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fUU TUOPtCAL AGRICULTURIST, [Nov. i, 1886' 



BIBII^Briaaaiilttc 



more to their taste than the China green teas. It is an 

 old cry row how the competition of India with China 

 grows ^tronger every year ; the Chinaman, with the 

 prestige of centuries of experience- in the production 

 and preparation of the tea leaf, cannot hold his own 

 with any success against English euergy and intellig- 

 ence. Followiug in the steps of India come Ceylon 

 and Java as competitors with China ; and the first 

 mutteriugs of ihe storm are beginuiug to be heard even 

 in the Straits beitJements, and South Africa. The fact 

 is that the tea-shrub is so hardy, and requires so little 

 attention when it once takes kiudly to the soil, that 

 every continent must have districts suitable to its 

 growth, and we shall by and by wonder not that suc- 

 cessful competitors wiili China have arisen, but that 

 China maintained the first place 6o long. There is 

 evidently little hope, without vast reforms which we 

 cannot expect to see realized, that she will keep it 

 much longer. — It is not to be supposed however that tea 

 will cease to be e.iported from China ; a commodity of 

 which the production is practically unlimited, and the 

 first cost no more than the rent of the ground which 

 the plants occupy, is not likely to be snutfed out alto- 

 gethei. It is the fine distinctions, the discovery and 

 maintenance of which have been the occupation of 

 chasees for decades, that will be swept away. Here 

 and there no doubt a special market will still call for a 

 special kind, and it is apparent that Ihe Kussians will 

 still for some years prefer the tine teas of China ; but 

 Ihe bulk of the China product will be lumped together, 

 or divided into two or three broad classes, and used at 

 home as the foundation of the grocer's shilling, or 

 eighteen-penny or two-shilling canister, as they are 

 called, the required fiavour being given by the mo 3 

 carefully prepared growths of India and Ceylon. For- 

 eigners in Chiuahave not to blame themselves for th'? 

 degeneration in the Chinese leaf ; they have preached 

 to the Chinese year after year, that the trade ma^c 

 suffer unless more care were taken to make good tea, 

 and not to hurry it to market before it was properly 

 cured. Individual foreigners have tried in vain to get 

 the midlemen — unfortunately they do not come in con- 

 tact w th the growers— to see the desirability of having 

 foreign supervision over the manipulation and prei > 

 ation of the tea. The Chinese have preferred to stajd 

 on their ancient ways, and the result will be the f ly 

 extinction of the lea-trade in China in its present forai 

 and the relegati >n of China tea, as an article of com- 

 merce, to a 1 vel with what has hitherto been contempt- 

 uously designated as "truck." 



INDUSTRIAL ENTEEPEISE IN SIAK. 

 The Native ^tate of Siak on the east coast of 

 Sumatra made over to the Netherlands along with 

 Acueen by Mr. Gladstone's Sumatra treaty of 1871, 

 is now attracting some attention iu Java and Holland 

 as a promising field tor enterprise in the cultiva 'on 

 line. Several capitalists at Amsterdam have secured 

 land there for opening out a tobacco plantation, 

 and have actually set about operations by last advices. 

 As will have been seen in our recent article on the 

 productive resources of Siak, the waste land avail- 

 able is admiralbiy adopted for tillage so that with 

 conimou prudence, there is every prospect of success of 

 rewarding the exertions of both plant-rs and financiers, 

 Among the productions which abound in the forests 

 of Siak and have proved a spur to commercial enter- 

 prise are the trees yielding the prime trade 

 Articles styled Balan and Suutei, Under the name 

 of Siak vegetable tallow, they arc exported from 

 Singapore, and jiave gained a high repute in the 

 jBuropean market. Balam and Suntei trees are said 

 to be found in any quantity in forest tracts, not 

 only on the main land but also on the inlands off 

 the cost. The information available points to the 

 likelihood of their being mostly met with in primary 

 jungle on moist land near the coast The Balam tree 

 is from 60 to 80 feet high. It a'so yields gutta of 

 iinferior quality used for adulteraling superior kinds. 

 The timber turnedout therefrom is white and not 

 of a lasting nature. The Suntei tree is less hig 

 its measnremcnt being 50 to 60 feet. The timber is 



reddish brown and in great demand. Seeds of both 

 these kinds of trees have of late years been regu- 

 larly collected and forwarded for the most part to 

 Singapore, where, from their lobes, tallow is manu- 

 factured which is used for sundry purposes, and is 

 in great demand throughout Europe. The collection 

 of the fruit is an important item in the domestic 

 finances of the people. From November 1884 to 

 March 1885, no less tiiau 200 coyans of tallow-yielding 

 material were collected and disposed of at high but 

 fluctuating prices. The usual price per coyans 

 is from 60 to 100 dollars, rising sometimes to |I20. 

 The pulp is taken ofT by hand very easily. The seeds 

 after being dried in the sun are then shipped off to 

 Singapore. A few Chinese at Bengkalis have taken 

 to the preparation of the tallow but in a very rough 

 style indeed. The Balam tallow is yellowish in colour, 

 rather bitter in taste, and as plastic as wax. It is 

 used in sugar refining, in making artificial flowers, 

 in preparing tapioca, and for other purposes. It is 

 smeared on the pans heated to a high temperature 

 upon which tapioca is dried. The larger portion of 

 this kind of tallow prepared at Singapore is forwarded 

 to Europe. The Suntei tallow is pure white in 

 colour, has a sweetish taste, and is used by the 

 natives for cooking purposes. In its extraction 

 by the native method there is a good deal of waste. 

 Prepared at Singapore the percentage o" tallow is 

 higher. The market price of both sorts varies from 

 7 to 15 dollars per picul. These rates are readily 

 j)aid on shipments for Europe. It is evident that, 

 gradually, this branch of industry will so increase in 

 importance and extent, that research will lead to 

 trees of the coveted kind being found in other local- 

 ities throughout Siak. The trees do not need to be 

 destroyed to ."^ecure the product so that they do not 

 run the risk of dying out. Considering the important 

 place taken by Siak vegetable tallow in the list of 

 articles making up Straits Produce, the advaatages 

 attending the experimental cultivation of the trees 

 yielding the article by our garden authorities ara 

 too obvious to need more than drawing attention to 

 the subject. At present it is hard to tell whether 

 growing them will prove profitable if taken in hand 

 by private enterprise. The average yearly yield of 

 dried seeds from a full grown tree is as yet an un- 

 ascertained point. Any estimate so far of the 

 pecuniary value of each tree iu bearing is hence 

 impracticable. Other trees of the same species take 

 20 to 25 years to attain full growth. Few private 

 individuals would be at all inclined to take this 

 branch of cultivation in hand at the risk of the 

 capital sunk in the enterprise remaining unproductive 

 for so many years. Planting it may however prove 

 advisable for afforestation purposes. The importance 

 of these trees to the people of Siak may be judged 

 of from the fact that, though this branch of industry 

 is still in its infancy, 600 coyans of seeds are, on 

 an average, exported yearlj', valued at 100,000 guil- 

 ders. Several specimens of both these tallow yielding 

 trees have reached the G.iverument Botanical Gardens 

 at Buitenzorg and more are expected shortly, besides 

 consignments of seeds. "We trust that the economic 

 section of the Gardens here will soon be the richer 

 by including samples of these valuable trees among 

 its treasures. — Straits Times, Sepicmber ,15. 



SPECULATIONS ON THE PHVSIOLOGY OP TEA 



are indulged in by the J.ondon correspondent of the 

 Jndiiin Te". Gc:.citc thus: — 



TeainJohore is still confined to two or three small 

 experimental gardens^ the largest not much exceeding, 

 I believe. 35 acres of tea iu full bearing. This Garden 

 was started by the Maharajah (now sultan) of Johore 

 as an experiment, and has since become private pro- 

 perty. It is rumoured that a gentleman interested 

 in (he tea-trade of Formosa, is negotiating for a .share 

 in this property with a view to extending on a fairly 

 large scales. The climate is a forcing one, rain falling 

 regularly every afternoon, expections to this rule 

 being considered quite of the nature of events, Tbiij 



