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English Tobacco. — The following is a letter which 

 appeared la the Times, and which we reproduce as being 

 of interest to our readers: — "It may be of benefit to 

 intending planters of British Tobacco this year to 

 learn that a parcel was exposed for sale by public 

 auction in the City yesterday. It is described in the 

 catalogue of the selling brokers, Messrs. Grant, 

 Chambers & Co., as seven drums of English leaf 

 Tobacco, per railway from AVittersham, warehoused 

 at Haydon Square December 2, 1886. The first four 

 lots sold at one half-penny per pound, and there were 

 no bids for the other three. The attendance of the 

 trade was a little below the average, and as to the 

 Tobacco, I think if it had come from anj' foreign 

 country it would not have fatched the price it did 

 as it was unfit for trade purposes. — J. J. Jonas, 51 

 and 52, Fenchurch Street, E. C, April 7." — Gardeners^ 

 Chronicle. 



The Kew " Bulletin ". — The April number contains 

 articles on Manilla Hemp ( Musa textilis ), which yields 

 an excellent fibre, the supply being derived from the 

 Philippine Islands. It may be grown where and in 

 the same way as the common Banana, and its culti- 

 vation should therefore be taken into consideration 

 in our tropical colonies, but only where labour is 

 cheap and abundant, and where the best methods of 

 preparation can be carried out. Mr. Morris gives 

 details as to the best method of culture and prepar- 

 ation, but, on the whole, the culture does not seem to 

 be very promising, although the price per ton of fibre is 

 as high as £36, or even £45 - two-thirds more than 

 the price of ordinary Plantain fibre, which also receives 

 attention in this Bulletin. Plantain-fibre might be uti- 

 lised for paper-making. The fibre of the Pine-apple 

 plant is stated to have a future of considerable import- 

 ance before it. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 



"A Sign of the Times" may be found in a 

 letter from a China tea merchant received by us by 

 a recent mail, from which we quote as follows : — 

 "As regards trade, India and your rapidly develop- 

 ing tea trade has knocked poor old China about 

 Badly and it seems to me nowadays that a China 

 Chaasze's (or tea taster) life somewhat re- 

 sembles that of a ' frozen-out gardener 1' and 

 scented Canton teas especially are bound to 

 give way (as gracefully as they can) year by year 

 to your deliciously flavoury and pungent pekoe and 

 pekoe souchongs. As I could not help seeing this 

 about June 1885 after I had been at home 6 months, 

 I resolved to give up Canton, and to ally myself 

 with some friends — tea brokers — here, who besides 

 the waning China trade are cultivating the Ceylon tea 

 trade." Any Ceylon tea planters in want of good 

 London Brokers can have the name of our China 

 friend's firm on application. 



Indian and Oetlon Tea.— The Indian Tea market re 

 mains generally firm, and the smaller supplies offered 

 haTe met with a fairly active demand. The finest 

 Teas, owing to the small quantities offered, have 

 sold more readily than other grades, and at rather 

 higher prices. There appears every prospect of the 

 comparative scarcity of these sorts increasing until 

 the new Teas come to band, as from the last Calcutta 

 advices very few lots of fine Tea appear to have 

 been cleared from thence of late, and the range of 

 prices paid at the Calcutta salee was eiceedingly low. 

 On the other hand, it is obvious that any material 

 rise in the value of fine Teas would have the effect 

 of curtailing the already limited demand for them, 

 atid thit) is the more probable as the new Ceylon 

 ctop, of which the first arrivals are now in the market 

 will continue to be brought forward freely. Buyers 

 of fine Tea, who are not in a hurry to purchase, 

 will naturally be disposed to wait and see what Ceylon 

 sends, as the improvement in the quality of last 

 season's Ceylon crop was very encouraging, and the 

 finest parcels are now often substituted for the finer 

 kinds of Indian Tea, the value of which is not likely 

 to advance much if the Ceylon crop turns out well. 

 The market has also been strong for the medium 

 deschptioae, particularly for good Pekoes aad Feko« 



Souchongs, for which there has been a brisk inquiry 

 at rather firmer rates. For the cheaper kinds values 

 have been comparatively steady, although some com- 

 mon Broken Teas have sold at very low prices. Any 

 reaction in the values of the latter sorts could only 

 be brought about by a curtailment in the supplies, and 

 this at present does not seem at all probable. All 

 the better descriptions of Ceylon Tea have been in 

 good demand at steady prices, but commoner parcels 

 have sold at slightly reduced quotations. For the 

 higher grades of Java Tea there has been an improved 

 inquiry at better rates, but common sorts are less firm. 

 — Produce Markets' Review, April 2nd. 



Useful Plants. — There are one or two plants 

 which Mr. R. Harding, of the Botanic Gardens, Too- 

 woomba, strongly recommends as likely to prove use- 

 ful to settlers. One is the Phi/llaria aHgusti/'olia, 

 which, for hedge purposes, on the Downs is unsurpassed 

 by any other plant. A hedge of this shrub can be 

 seen near the entrance gates of the gardens, where it 

 has been one of the ornaments of the grounds for 

 several years past. It grows dense and tall, and is 

 admirably suited for planting as a break-wind to any 

 garden situated upon a bleak plain. The only bamboo 

 he has found to withstand the cold climate is the 

 variegated species, which is very ornamental but does 

 not attain to the height of the common kind. It 

 is easily propagated by cuttings. For fodder purposes 

 specially suited for the cultivator in the interior, he 

 recommends the " Tonga " bean. Two seeds received 

 by him from Mr. ,J. H. Young, Toowoomba, have 

 made such marvellous growth that they cover the 

 ground for an area of 20ft. square as completely as 

 it could be done by sweet-potato vines, and the plants 

 are loaded with pods, although it is only three months 

 since the seeds were sown. This plant would take 

 possession of the garden if allowed. These beans 

 have a special aptitude for leaving behind them when 

 cleared away a good bed of leaf mould. — Queenslander. 



The Influenck of Fokests upon rainfall is said to 

 be now quite observable in the Hawaiian islands. It 

 is recogni.sed, according to a paper upon the subject 

 in an American exchange, that since the plain and 

 town site of Honolulu have been covered with trees 

 the rainfall on that side of the island of Oahu has 

 sensibly increased. The same observation has been 

 made on the island of Hawaii under similar conditions. 

 This may be so, but we are inclined to think the time 

 required for observations in this case is too brief for 

 correct deduotions to be drawn from it, and that the 

 conclusion as just stated does not cover what may be 

 more than an ordinary recurrence of wet seasons after 

 a period of dryness. Some twenty-five years ago the 

 forests trees upon a large area of that good land which 

 lies north of Belfast, and south of Hamilton, in Vic- 

 toria, all died and the whole country was " sailing 

 under bare poles. " It looked very dreary, but the 

 fattening properties of the grass increased and the 

 residents became reconciled. However, the common re- 

 mark at the time was that the climate would deteriorate 

 to a dry one. About eight years after the commence* 

 ment of the trouble a series of dry seasons did come 

 round, and every one said it was the result of the 

 forest denudation and would be permanent ; indeed 

 that henceforth they must e.X2?ect a climate similar 

 to their northern neighbours on the Wimmera. The 

 supposition proved wrong, for the dry seasons were 

 followed by wet ones with such a vengeance that 

 fluke ran its ravages through the tfocks to an alarm' 

 ing extent. That the destruction of forest treeSj which 

 by attracting and entangling clouuds would naturally 

 produce rain, may undoubtedly alter a climate feW 

 will dispute, but a longer time is required to establish 

 the fact than a five years' obsevation in a newly in- 

 habited country. We are glad to see that otlr neighbinirs 

 on the Hawaiian islands aie continuing their experi-i 

 meiits and planting extensively Australian Varieties of 

 trees, for certainly no forest growth is so suitable for 

 the purpose aimed at, inasmuch ;ts once get them 

 establi.^hed it will probably prove, as in the case of 

 the coast districts of Queensland, almost impossiWs 

 ever again to denude the hiWs.^Qy.eenslanitr, 



