HS TRADE WITH THE UNITED STATES.

plumbago as an article of commerce. In 1899 the demand
for plumbago exceeded the supply, with the result that a local
boom took place and prices rose toa high point. Since then
more normal conditions have obtained, but there is mo
indication that prices will ever return to the level of ten
yearsago. Atthe beginning of 1903 two American plumbago
mine companies invited the New York investing public to
purchase their bonds. One company said that whereas the
Ceylon supply was diminishing, its own mines could supply
the world’s demands for a century. It declared that it would
pay 25 per cent., and could demonstrate by correspondence
on file that it could not only undersell Ceylon in the United
States, but in all the markets of the world. The prospectus
of the other, which had a Broadway address and truly
remarkable deposits in Canada, reached its highest geographical
 flight in speaking of “the famous graphite deposit
at Travancore in the Island of Ceylon.” This display of
ignorance could not reduce the value of any unwon plumbago
in North America; but justifies scepticism regarding the
expert knowledge upon which all the other assertions were
alleged to be based. Both companies should have plenty of
scrip going cheap ; and Ceylon continues to hope that in these
practical days those who want the very best plumbago will
continue to purchase it instead of bonds, which would make
a poor substitute, There is an abundance of amorphous or
granulated plumbago even in the United States, but it has
practically no commercial value. The foliated or flaked
graphite is what is called for; and Ceylon continues to
supply the world’s demands, as confident as ever thatits stock
is exhaustless. So widely distributed are the plumbago
deposits in Ceylon that the idea of including this article in
the map in this Handbook representing locality and area of
ur principal products was abandoned.
Of the products of the Cocoanut palm, desiccated cocoanut
—a young but flourishing development, the market grades of
which are chips, strips, fine, medium, and coarse—has been
taken by America in recent years in large quantities, chiefly
for confectionery ; cocoanut oil, used among other things by
soap makers, continues a most important item ; but in copra,
coir fibre, and coir yarn Ceylon has hitherto failed to
successfully compete with the Malabar Coast. There may
be possibilities of expansion, however, in these and in other
articles. The samples of coir ropes from £ inch in circumference
 to 12 inches—the first quality coir is used in the
sizes up to 7 inches—should serve to establish that for use
where the strain is not abnormal no other cheap rope so well
resists rotting from wet; mattress and bristle fibres, for