203 
September i, 1891.] THE TROPICAL AQRlOULTURfST 
Keoretary to tho Plauters' Aseueiatiou ot Ceyloo. 
( Tvansfatimi.) 
E'ori-itiii Oflico. Rerliii, io'E JuuD I8ill. 
I liavc lh»‘ lutii uc to iLtorm tEo Aa«i;- 
ci.-iiiou that I hovo tiai.smittfil lo Jlia Majesty lli.j 
Eniyeror und lo Htr Majualy the Empress Eredi riok 
ihc tour cliLft^ of tea which have bceu sent hero 
through tho luipirial Oi.rQiau Coiisul at Co'oiuho. 
His Majesty tho Emperor and Her Mr.j sty tho 
Kiupross Frodcriek havo been graciously pteasetl to 
accept thesG prtaeuts and to dirout me to transmit 
to the Planters’ Associaiiuii their Majoetys' (iaoeios 
thanks lor this ccur'.cvus at'eiitiou. 
It giviB too much phiisnro I > bring this to the 
notice of the Planters* Association. 
(Signed) MAKSn'uAi.r,, 
Siorotary of Stale for Foioign Altairs. 
Tho PlRnters' Assooialiou of C y'on, Oolombo. 
BAXANAS. 
iiie thus noticetli^iu a report on the Trinidad 
E.tperiinentiil Farm : — 
Ucllectiveiy there are 21 acres under “ Gros Michel" 
banana. This has proved a capital nursery, furnishing 
during the pint two years upwards of 100, QUO plants 
fur disiribntion, sod as many more are ready fur the 
same purpose. The bananas were p'antedH ' x 10", 
but this is too oiUBu for good fiiui-bi.'ariDg— 12 fuet 
square apart should be the distanou ; all auakers should 
he kept out down to the bearing plant, and ouo only al- 
lowed to grow when the parent stem is showing sigu 
o( fruit. This will ensure a marketable ratoon tunoh, 
Rliippiug bananas from here bss not proved sucefSaful. 
Nearly 1,300 bunches were shipped to New York, and 
though a few bunches realized top prices, siitlioient 
was not obtained for the whole to covi r czpeuse.i ; 1*2 
bnnohts, packed in orates, were shipped to OuVent 
Garden, Lundan, also nusuooesdully, chiefly from want 
ot knowledge lu packing. From iustructiuns since re- 
ceived in this ijuaUcr, hopes aro held out that bananas 
might reach Lo.,dou sound. Full particulars of this 
experiment were published in the Itecord for February, 
1801. Attention has recoutly btou turned lo drying 
lliia fruit, at first in the open air; but owing to tbe 
damage by myriads of iusecta attracted by the sweet 
lruit,'the dust, etc., n failure was anticipated. This 
has however been remedied by the Hot Air Fruit Drier, 
proptrly known as tho‘‘-EluB I'lieumatio Fruit Drier," 
and 1 am bappy to rcpuit in favour of the good work 
done by tho iiiaohino. This is proved by the dried 
fruit being accepted in Lon ten. Now Y^otk und Cuiiaua 
at remunerative prices. Orders are on band for these 
places for more than two tons. Samples have been 
sent to Germany, llussia and France and other conn, 
trice. In advocating drying bananas 1 by no means 
suggest that tbe export of tbe raw article should bo 
given up— only that tbe drying uflurds a means of dis- 
posal tu those whose uieaus of inlniid transport pre- 
vents their profitably offering tho fruit fur shipmout. 
The frnit can bo dried within 24 hours at a temporatnre 
from 180“ to 160“ ; higher tljuu this the fruit bardeiis. 
Thodryiugis dune hero iu tho daylimo aud tbe fire put 
out at night ; any kind of fuel auswuts (or firing, from 
patent fuel to oocua wood obips. The fruit sliould be 
as large as possible aud quite ripo, the akin tu bo ra- 
moved aud the Irnit then lightly scraped. Whilst iu 
tho drier the fruit lo ho tniued twite oi thiee times 
earelully to eusuro an oven drying, Tbe fruit may be 
seen undergoing the process any day, and u visit will 
furnish all information desired. I ceitiinly am o) opin- 
ion that a dried fruit tra le would prove a profitable 
one, aud it should rccoivo tho atieutiou it deserves. No 
groat amount of capital is required ot even rkili, and 
somoof our auiarl young planters ought lo take it up. 
An artiolo in tho liecord for April, 1801, fully demou- 
fitrates the above, lied Baiianas.— A field of this va- 
riety, about 5 acres, has heuu planted with a view prin- 
cipally ot obtaining fibre from the stems. The tod 
banana yields tho finest fibre of our bananas, and 
jWould prove of value iu oonneoLiou with the mauu- 
•ctu(6 of other fibrpa. In 1386 a samplq of the fibre 
was submitted to Hii Excellency the Governor who 
obtained a repo: t from Messrs. Ido & Christie on its 
Value. The sample was coosidcrod to bo worth £25 per 
ton. From tbe many adviintag! s offered by this plant, 
donbtlesB, in tho event of a fibre industry arising, it 
will reoeivo Iho attention it deserves. A stem weigh- 
ing KXI lb, will yield between one aud two pounds of 
clean fibre. 70U plants to the aero would give an an- 
nual yield of more than half a ton of fibre = £12 10, 
less cost of production, freight, Arc., and this onght 
lo leave halt prefita t» the producer. The fruit of the 
red hauauas was used for cattle lood. Cocked with a 
litt'e salt they have [iroved to bo an excellent feed, and 
being rich in starch xnd albumen they improve the food 
value of milk. The stock aro .exceedingly fond of it, 
and a herd fed with it, mixed with) a proportion of 
oaVe, would affoid manure of great value. AVhilst on 
the subject of barana- 1 must montiou tbe “ Moko.” 
I,ast mail a sample of 7 lb. of meal prepared from the 
Mokopiautaiii was forwarded to Londou for which 
the oorrespoudeut offered sixpeuco per pound. Ko- 
ceipts were also supplied for preparation iu cooking. 
Great attention has been drawn to bauana meal by the 
observations made by Mr. H. JU. Stanley in bis book 
" Darkest Africa" aud which as an advertitemeut 
should not be lost sight of. No bausna gives such ex- 
cellent meal as tbe " Moko," or so agreeable in flavour 
sud tsate. Tbe preparntion of tbe meal is as follows; — 
Tbe green Hoko was skinnod, siloed thin and dried in 
tUn fruit drier; thru ground fine inordinary corn mill 
and afterwards silted through a muslin sieve; (bis 
letter removes any fibre aud leaves a delicate fine meal. 
The siloes dry in two huuia A IS lb. buooh will yield 
3 lb. of prepared meal which at sixpence per ponnd 
1/6 per bunch. Two women could prepare 66 Ib. of 
meal per day. The cost of production, packing, &c., 
has to be considered, but the price obtained must bo 
considered a satistactory oue ; at least it is butter 
than DOW obtained, which may be said to be nil. 
NOTES BY "WANDEKEE.” 
Ang, 24th, 
Colombo has seen more of the Gabden Planteb for 
the last fortnight than his fsetory has, which may in 
some measure account (or the better class teas tbs 
factories are now turning out ! However tbe true 
rimsou of tbe improvemoiit is that there is plenty of 
wuhering room, and no hurry iu the rolling and dry- 
ing. Is it tbe case that tbe fine distriots of Bogawau- 
tslawa, tho Agras and Kandspolla are beginning to 
lose the flavoury character of their teas. Some 
planters are of opinion that tbe teas first taken off 
a new estate say for six months are distinguished 
for flavour, but that when the flelds get older, the 
flavour goes off aud strength of liquor takes its 
place. This is exactly what has taken place with to- 
biicco wrapper leaf, Java at one time had a good 
time of it, Sumatra followed suit, aud now the cigar 
manufsetnrer is at his wits’ end for pastures new iu 
tho Straits and Borneo. 
Cacao, — A' ou don’t seem to belsuffioieutly alarmed at 
tbe important information you chronicle iu tbe 06- 
eerver und now in the Tropical Agriculturiet ot August, 
page 93. You say that in ten months the exports ot 
Java cacao have run to 10,000 cwts. Tbia an ‘u. 
rease of 8,600 cwts over the previous e n 
Are you sure you are right, and if ao what has b,u 
come of this extra cacao ? The cacao blossoms 
Ceylon have set most irregularly. Even on neighbour- 
ing estates you see one with a plentiful supply, and 
tbe other with a beggarly show. Why is tbia thug? 
On tho whole excessive moisture is blamed for Ihe 
probability ot a rather poor autumn crop. 
CoFrEK. — When yon ask a friend who has any of 
this commodity on his estate how it is getting on 
he generally asks you if you think tea is going down 
to 8iil. Why he does so, I eannot say, uuleis he 
wishes to insinuate that Tea at that limit is rbout 
ag good as the Best Qeyloa OoScq sMiiag at five 
guineas per ewt. 
