iz^ 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[Oc-i. 1, i8h6. 



year auil 1S82, by the gratuitous distribution and, when 

 a Inrgo demand occurred, the sale of tubers, to en- 

 courage the cultivation of this drug by private indivi- 

 duals, in the hope that the result woidd be that tiu; 

 6up,.lies re<|uired by the MciIIimI Department would 

 be procurable iu this country in suflicient quantity and 

 at a reasonable price. Iu the current year, an indent 

 for l,r,fl(» lb. of jalap for the Medical Department was 

 forwarded to the Government Botanist, with the re- 

 quest that information m; Jil be afforded as to whether 

 he could meet it. I.^poa this, Mr. Lavvson made in- 

 quiries from the different individuals who, from time 

 to time, had procured tubers from the Government 

 Gardens, and the outcome of these has been his 

 learning that only 400 H). of the drug can be supplied 

 from this source, and that only by one grower. This 

 being the case, and it being clear that private enter- 

 prise, to which every opportunity and ample time 

 have been afl'orded,. is unable to meet the calls of 

 the Medical Department, His Excellency the Governor 

 in Council considers it necessary, in the interests of 

 "economy, to re.sume the cultivation by Government 

 of the jalap plant, v/hich was discontinued some years 

 back in order that there might not be interference 

 with private growers. The (xovernment Botanist will, 

 accordingly, at an early date, arrange to begin plant- 

 ing operations calculated to meet an average demand 

 of not less than 1,300 lb. per annum. Government, 

 in issuing these instructions, desire it to be distinctly 

 understood that they do so merely because private 

 enterprise has been shown to be unable to meet the 

 « requirements of the Medical Department, and that, 

 when private growers are iu a position to supply 

 Government with jalap of approved quality at a satis- 

 factory price, the cultiva'^iou of it by the State will be 

 discontinued. A notification will, early in every year 

 be pubhshed, for the information of growers, stating 

 the quantity of jalap which will be required by the 

 Medical Department for the coming year and the 

 niaximum price per lb. which Government will pay for 

 it. His Excellency the Governor in Council considers 

 it desirable, as the growing of a large (juautity of 

 jalap would render the cost of the drug per lb. very 

 small and much below the price in Englaml, that the 

 < government Botanist should address the medical auth- 

 orities of other Governments in India in view to as- 

 certaining wliothcr they would be willing to draw their 

 supplies of jalap from this presidency. If the total 

 ([uantity annually required is appro.ximatelv known, it 

 will be easy for Mr. Lawson to state very closely the 

 price at which he can supply the drug at .Madras. It 

 may at present be fairly estimated that this will not 

 exceed 4 annas per lb. The Government Botanist 

 should, when making the inquiries indicated above, 

 forward to the officers addressed a copy of the Govern- 

 ment Order embodying the opinion of Surgeon-General 

 Cornish on the <iuality of the jalap grown on the Nilgiris. 

 (Government are of opinion that it would be advant- 

 ageous if the Medical Department could be supplied 

 from India with other drugs and with preparations 

 which could be msinufactured with the help of the 

 (Tovernment Quinologist. They therefore resolve to 

 direct IMr. Lawson to place him.self in communication 

 with the medical authorities in order to determine 

 whiit can be done in this direction." — Madras 3faiJ. 



TEA BLENDING. 



A correspondent, who signs himself, " IMincing Lane,'' 

 writing to the Grocer, gives the following hints as 

 to tea blending : — 



First main point : Never use a coar.se earthy tea. 



SuGfiESTED Blends. 



For 2.S. retail, to cost Is. Gd., say : 

 ]0 1h. fine Ningchow mouing (not too large s. d. 



a leaf ; pure I'ekoe flavour), about ... 1 

 10 „ strong plain Ivaisow, " Saryune " or 



''Soomoo" lOi 



14 „ puiigent As.sam souchong, not coarse 



(if large leaf, should be milled to 



^i'/.«-) 1 1 



C lb. rich, thick broken Assam or Ceylon 

 fannings 



40 lb. (If scent required, ;'ilb. fine Uuchuin 



or Foochow. 



For 2s. 6d. retail, to cost Is. lid.: 

 1 1 lb. choice small leaf Keenmn or Ning- 

 chow... 

 10 ., choice first-crop Paklin 



suckle 

 10 ,, finest As.sam ])ekoe must be 



— best if with a touch of 



flavour) ... 



6 ,, very strong, heavy liquoring 



pekoe, either Assam or 



with deep colour) 



10 lb. (For scent use finest quality only, if 



any. 

 I'or os. retail, to cost 2s. 2d. to 



11 



or lioney 



jjungent 

 autumn 



broken 

 r'eylon 



I 2^ 



M. 



10 lb. choicest Ningchow or Kintuck 



10 ,, choicest first-crop 

 congou 



Paklin or Pecco 



1 



8 .. 

 401b. 



1 



fi 



finest Darjeeliug or Ceylon peko'e 



autumn-flavoured Assam pekoe 



the finest broken Pekoe obtainable, 

 - Assam or Ceylon (even small leaf). 

 (If any addition, o or 41b. of the best 

 Formosa Oolong, or .3 lb. finest 

 Foochow pekoe.) 

 All large teas should be milled being used, so that 

 the general result is a uniform small leaf. — Home 

 (ini Coloniai Mail. 



THE INDIAN TEA INDUSTBY. 



A well attended meeting of ladies and gentlemen 

 interested in the subject of Indian tea took place on 

 Wednesday evening in the Conference Room at the 

 Colonial and Indian Exhibition, when IMr. James 

 Peter, of the Mertinga Gardens, Sylhet, read a paper. 

 Sir T. Douglas Forsyth, C.B., occupied the chair. 

 Mr. Peter began by stating that his object in coming 

 there was to enlighten the British public as to the 

 excellent qualities of Indian tea. He then gave the 

 history of tea-growing iu India, with which our 

 readers are already familiar. It had been found that 

 tea would " grow " — he said '■ grow " with emphasis 

 — from 40 feet to 5,000 feet above sea level iu al- 

 most any soil. Having given a description of the 

 young plant, how it was first placed in the ground, 

 IMr. Peter said attention was then turned to keeping 

 down the jungle, and as soon as the plant was 

 fairly established cultivation began, when all there- 

 after depended upon the nature of the soil. In 

 regard to manufacture, he remarked that to this 

 day the difficulty remained — indeed, it was the planters' 

 greatest difticult3' — of withering the leaf. It was, of 

 course, iu wet weather, when for weeks at a stretch 

 the atmosphere was damp and muggy, that the worst 

 difficulty was experienced. The tea had to be taken 

 off, and the question that cropped up was " what 

 could we do with it? This made the planter sad, 

 and he could assure those present that jilanters 

 would hail with delight the success of anj' inventor 

 who would enable them to defy the elements. 

 (Hear, hear.) Here was scope for the inventor. The 

 man who was able to turn out withering machinery 

 capable of withering in the worst of moist wether, 

 would be sure of a fortune. Some sjjeculation existed 

 as to the j'ield per acre of tea in India. He found 

 that the average yield was 360 lb. per acre. The 

 present season's total crop was estimated at the large 

 quantity of seventy millions pound.-;. The average 

 price of teas now was Is. 2d. and at this figure 

 almost all the Tea Companies were able to pay good 

 dividends. Now, he was anxious to put before the 

 liritish public the advantages of tea as an invest- 

 ment. Would it pay, what were the best means to 

 make it known, and, liow were they best to en- 

 list the sympathy of the ])eople at home, with the 

 view of increasing its consumption ? To the first 

 l^nc|lnry hi- n-plied, that tea as an investment would 



