596 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[February i, 1884. 



this position. But I have not yet quite done with the 

 iniquitous conduct of tlie warehouse-keepers ; they absol- 

 utely refuse to give proof that they deliver ttie same 

 quantity of tea as is entrusted to them, and have the 

 assurance to insist that if you require such proof you 

 must pay at the rate of 2d per package for it. Once 

 more, and I have done, so far as this part of the sub- 

 ject is concerned ; they charge different rates to different 

 rates to prople. For instance, as an importer, I hold a 

 parcel of tea on which I am paying a farthing per week 

 per half-chest for rent ; as a dealer. I liold another 

 parcel upon which the same warehouse-keeper is charg- 

 ing, in rfspect of the same sized packages, a half-penny 

 per week. Now, gentlemen, for the remedy. The were- 

 house-keepers complain tiiat they are making no money. 

 This is not astonishing, for there is an old adage that 

 unfair dealing never yet did prosper. But one thing is 

 certain : they will make no change unless we compel 

 them. I believe we can do so, and what I ask you is in 

 passing this resolution unanimously, to give your repre- 

 sentatives, the Committee power to act in your behalf, 

 and as they will be acting not only in the behalf of 

 the wholesale trade, but also in that of all your cus- 

 tomers I would deprecate any selfish isolation on the 

 part Of any house of respectability. At a meeting which 

 took place between the representatives of the new ware- 

 hou.se and a portion of your Committee, some words 

 were spoken by one of the leading brokers of the trade, 

 who represented the warehouse, which seemed to me 

 most unjust. Keferring to some statement that had been 

 made to the effect that the wholesale tea dealers were 

 but loosely held together, he turned round upon us of 

 the Committee, and said : " Oh, you cannot hold to- 

 gether. Just let a tea be offered at |d under its value, 

 and you will all fall to pieces." Now, gentlemen, I call 

 that a gross libel. In plain English, it means that though 

 there may be honour among thieves, there is none among 

 the wholesale tea dealers, and that for a paltry advant- 

 age they would go back from their word. My experience 

 at any rate, has been to the contrary. It has been my 

 lot to be engaged in two struggles for the interests of 

 the trade, the first when the double brokerage was abo- 

 lished, the second when importers were compelled by 

 the revised conditions of sale to deliver tea sold ^^^thin 

 a reasonable time. The same statement was then made 

 and it was falsified by the result. The trade held honor- 

 ably together, and the battle was gained. And it will 

 be so in this case. AH that is required is that we 

 shall know our own minds, that we shall be careful to 

 demand only what is just and fair to all parties, and 

 then that we shall be determined to obtain it. The 

 system under .vhich tea is dealt with by the bonded ware- 

 houses is clumsy, injurious to the trade, dishonest to the 

 buyer, and exortionate to dealers both in London and 

 throughout the country. Let all who feel disposed to fight 

 the battle signify their determination by signing the re- 

 solution, and I do not believe that anyone will then be 

 dishonourable enough to go back from it. If any such 

 firm .should exist, .at any rate it will be known as one 

 which justifies the contemptuous epithet which, as I have 

 said, was employed by one of the leading brokers. 



Mr. Francis Peek then moved the following resolution : — 



"That this meeting confirms the following resolution 

 of the 23ri:l February, 1876 : — ' That no addition be made 

 to the present list of bonded warehouses without the ap- 

 proval of the Committee of the London Wholesale Tea 

 Trade Association.' And also requests the Committee to 

 take steps to relieve the trade from the present unfair 

 charges and unsatisfactory regulations as to carding, sampl- 

 ing, and delivery of goods, at present enforced by the 

 boiuied warehouse-keepers.'* 



The resolution was seconded by Mr. Burbidge, (of the 

 firm of Burbidge, Pritchard and Bartleet), who fully 

 confirmed the views of the previous speaker. 



Mr. Oglesby (of the firm of J. & J. Batten & Co,), 

 raised the point, whether the limitation of the number of 

 bonded warehouses would not tend to create a monopoly. 



Mr. Leckie (of the firm of .Joseph Tetley & .Sons) pre- 

 ferred not to be bound by the action of the Committee. 



The resolution was Iheji put to the meeting .and un- 

 animonsly carried ; and the jaibUc proceedmgs terminated. 

 — Produce Markets' lieview. 



MrNEHAL.s IN Burma. — From the last Adminis- 

 tration Report we learn that 115 tons of coal were 

 extracted during the past otEcial year from the mine 

 in the Okpho township of the Henzada district. 

 'There are 2S tin mines and 1 lead mine^in the Mergui 

 district, but no information is given of their annual 

 produce. In (the Karen hills sub-division of the 

 Touugoo district two mines, producing lead, silver 

 and plumbago, are worked by Messrs. Darwond and 

 Walker. These have only been lately opened, and 

 the outturn, so far, is said to be about fifty 

 tons. No informaHou regarding the galena extracted 

 from Mr. Law's mine at Teetawlay m the Salween 

 district is given in the fteport. The stream near 

 Shoaygyeen, where the sand used to be occasionally 

 washed for gold, is said not to be worked now. — 

 Bangoon Gazette. 



Oil and oil cake from tea seed are thus noticed 

 in the Indian Agriculturist : — Some ten or or twelve 

 years back, experiments were made in expressing oil 

 from surplus tea-seed, but beyond arriving at the fact 

 that a certain quantity could be extracted, and that it 

 possessed considerable lubricating qualities, the matter 

 was allowed to drop, chieHy we imagine, because the 

 demand for seed, for its more direct purpose, of pro- 

 pagating the plant, rendered its cost, for experimental 

 purposes, piohibitive. Now, however, that China seed 

 is a drug in the market, and there are numerous gard- 

 ens planted with that variety temporarily or finally 

 abandoned, the subject might with advantage be 

 revived, and, perhaps, ihese tracts, in which large sums 

 of money have been sunk, may yet be made to yield 

 some revenue, however small. The cake might also 

 prove of value. No harm could De done, and but 

 slight expense would be incurred, if a sample of both 

 cake and oil were sent to London, where their com- 

 mercial v^ilue could be ascertained. 



Indina AfiKicuLTURE.— The Indian Aij7-icv!lurist 

 writes : — The report of the Saidapet Farm for the 

 last year, will be found elsewhere in our columns, 

 and possesses very great interest. Mr. Robertson tells 

 us that the interest now taken in agricultural educ- 

 ation is widely extending. In Ceylon they are form- 

 ing a School of Agriculture. In Bombay, they are 

 developing the Agricultural branch of the College of 

 .Science ; and he tells us that other provinces will 

 shortly follow the lead given in Madras. Its University 

 proposes to encourage the study of agriculture by 

 making the subject one of those selected for the ex- 

 amination for the iScieuce degree, and it is hoped that 

 ere long agriculture will be placed on the same foot- 

 ing as medicine and engineering, anil that a special 

 Agricultural degree will he established. If there was 

 one thing more than another that alarmed Sir J. 

 Caird, during bis investigations into the a";riculture of 

 this country, it was the great disproportion between 

 the producing poweis of the soil and the increase of 

 the people. His suggested remedy was that every 

 acre of land under cultivation, ehouhl be made to 

 yield more, rather than to trust to an incnaaed area 

 of producing land. Even were this available, we must 

 look for iuteusive, rather than extensive, farming. 

 It is therefore to be hoped that by placing at the 

 service of the students, all the aids that science can 

 afford, and by bringing to their knowleilge the results 

 of practicil experience in this and ol her countries, 

 something may he done towards bringing about this 

 result, "S it will be through the .agency of the students 

 of our colleges that any widely-extended improvement 

 in native husbandry will be effected. 



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 Ask for Wells' "Rough on Corns." Qucik relief, com 

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