136 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[August i, 1891. 
Government to get a Postal Union Sorvioe to the 
Ohinde mouth of the Zambezi, as well as a 
tolegraph station, whioh I ’ve no doubt we shall gat 
in due course. It is terriblo the way the I ortuguese 
humbug the Britiah subjeots here, stealing letters 
oontainiiig drafts dio. and only doepatohing what- 
ever telegrams they think proper, saousing them- 
selvas by saying the line is out of order &o. 
The British gunboats hate jus. gone down to 
the Ohinde mouth to await the final decision re 
the free navigation of the rivers. The S. S. 
•‘James Stevenson,” Aftioan Lake Co. Shire 
boat, is made the subjoct of frequent ‘^“Its 
the British flag by ; they fire across 
her bows at night, stop her firewood &o.,*o-, till 
the gunboats arc oonslnntly running up and down 
ihe rivers demanding explanations, Ac. 
I may toll you I have settled down at planting in 
mis outlandish spot, but would not advise any Ceylon 
than to come here yet a while, at all events till the 
country has a settled government. There ore two of 
us myself and an assistsul, armed to the teeth with 
Martini-Uenry rifles and nearly 1,000 rounds of 
ammunition in the midst of a surrounding popula- 
tion of savages. Although a peaceable and un- 
warlike people, the life of anyone, black or white, la 
in the hands of the Chief ; so it is as well to be 
prepared, bat it !.• to be hoped no rupture will take 
place here, for ours is a peaceful mission and our 
arms for defence only. „ 
The oUmttta here is like that of UaapasflulUwa ; 
but there is a lot of lever. Alter the first few attacks 
however it only comes in a very mild form, which is 
easily ahaken oil by a few doaos of quinine. i 
Until I know you gat my letters, as the Portuguese 
are and justly too. accused of destroying lots of lottorsi 
belonging to British subjeots, 1 won t write much. 
I may say however that oolTae grows here and the 
climate seems to suit it, but cultivstiou there is 
none, the trees arc allowed to run to wood, got 
smothered by weeds, and bear all the crop they can 
stand without killing them outright, so the planters 
wonder— and well they may— why the trees won't 
crop for two years after a bumper. _ 
There is no leal-dieoase here, but there is a bean 
disease • in the inside of the bean black rot sets in, 
destroying it completely, in moat eases leaving only 
the parchment shell, so that the crop is worthless 
on some fields. Mossta. Buohanan Brothers attri- 
bute the diaeaso to a small aoarlot-spottod bug called 
the ladybird, but I think differently, and blame the 
clay subsoil for rotting the roots, ani crop as the 
result. Perhaps you would kindly lot U3 know the 
cause of the disease, and I shall be glad to give you 
more on tho eubjool.* 
Slave-raiding aud murder are as common as ever 
about here. A Chief near this told his people to 
kill a man of another tribe, end they at onoo pulled 
him limb from limb and buried their victim in 
niaces f'Jr which brutality only a lew pieces of 
Mlioo’wore paid to the Chief to whom tho man 
^^Tho^Uske Shirwa people and the Matoliingories 
have been at war for some timo and only last week 
a lot of slaves were sold to an Arab caravan on 
its wav from Kilimane to Nyaesa, war prUonevs 
no doubt. It's high time the African Lakes Co 
got a charter, or the British Qovernmen protected 
the people and not have such sosnes taking place 
within the Bight and hearing of European British 
subjeots who cannot interfere because of ttieir 
weakness. 
P.8. — I send yon two mission papers. 1 hero has 
been an nnpreoedonted number of deaths amongst 
the missionaries lately who have really done good 
work here aboujfi 
• Will some expert give ue im opluloa ?— ISO. T,A. 
Tiia cultivation of the giant sunflower for oil- 
making purposes is mqking great strides in Houthern 
Buasia.— jB. Mail. 
'This Java Uoks'kh Chop. — A ccording to a 
telegram from the Governor-General of Metiierlands 
India, the Government's ooffus erup in Java for 
1891 is eatimatod at 354,100 pieuls. 
Tka Sale. — \V a learu tliat tliero is a very good jal 
of tea in the Wyuaad, introduced from Assam by 
Colonel S. Ponsouby Soots, aud that one rnpee per 
pound fur good sunk seed is being freely paid, ft 
is also said that several persons are visiting tbs 
locality in search of tea land, and it is to be iioped 
that success has attended them. Tima will shew.— 
Soul/i of India Obsener, 
China Tea Sued fou OalIfornu.— T ho 
N.-C. Herald states : — '• Tho Chamber of Oommetoe 
at Los Angeles, California, arc getting tea seed from 
Hankow, in order to expaviment in tea ouliure.” 
Even if severe '• freezes ” were out of tho question, 
tbs abseuoe of oheap labour would ensure failure. 
Consumption op NoN-Ai.ooHofiic Beverages 
IN TiiE Uniied STiTEs. — TliB accounts for the ten 
months ended April .HOih oonfirm the view that, 
while oaaao makes good progress in lbs United 
States and coffee consumption increases enormously, 
the use of tea remains about stationary. In tho 
ease of oaoao, there was an increase from $1,84(1.009 
in 1889 to $4,270,000. Coffee rose from $02,191,000 
to $79,431,000. Tea, which showed a value of 
$15 ,OjO,O 00 in 1880 and went down to $11,346,000 
ill 1 m 89, recovered only to $12,803,000. i'ua has 
probably fallen in value, but clearly the Americana 
aro not vat by any means a tea-driuking people. 
Steady 1’aooRBS.s in the Swai, Industry of 
the Bahama islands is reported by Uonaul McLain. 
No small amount of Oauiidiaii, English and acotoh 
capital has boon invested therein daring the past 
year. Joseph Chamberlain, for one, has bought 
substantially tha whole of a small island, and ons 
of his sons will manage tha enterprise. Tha 
matured product is yet Bmall, but by next year 
will make a very large-quantity. The few tons 
already shipped foand a ready market, aud samples 
sold in London were pronounced to be of the best 
passible quality, and brought 40 per cent higher 
prices than the Mexican or Ifuoaton fiber. Little 
or no American money hao gone into the busi- 
ness, notwithstanding the fact that the United Stutes 
supplies most of the imports of the Banamis. Pos- 
sibly Florida will beuome disiinguaed for sisal 
production in course of time. Tfie natural coudi- 
tions in that state ars favorable Jirudst reel's. 
Experiments in fostering the growth of seeds 
by electricity arc not a novelty, since they wore 
made by Mr. Andrew Cross many years ago, and 
even in the la^ century by h 8ooteb eleoinoian 
but M. ►Spechnen, u Husdian a^rioulturist, has re- 
ooutly drawn attention to tlie subject. He eioutri- 
fied the seeds of peas, beans, and rye tor two miuutea 
by passing a ourrent through them, and then 
sowed them. The result was that the ulantj which 
sprang from the eoeila thus treated were much 
more vigorous than those from unoleetrified seeds. 
Mr. Speohnolf also eljotrifiod tho soil by burying 
plates of zino and copper in it so as to make 
what 18 called an •• earth-battery.” The plates 
were connected above ground by an iron wire, and 
tlio electricity oirouUted from one plate to tha other 
through the intorvauing ground. Vegetable scads 
p anted in this ground gave rise to an astonish- 
ing crop. A radish grew over 17in. in length and 
ojin. thick ; a carrot lOJ in. diameter weighed Gilb. 
M. Hpoohneff oslimatea that for root crops tha 
harvest in the electrified earth was four times 
greater than that in unelootriOed ground ; and for or- 
dinary p'auts two or three times greater. — Qlobe, 
