16 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[Aug, 2, 1886. 



reading immensely ; knowing as I did nearly all 

 the movers in it — I often think of poor Mr. 

 Wood and try to find out what estates he was 

 in cliarge of. But even the oldest residents cannot 



remember. Our cinchona on is doing well. 



It is now two years and four months old. I 

 barked one of the hybrids the other day and got 

 10 ounces of wet "stem" alone. But the soil 

 in most places is very porous and soft. We had 

 some 'AO inches of rain in less tlian a month, 

 20 of it in two days and this caused slips of 

 gigantic proportions. I measured over 50 inches 

 of rain for the last three weeks in December 1885 

 at the station on the summit of the Blue Mountain 

 I'eak ! Jamaica has sufi'ercd from a dry cycle for 

 the past six j'ears and we are now supijosed to 

 be entering the wet one. I wish the prophets 

 may be correct, for flien we shall do well with 

 our coffee here. I have just had the pleasure 

 of entertaining the manager of the Jamaica Rail- 

 way for three days. He was very, much struck 

 with this place — think we have got it for little 

 or nothing, and says we ought to stock it with 

 cattle and sheep for breeding. He seems to think 

 it would make a tine hotel for the Americans in 

 the summer. 



THE COMING PRODUCT. 



King Coffee 's dead ! We grieve for him 

 And mourn his short-lived reign, 



For never shall we hope on earth 

 To see liis like again. 



C'l.nclmriu too once raised our hopes ; 



We thought we really had 

 A fortune, but to tell the tale 



Is very, very sad, 



Of how our hopes were daslied to earth. 



Vox people will not drink 

 Quinine all day to make us rich, 



Unreasonably we think. 



And Cardamoms 'neath friendly shade 



We tried, but oh I the price 

 lias fallen sadly, and we wish 



Wo 'd never grown that spice. 



And now, Queen Tra, our eyes are turned 



With hopeful gaze to thee : 

 We look to thee to bring once more 



Our lost prosperity. 



Grow, sturdy plant I Thou rarest not 



For cold or cruel heat ; 

 Soon Kaltura and Pedro's height 



Will how beneath thy feet. 



(trow, sturdy plant ! Our coffers fill, 



Which long have empty been ; 

 Grow on, and we will gladly own 



Tbee, gentle, Gracious (.^ueen. 



Grow, sturdy plant I If thou shouldst fail 



To bring us timely aid, 

 Tlien must we leave fair Lanka's isle 



Or droop and pine and fade. 



Zulu. 



" BETELNT'T AS AN OBJECT OF TAXATION," 



Has been the subject of a discussion in the 

 Bombay Gazette as the following letter will show : — 



TO THE KDITOR OF THE " BOMBAY GAZETTE." 



Sir, — It has for several years appeared to me to 

 be extraordinary that during times when the finan- 

 cial prospects of the Empire are constantly iu a 

 state of crisis, it has not occurred to any of our 

 budget-makers, financial advisers or others, to till 

 depleted treasuries with the produce of a just and 

 legitimate tax on betel-nut. 



_ It is possible that there are insuperable objec- 

 tions in the way of tin effective working of such 



a tax ; but I believe that these objections, if tliey 

 exist, do not lie upon the surface ; and I should be 

 glad to hear them pategorically stated with a view 

 to examining iheir validity. 



Snpcrlicially betel-nut is a legitimate object of tax- 

 ation. It is a pure luxury, much more so at any 

 rate than salt, and I consider more so than opium. 



The income to be derived from a judiciously im- 

 posed tax on this article would certainly be large ; 

 and any diiiicultics that may be in the way of col- 

 lection cannot properly be appreciated till we have 

 heard what they are. Prima facie it is not easy 

 to understand why collection should be proportion- 

 ately more difficult in respect to this tax than it 

 is found to be in other and far less remunerative 

 departments of our scheme of Indian revenue. 



As to the sentimental side of the question, the 

 interested outcry of our native fellow-subjects 

 would probably be as loud as it certainly would 

 be unjust. The European official is already taxed 

 precisely, or very nearly to the extent of the de- 

 preciation in the rupee. Since we are compelled 

 to purchase four-hfths of the commodities and 

 all the luxuries of our life from the English 

 market out of a salary which bears no proportion 

 in reality to its nominal value, nor to the value it 

 was intended to have when salaries were fixed and 

 covenants formed on the basis of promises having 

 these salaries for their consideration. In addition 

 to this we pay an income-tax which, while it pro- 

 duces, as far as Government servants are concerned 

 an infinitesimal revenue, excites a wholly dispro- 

 portionate feeling of hardship and discontent. As 

 a matter of fact, I apprehend there can be no 

 argument against the assertion that a rich native 

 does not contribute any thing like a proportionate 

 amount of his means in taxation to that contri- 

 buted by his British fellow subject. 



Touching objections theoretical or practical that 

 may arise from the financial j)oint of view, 

 nothing can be said until we are in possession of 

 more definite information. It may be that the 

 scheme can be demonstrated on closer examination 

 to be altogether chimerical ; but it is one of such 

 fair promise that I should at any rate be glad to 

 see it fairly discussed. — Yours Ac, C. S. 



The tax would be difficult and costly to collect 

 and would excite discontent and evasion. Betel ia 

 used by the poor to allay the cravings of appetite, 

 and to say that it is more of a luxury than opium 

 is sheer nonsense. 



CHINA TEA AND THE CHINESE DUTIES 

 THEREON— PRO ET CON. 



It is of interest to watch the controversy in the 

 Nortli Ciiiiia D'uli/ Neim, on this subject " K. C. Y. " 

 writes : — 



It IB not only the taxes levied by the Chinese in 

 the interior, but the whole of the, taxes (export duty, 

 lekin, barrier sijueezes, etc., etc) which I maintain 

 will eventually cause the ruin of the China tea trade. 

 The tirst principle in any trade before it can be said 

 to be in a healthy condition is that the grower of 

 the raw material shall get a fair remuneration for 

 his labour. This was the motive power that caused 

 the tea trade to assume the proportions it has already 

 attained, and that has brought competitors into the 

 field to share in the benefits which a generation ago 

 were the monopoly of the Chinese. Through the short- 

 sighted policy of China iu maintainmg a very high 

 tariff, these oompetitors have now gained such a 

 stronghold on many of the consuming markets that 

 the question is at last forcing itself on the unwill- 

 ing notice of the rulers of this Empire. The deterior- 

 ation iu avorago (quality has not been nearly so 

 great as the reduction in average price. The reduc- 

 tion iu price comes out of the growers' pockets alone. 



