/uiy I, me.] THfi TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



'■'? 



18 uo doubt that one reason of the rapid increase 

 of production of India is the absolute freedom from 

 impost, and Hulland is wise in giving the nascent 

 industry in Java similar encouragement. China tea 

 is handicapped in two ways. Sir Robert Hakt has 

 lately pointed out that the imperfect preparation of 

 the leaf places it at a disadvantage with the produce 

 of its rivals, which it will feel more keenly as the 

 shipments from India and Ceylon augment still further 

 in quantity ; and— supplementing this argument — there 

 has lately appeared, in the columns of our Shanghai 

 contemporary, a series of letters insisting that heavy 

 taxation is a still more serious fastor in the case. 

 It is beyond question that China tea might be very 

 much improved if the same care were given to its 

 manufacture as is given in India, Oeylon, and Java ; 

 still, though the export figures have lately become 

 stationary; the taste for it is not dying out; England 

 and America will still buy it at the same relative 

 value as that from other countries ; " but buyers 

 "naturally look for the best value, and that can un- 

 " doubtetUy be better found in the duty-free produce 

 " of other countries." The import duly of sixpence a 

 pound which it encounters in England is no doubt in 

 itself a heavy burden, and we have more than oncp 

 suggested that there is room for grave remonstrance 

 against the incidence of a tax which amounts to 

 nearly a humlred per cent, on the cheaper teas, and 

 only five-and-twenty on the dearer. It might perhaps 

 be argued that, from this point of view — the China 

 teas being the cheapest in the market— it constitutes 

 an indirect handicap on the latter against their dearer 

 rivals. There is however, here, no direct disadvantage. 

 The sixpenny duty falls on all teas alike — whether 

 from India, Ceylon, Java, China, or Japan. "Where 

 the shoe really pinches is at home. In India and 

 Oeylon there is no tax at all ; in Japan the duties 

 amount only to about one dollar a picul ; while China 

 tea starts with a handicap of from 30 to 40 per cent. 

 in the race. In the Hunan and Hupeh provinces, it. 

 appears that local duties are exacted ranging from 

 Tls. 5.22 to Tls. 0.38 per picul— nearly, in fact, 

 doubling the export duty ; while the districts which 

 feed Kiukiang have to pay from Tls. 4.41 to Tls. 

 5.74, and Green Teas of Chekeang from Tls. 4.05 to 

 Tls. 5.17. The legitimate export duty of Haekwan 

 Tls. 2.50 per picul constitutes, of course, the larger 

 portion of these amounts, and that is probably the only 

 portion which subserves imperial purposes ; lekin — 

 ranging from about a tael and a half in the majority 

 of case.s, to 11. K. Tl.s. 2.50 on one district of Kiang.si 

 — comes next, and various petty local taxes go to 

 make up the total. 



It may well be asked, how can China tea be expected 

 to hold its owi, under such conditions, against abso- 

 lutely untaxed rivals? The policy of remitting direct 

 taxation, in faUh that compensation will be found in 

 a consequent increase of general prosperity is, as 

 we remai-ked on a former occasion, as opposite 

 as possible to the principles of Chinese Governraei\t; 

 and even if P^-king statesmen could be brought to 

 see that China tea, weighted by lekin and local 

 taxation and subject to a heavy export duty beside", 

 is unwisely handicapped, the bare idea of relieving 

 it of all thi various squeezes wliich go to fill the 

 pockets and coffers of the locul officials would be 

 sufficient to produce a^ rebellion in IMandarindom. 

 Either by din cfc remission, however, or by a more 

 gradual process of evaporation, it seems clear that a 

 great portion of these taxes are certain to pass from 

 them. If the trade is not relieved from their pressure, 

 it will be gradually killed by increasing competition. 

 "England," to quote the concluding words of the 

 writer whose statistics we have taken, "will be virtu- 

 ally " independant of China in a few years, owing 

 " to the rapidly increasing production of India and 

 " Ceylon. The United States, another large customer, 

 "promises to bo chiefly supplied from Japan. Can 

 " China afford to lose the two best customers she 

 " has ? She can only retain them by a great effort. 

 "First, by making tea duty-free; second, by improving 

 "the article itself." 



We remarked, io a receut article on the same sub ject, 



that the Chinese arc indebted to Sm HuBEEt Hart 

 for having impressed it upon their attention. Tney 

 will be still more indebted to him if Le will return 

 to the attack with improvsd statistics and with the 

 additional weapon which the above arguixients furnish. 

 We pointed out that the figures quoted by him for 

 India and Ceylon, produce were— unle.'^s' a clerical 

 error could be suspected— very far beljw the mark; 

 ind his representations could obviously not be expected 

 to have the weight they deserve, so long as they 

 fail to indicate the real extent of the competition. 

 A quarter of a c'^ntury ago, China had nearly a 

 monopoly of supply to the tea markets of the world. 

 The demand for tea has since then very greatly in- 

 creased [.ut, though the value of her tea has fallen 

 heavily, her export stands nearly where it did ; while 

 an additional supply of 115,000,000 lbs. has grown 

 up from India, Ceylon, Java, and Japan. The 

 200,000,000 lbs. sent forth by China still give her aa 

 immense preponderance ; but the fact has to be faced 

 that they constitute now only two-thirds instead of, 

 as they once did, nine-tenths of the world's supply, 

 Hitherto, as we have said, increasing demand has kept 

 pace with the incrf?a^ing s.ipply from other qnaters, 

 but that supply threatens 'o increase so rapidly within 

 a very easily measu. a Md period, that keen competition 

 must ensue in which the heavily taxed and less 

 carefully prepared China tea is sure to suffer. Al- 

 ready the increase of export which might have been 

 looked for uudi'r fair conditions has been stopped ; 

 in one case, even, the current would seem to have 

 turned — the export of green, which in 1874-5 rr-ached 

 31,000,000 lbs., against 19,500,000 lbs. from Japan- 

 having fallen this season to about 28,000,000 lbs., 

 against 38,000,000 lbs. from Japan ! Let the Insp'^ctor- 

 Ceneral of Customs, we repeat, return to the attack 

 with greater vigour, improved statistics and greater 

 breadth of argument than before. There is here, as 

 his commentator points out, no question of conceding 

 anything for the benefit of foreigners. It is one of 

 importance to the Chinese th^'mst'lves. If the du+ies 

 are not reduced, they must be prepared to stand by 

 and see the tea trade go to othe:' countries which 

 have a mure intelligent fiscal policy. "C'lina will then 

 grow nier»-ly for it.s Ovvn wants, and the districts 

 " which have profited by supplying foreign markets 

 "will become imppverished ; while a speedy reduction 

 would again give life and importance to the trade." 

 The prospect may seem remote ; 260,000.000 lbs. is 

 a great figure to overtake ; but the tendency is dis- 

 tinctly in that direction, unless Chinese statesman 

 and Chinese growers agree to mend their wnys 

 —L. i)'- C. Ea-piest>. 



THE VALUE OF THE EUCALITTS AS 

 TIMBER TREES. 

 By D. Honitz, Forest Conservatoi', 



The EucaUpts, or Gum-trees as they have been called, 

 have of lat-j years attracted a great deal of attention 

 on account of their healthy properties, but their value 

 as timber trees has hitherto not penetrated to the 

 great markets. There have been several reasons for 

 this, the distance from far-off' Australia, their native 

 place, the difficulty of transport to the shipping 

 place, the peculiarities of the wood, which as a rule 

 is very heavy and hard, and last, but not least, that 

 people have not known the quality of these timber 

 trees, nor quite understood how to treat them. There 

 is as yet a large ft -Id open for experience with these 

 trees, but as it is likely that they will play a promi- 

 nent part in the near future, it may not be without 

 interest to know a little of their general character 

 and utili/.ition. 



The first objection. I'i:. . the distance to the great 

 markets, will in a few years be somewhat modified 

 by the introduction of the more valnrible Eueal.\pt.s 

 on a lai-ge scale into the countries around the 

 Mediterrane^m, and partit^ularly in the colony of .\l- 

 giers, where the cultivation of theRo valuable trees is 

 being executed at a great rate. As thi; Bucalypt timber 

 gets more known, the demand for the more valuablo 



