August ti 1891,5 
THE TROPICAL AtSRIOOLTURIST 
lof 
WA PLANTING RETORT, 
BaduIIa, Jane 2.’ith. 
Bright pleaeant weather, with an oooaslonal 
■hower, is the order ol the day. A good deal o( 
wind on the higher eetatea, bat no harm hae been 
donek and it will help harden the wood ol our 
Aaguet and September hloaBome. Tea hae to a 
oertain extent abut up. But it ia aoroewhat ol a 
relief to have a little breathing apaoe alter the 
oontirned attain ol keeping np with the mah ol 
leal during the paat throe montha, and to be able 
to devote a little attention to other worka. A very 
aevere attaok of leal dineeae general in the diatriot. 
We are all however now aoouatomed to regard this 
diaeaao with a oertain amount ol oomplacenoy, 
after our experienoea with bug. In the one oaae, 
we know that in a lew weeks our ooflea will, at 
any rate, look aa well aa ever. In the other, 
we eannot avoid wondering whether the preaent 
attaok may not leave ua without any ooRae at all. 
There ia very little bug lor the time ol year 
visible at preaent, and I truat it may give ua no 
more trouble and betake itaell to paaturea new. 
Autumn oropa are generally good, and with lavonr- 
able weather there ia no reason why apring oropa 
should no be equally aatisfaetoryi Coffee haa done 
Very well in this season and haa ripened its orop 
and stood its oroo better than it haa for years 
past. A good deal of land being oleared for tea 
this year and clearing worka have oommenoed on 
some estatea. Tea pruning has oommenoed, and 
next month will aee a large acreage pruned down. 
Tub BiiAitii. Cofpke TIkckipts are realizing 
the high estimate of 5,2.50,000 bags to which the 
house of Mesars. J. Bradshaw 4 Oo. have persistently 
pinned their faith, against the general belief in 
a muoh lower figure. The biggest export ol 
follee from Brazil on tooord was 6,711,000 bags 
in season 1882 - 88 . 
T«e Pt.ujTBAOO INDUSTEV.— Tills industry ha* re- 
cently assumed large proporlions oonsequent upon rich 
unds and good prices, and large quantities of the 
mineral ate being brought into Colombo from distant 
^ees. Pasdum Korle and Rayigam Korle in the 
(r'K * I’rovinoe, with Hewagam and Siyana, coe- 
a,Ii in quantity, while the Southern Provinoii, 
* nrovinoe of Sabsragamiiwa ami the North- 
fini* ”^'”'"11®, oontribule largely almost daily to 
ombo. Uundrede of people are employed in the 
P 8, most of which we are worked by ni' ars 
. maohiuerv which the proprietors have 
in native merohauts engaged in the industry 
dan ^urunegala distriot are looking fonv r l to the 
as il'* •^ 1 % railway will be opened to Knrnimgala, 
athousamls means ol transporting the 
*o Colombo'li.^''* of plumbago sent from that district 
.noolamation ol arid lands by 
China ho hlstorio and anoient origin. 
mVenLii r *«>!» lot irrigating 
Lnds for more than 8,000 years. The table 
who ®?PPort a population ol 13.000,000 
nennrio.ra .^wlcy, millet oto., trom a soil 
FrrZZf without the eid ol artifloial 
broad* « Praotioally a desert, but its 
samf mini Pfoduotive by the 
redair^eT hv “rffi 1 18,000,000 acres being 
South prooeaees. In Mexioo and 
brhLo t’lere are 2,500.000 aoree fertilized 
OhiSrrn nl^^‘’"’’T" ^'''Ji® 30.000,000 acres, in 
6 ft.000,000 in Egypt 
MOO,^ and m antipodal Australia some 200,000 
tion\^ Produotive by the irriga- 
/acftiiW and Suqnr Mann. 
Tra akd Oofpbr TV Bomd.— Afioor'iing to th# 
offlflUl tUtemetil of tho qaAntiHflB of bonflea goodi 
romtlninir tbo On^tom and ExoiflO wbAf®bon«6i 
of the TJnitod K)ns* *doiii, M publUhod iu the 
B Rtll of Eatrtv tho ttook of on M^y 
79^)20.834 lb, flC4^nBt 8M39.ft88 ft In 
78,Q40,540 ft at the oorroApondenfc poffod of • 
oofTee, 236,924 aqalnat 377,686 owt. end 460,146 
owt. — ff. rtfij c. 
Aoain.'*? Ohrap T«a8.— a Stockton firm of (frooefi 
rocen‘l7 offerpd a nrJjje to Bpooern^ MeiRtant* for tb« 
on to*. Thin eaaftj, won bv a Mf- Lalni?, b*i 
^nit boen printcfl. with tu fntro4uotlon by fh* pHx®- 
glTors, in wb^ob tboy «%7 :— We unhoRltaHnffW *t.*fee 
that no tea offoroH to the nn^'He at a leRaprloe than la. 
lOd. per lb. can he * 6t or wboloaome *rt*Me for con* 
Rumption.** Spoakinsr of Inferior tea* they say?-' 
*• Theae teaR are not cheap at anv mpner : a greatef 
quentitv I* reqalr^d to brew a fairW atronif enp of tea, 
and when made more or fe** to the Ratlafaction of the 
tea-drinber It will contain Rome 2ft per cent, oftannio 
acid, a Rnbnianoe whiob apeediW deatroTR the ooatiop 
of the Rtomaob, and turns wholesome meat into a bard 
and indigestible subBtanre. jnst In the Bume manner as 
tannin i* tised at tan vard? to care cowhides and make 
them fit for leather ” 
The Tea Markbt. — O f Indian and rpylon tea and 
last week's aales the Produce Mar\'e.ts' says 
The value of Indian tea ebows no change of importance, 
the t50od, medium, and finer tirades being a shade 
firmer, while the lower de*cription* have sold at 
above lat^ rates. The moderate quantities offered 
at the pnhlie sale* mainly oonRi«t'»d of the inferior 
defiertptiens, and it appea>‘R evident that the supply 
of tea worth over 1*. will for some time to come be 
very small. The few lots of new aeason’s broiififht 
forward were, as is Renerallv the case for the first 
arrivals, not of a very deairable character, the 
infusion beiofj thin and showing a want of proper 
manufacture. Aa thia i* not iirmanal with the first 
shipment, it i« no criterion of the quality of fotore 
importu, whiob is likely, induing from recent 
reports, to bo quite np to the average of pant 
Reasons. The figures of the past month are less 
aatisfaotory than the trade haa Utterly been aoous- 
tomed to, wbinh is maiolv to be accounted for by 
the poor selection and the hif?h prices for the common 
grades compared with the lower Cevlon growths. A 
marked improvement ba« taken place in the demand 
for Ceylon teas, and conseonentlT prices have improved 
for all grades. 
I«FLrE>r/.A AND ITS CuTiB. — The Kpectaiw' 
has a good word for ciuinine and of all things 
" snuff-taking.” in winding up a long and rather 
despondent article about the new pestilence which 
threatens to become an annual visitor. In eonclu* 
eion our oontensporary says 
We shall have good reports this time on the dift- 
ease when it passes, and we may perhaps have some 
Inci l Buggestion, or, at any rate, a suggestion on 
which doctors agree, as to the best preventives. At 
nresont, fver>bodv has his own panacea, though, 
fortnuafely, this year preposterouR dosea of antipytine 
are not among them. It la difficult even for laymen 
to toui h the Rubjeot without offering them, ao we 
will yield to the weRkneRe by ending this paper with 
two suggestions,— the first given only for its interest 
to a minute and rapidlv decreasing clasa, the other 
because we rather believe in its viitiie. Lp'I souff- 
takers postpone abaudoning that dirty and ngl? 
practice till the peatilenoe passe* awav. for the qunw 
instinct of the common folk, which sudaeiily 
doublod the sales of Hootch snuff, ba« probably a 
baris. Tobacco is of no nse as a prophylactic against 
infinenza, but the thickening of the mucous membrane, 
which cornea of snuff-taking, is probably a protec- 
tion, and points to a quite possible preventive. So 
also, and a muoh hotter one, is solid quinine, the 
only protection agiilnat aguish fever which travellers 
iu the tropics trust. Influenza ia certainly an aguish 
fever of some sort, and there U no protection Hko 
a daily pill of three grains of qniuiue, a recipe which 
has at least this advantage, that it can do nobody 
any barm. 
