THE TROPICAL AQRIOULTURI8T. [Sefiembkr i, 1891 . 
\y8 
ooDoluBively that the British North Borneo Company 
have acquired the whole of the St. Luoia Bay and 
the two rivers Sti Nengars and Sine Soldang. 
These rivers were surveyed from the mouth right up 
to the Bouroe which was found to be eighteen 
miles away. They era in point of fact nothing 
more or less than a variety of creeks, with an 
unusual abundance of mangroves that run out for 
a great distance in the waters. It was discovered 
that Ibis part of Borneo consists of one great delta, 
which makes it feasible for a traveller to go from 
South to North, by using creeks only, for a distance 
of over fifteen miles from the coast. There is a 
prevailing idea that by the means of these rivers 
the forest products of British North Borneo have 
been drained and smugglsd out of the territory, 
aorossor down the rivers into the land possessed 
by the Dutch. The "Banda” and the “Battler' 
have removed all the disorepanoies that existed 
with regard to the demarcation of the two borders 
and indeed, wbeu a comparison came to be made, 
it was found that the surveys of both parties 
corresponded in nearly every detail. The parallel 
latitude of 4.10 N. has been beaconed off with large 
beacons, with the Duloh flag shewing to the 
Southward, and the English flsg shewing to the 
Northward, iu every direction over the eighteen 
miles as far as these rivets extend. The whole 
place has been completely and satisfactorly settled 
by observation ; and owing to the immense man- 
grove swamps, great difBouIty was experienced in 
finding an observatory spot. The country in the 
vicinity seems to be devoid of fruit but there seemed 
to be any number of pigs and wild boar. The 
people on board the “ Battler ” managed to get no 
less than eight pigs in one day whioh aversged 
when dressed, about RO lbs each. Tho entire snrvey 
was oompleted in the oourse of b monih, and then the 
ships came to Singapore. — Slraift rimo, July IStb. 
PLANTING AND MERCANTILE NEWS 
VROM WESTERN INDIA. 
{From a CorrespondeiU) 
Crops in Coorg this year promise well, but without 
doubt leaf disease is slowly and surely doing its full 
work, altbongh not with the rapidity it did in Ceylon ; 
despite what Messrs, Elliot, Pringle and Hunt 
and others, who you sometimes quote in your 
columns, may say. Mr. P. Noone, late of 
Sabonadiire’s, has joined Messrs. Alston Low & 
Oo., and is stationed at Mangalore in charge of the 
branch there. As a Mr. Chisholm, a large proprietor 
in Coorg, who was down here the other day, said on 
hearing tho firm had engaged him : “ Ton Ceylon 
people are the • Yankees ' of the East. You gradually 
shove yourselvoB in, and then you fill your billets 
with other Ceylon men,” The n ply no doubt was ; 
“ The fact is, Ceylon is an unootnuion good troining 
ground tor anyone connected with estates, and 
the ecoentrioitiea and amenities counocted with a 
planting oommunity." 
BARK AND DRUG REPORT. 
(Prom the Chemist and Druggist, t 
London, Jul IGth. 
ClNCHON*.— The supply of hark offered at tho fort- 
nightly B»lo on Tuesiniy was less than on the lust ocoa- 
Sion, but the sales were almost as large, as the follow. 
log hgurcB show 
Packages 
PiiCHaiTos 
Gevlon cinchona 
.... 45so(yrhich 
414 wcroaold 
Kttkt IndUiu cinchona 1 2^7 
do 
l.Cf>4 
do 
Jay» cinchona 
tSoiuh American 
.... 2g 
do 
as 
do 
oiaohona 
.... 161 
do 
0 
do 
Cuprea bark 
.... 110 
uu 
2U 
do 
Total 
do 
1,613 
do 
At .the previons ]*• 1,579 cages 
werei sold, 
e.mivaUut 
to 871.701 Ib. of bark, whereas this week 813,6111b were 
actually disposed of. There was no feature of special 
interest in the sales, and although bidding was at no 
time very animated, yet prices wore on the whole firm. 
The unit is nut quoteably higher than it was a fort- 
night ago viz, IJd per Ibfor m uufacturiug-bark. Ceylon 
and East Indian barks sold readily, nearly all that 
wore not sold being taken baek by the brokers on sc- 
scconct of lbs bMdmg not uoming up to their expecta- 
tions. bnt hi most histsnces there was a t<cit under- 
st-ndlng between > crt.aln bidders and I be brnkers. There 
was B largo supply o' cultiTdiod Bolivian Callssyabark 
In firm large quills. Altoge>h«r there was 87.0301b of 
I', mostly In good ooudhion. The broker stayed scarcely 
30 aeuuuds lu the pulpit over tho lot, no higher bid 
Ilian Old be ug leached, then, with a knowing look to 
a bidder, bo bought In the 101 packages at 8 d. Wil- 
ding " for tbe pile - Wf's somewhat brisker than usual, 
and was g- lug on uninterruptedly until the sales were 
half done, when Mr. Usvld Howard goodnut. .redly enll 
that “ the room " must have eome understanding as to 
h' W far that custom should go. It was not niwiys a 
wise course to adopt; st soy rats, they could not make 
a pile of one bale ee^ecla'Iy a bale so badly damagnl 
that It could not stand by Itself. The wisdom of tho»o 
cemaiks was exemplified latsr when a broker was almost 
aoctptlng a price for "a pile” some bales of which were 
afterwards sold at from (d to lid higher than the price 
offered by the bidder for the lot. 
- -♦ 
THE LARGEST FLOWER IN THE WORLD. 
In the farthest Boutheastern island of the Phillip- 
pine group. Mindinao, upon one ot its mountains, 
Parag, in the neighbonriiood of the highest peak 
on the island, the volcano, Apo, a pariy of bolani- 
eal and eibnogrsphioal explorers found, leoently, at 
the height of 2,500 feet above the sea level, a 
ooloEsal flower. The discover, Dr. Alexander Soha- 
denborg, could soaroely believe his eyes when he 
saw. amid the lowgruwing hashes, the imraense buds 
of this flower, like glgantio brown cabbage heads 
but he was still more astonished when he found 
a speoimen in full bloom, a five-petaled flower 
nearly a yard in diameter — as large aa a eartiago 
wheel, in fact. This enormous blossom was borne 
on a sort of vino oreeping on tho ground. Tho 
native who accompanied Dr. Schadenberg called 
it bolo. 
The party had no soale by which tho weight of 
the flower could be ascertsineo, but they improvised 
a swinging soale, using their boxes and specim. ns 
as weights. Weighing these when opportunity 
served, it was found that a single flower, weighed 
22 pounds. It was impossible to transport the 
fresh flower, so the travell. rs photographed it, and 
dried a number of its loaves by a fire. Dr. Soha- 
denberg then sent the photographs and speoimens to 
the Royal Botanical Gardens, Breslau, where the 
learned director imoieiliatoty recognized it as a 
speoiea ol Rsfilesia. a plant formerly discovered in 
humatra, and named after the English Governor 
fr'ir Stamford Ksfflesia. The new flower was aooord- 
ingly named Rufll.'sia Schadenbergia. 
Tim five petals ol this immenso flower are oval 
and creamy white, and grow around a center filled 
with oounllesB long violet hued slamens, thicker and 
longer in the fertile flower than in the infertile. — 
Gardener, 
Le-siCCATEd Coconot.s. — In reply to your enquiry as 
to tlic uumber of nuts it tak' S to make up 100 lb. 
of tho above, in case nobody bus obliged you with 
tUe actual figures, you can I tliink rockou on 1000 
nuts yeildiug between .SOO to O.uO lb, of doMicosted 
coconut aocui'duig to tho seasons. It takes ICOO good 
coconuts to give 560 lb. of well-dried ooprs. Hut 
nuts before being desiccated are shaved of the brown 
outer coveting of tho kernel, end are dried more 
than copra over is.— t’un., local “Examinot.” 
