cinchona is cheaper again. 
^ 
PLANTING NOTES. 
“China Clay.”— A New York trade journal 
reports a “strong market'' for China clay for 
pottery purposes. With vessels ruaning direct 
from Colombo to New York, it may pry to ship 
some of the deposits of “Kaolin” or tine China 
blay M'hichare found at different points, e.specially 
in tlie Nuwara Eliya district. 
Castor Oil Plant for Silk Worms.— I hav 
three varieties of tlie plant here, seed as used in 
India for oil purposes They grow promiscuously 
and come up spontaneously in newly cleared laud, 
if I am not too low and too dry (35 inches 
rain in a year). I have at all events ample food 
free. — Cor.,lowcountry. [An experiment is wel 
worth making. — E d. IT..!.] 1 
Nkw Areas of Cultivation in the N.-W- 
Province are thus given by Mr. King in his 
Annual Report : — 
The cult! vation of the coconut is advancing every- 
where in those districts of the Seven Korales in 
which the rainfall is sufficient. It is difficult to 
arrive at the correct figures, but several thousand 
acres must have been added during the past year. 
It is also difficult to measure the advance of the 
asweddumisation of laud for paddy, but this should 
be put at not leas than l,0u0 acres. The area of 
tobacco land is also extending, particularly in Hiri- 
yala. The extent under cultivation in the Seven 
Korales is given by last return as follows : — 
Hiriyaia 
. 694 acres 
Dewamedi . . 
. 590 „ 
■Wouda 
167 „ 
Katiigampola 
.59 „ 
Total 
1,500 
In the Chilaw district there are over 700 acres 
under this cultivation, and about half that area in 
Puttalam. [These figures are far below the fact. — 
Ed. 2’.A.I 
The Proceedini s of the Indian Tea Asso- 
ciation which we print elsewhere, are— says the 
Indian Planters' Gazette— more than usually in- 
teresting. One of the important subject disemssed 
was the connection between the mints and the 
planting •ommuniiy. We referred some time ago 
to the protest entered by the United Planter.s’ 
A.ssociation of Soutliern India regarding exchange, 
and demanding the re-opening of the mints. Tlie 
London Secretary of the Association having asked 
for the views of the Indian As.sociation, has been 
infonned that the General Committee of tlie 
latter entirely agreed with the Southern India 
Association and would be prepared to take u]i the 
matter. This announcement will be received with 
general satisf.action by the entire tea planting 
community of India. We liave all along lield the 
view that in the absence of a stable exchange, the 
salvation of the Indian planting community de- 
pended upon the re-opening of the mints. The 
rising excliange value of the rupee has had disas- 
trous effects on the tea industry of Ceylon as 
we showed last week. Capital which ought, in 
the usual course, to have remained in the Colony, 
is being transferred to America. 
DisnonxiNG Dairv Cows,— The dishorning of cattle 
is a subject which may be said to be settled in 
the affirmative so far as the gr> at dairy districts 
of Illinois and Minnesota are concerned. On ap- 
proaching a f-armer for his reasons why he dis- 
horned his stock he stated that he made the cows 
more gentle and docile, and that he noticed some- 
what of an increase in the milk yield since it had 
been done. The cows lost their fidgety, nervous 
appearance, and did not seem to be so much afraid 
of the leader of the herd. Removing the horns, 
when it is properly done by the Keystone dis- 
horning knives made by A. U. Brosius, Gochran- 
ville. Pa, is not a prinfff operation, as is evidenced 
by the fact that it will scarcely interfere with the 
flow of a cow’s milk as much as the chase around 
the pasture in the front of the farmer’s dog will 
do. These host acquiinted with dishorning and its 
results are its strongest advocates . — Oreyon Ayri- 
cidturist. 
The Paris Exhibition.— We see it stated 
in the Indian Press that a “ comparatively small 
area of the Exhibition grounds is to be set aside 
for the construction of national pavilions by such 
countries or colonies as care to build them. This 
is an opportunity of which India certainly ought 
to avail herself. One of the mo.st interesting 
features of the Exhibition of 1819 was tlie In- 
dian Palace, in which Indian tea was served to 
all and sundry by Indian servants. Tliis enter- 
prise was avowedly undertaken with the idea of 
encouraging a taste for Indian tea in France.” 
Accordingly the Indian Agriculturist suggests 
that India and Ceylon should join forces to 
establish a permanent organisation in France to 
promote the consumption of Britisli-grown teas. 
There are 36 millions of people, our contempor- 
ary savs, to be won over to “ tea,” and already 
a good beginning has been made. As to the 
Exhibition itself our contemporary speaks well 
of the new arrangement i— 
Indian Tea in Fbance, 
It is to be hoped that the Government of India 
is already considering what steps shall be taken for 
the suitable representation of the great industries 
of this country at the Paris Exhibition of 1900. The 
matter will certainly require more careful handling 
than it did on previous occasions, because of the 
new system upon which this Exhibition is to be 
arranged. The French authorities have decided that, 
instead of grouping the . various exhibits in sections, 
according to the countries from which they come, 
all exhibits of a similar character are to be placed 
together, whatever be their country of origin. This 
plan has the great advantage of enabling tbe visitor 
easily to compare the competing proUiicts of dif- 
ferent countries ; but it excludes the possibility of 
any one country making a general display of the 
whole of its industries. From this point of view, 
in fact, it may fairly be said that the Exhibition 
of 1,900 will hr; the first really International Exhi- 
bition ; for national differences will be ignored, and 
competing producers from all parts of the world 
will have to set their products side by side with the 
similar products of their competitors, apparently 
also the organisers of the B-xlnbitiou hope, by the 
adoption of this principle, to secure a more uniform 
system of arrangement and decoration , for in each 
section, whether it be steam-engines or perfumery, 
the French authorities are to be paramount. From 
the point of view of picturesqueness this will pro- 
bably he a distinct gain, not because uniformity is 
a necessary, or even iii general a desirable, element 
of beauty, but because of the undoubted artistic 
feeling of the French people. Visitors to previous 
Paris E.xhilhiious who can remember the contrast 
between the biighiness of the French and the stod- 
giness of the British sections, will be greatefiil for 
the fact that no British Ro3’al Commission is ajain 
to be allowed to try its baud on artistic work. 
