October i, i88z.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



279 



1881-83 now arriving is more assure!. They, llierefore, 

 coiisiiier it pniclont to defer any furlher payment of 

 iliviilenJ until January, 1883, wlifu"tliey will l>6 belter able 

 to e.slimato 1 lie result of the rurreut seasun. and to form 

 ail oiiiiiiou of the pr.ts|)ects for 1882-83. 



The crop of 1881-82, now in course (if shipment, will 

 |iioliyi!ily I I't amount t'> much more Ihan "\5l)0 cwt. Ex- 

 ppiulilure is lOufiueJlo neces.sary outlay iiim" the nplcee|i 

 vi ;lie estate , and totlie extension of inipro\td aiipliances 

 for I be distribution oK nianun'. The falliug-olf in the 

 productiveness of the estates durin«»; two consee^lti^'e seasons 

 may witbout doubt be attributed in a hiif;i! measure to 

 lo. it-disease, the spread of wbieli has uufortuiuitely been 

 iissisteii. while tiie forming of fruit has been prevented, 

 by luiusual atmospheric coudiiioiis. Latest report s, linw- 

 over, coniirm the directors in their belief tliat the di-ease 

 has not j-.erniaiiently iiijnredthe trees, and holies are enter- 

 tained that it will in course of time wr r itself cid,, as 

 h is b; ■. n the ease >\iih other pesis. 



Returns from eincbona bark ^^ili dviring tbe uext few 

 years gradually increase as a separate source of income- 

 There are alre.idy planted on the properties about a mil- 

 lion cinchona trees of virions kinds, and the nurseries 

 ctHitiin a large 1 umber for future piantinii'. 



Cocoa is growing succes.vfnll) on Roekhill, and is to 

 be a^o I lanted ou a small X-i-^ftiou of Bailaga'ta. 

 It is to be r' gritted that the result ot tbe year's 

 oper.iticns is a loss. 'I'lie baiaiic of laft ye;ir leaves 

 a. not ineousulerablu sum in hand, but it will no doubt 

 bo thought a wise act of the directors not to trench upon 

 it liy payment of a further dividend at present. 



IMPORT DUTIES ON CEYLON I'RODUCT.S 



IN THE AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. 



Tlie Anxtfalaxum Trade N'^iieip is as severe a.s tlie 

 London Timcx on the conflicting and liostile tariff's 

 of the se\en colonies, including New Zealand, which 

 go to make up the Australasian group. To quote : — 

 The principles underlying colonial taxation are inscrut- 

 able. No two colonies even employ the same nomen- 

 clature as regards denominations of weights or measures. 

 An article may he taxed at per lb. in one colony, at per 

 tou in another, and under the ad valofcm system in a 

 third. In one colony the oidy aim .seems to be to raise 

 money by any clumsy mefhoil. aud in a second to arbit- 

 rarily sek^ct a number of industries anil tax the com- 

 munity to support them. How neces-sary it is that some 

 common metho I of taxation .should be adopted is evident 

 from the table of Australasian import duties comparatively 

 arranged, which we print in another part of this issue. 

 That people of tlie same race, with tike intere.sts and 

 aims, with, we believe, the pro.spect of ultimate union be- 

 fore them, should in so grave a matter as commercial in- 

 tercourse vex and harass one anotlier in the barbarous 

 fashion revealed by that table, would be incredible if the 

 fact wer.i not patent. That the public attention is being 

 aroused on the subject is not t-o be wondered at, and 

 it is to be hopeil that an overjiowering public outcry will 

 be lai.sed fo ran iutercolonial (.'nstoms uniou. 



From the table reieried to we gather that coffee in 

 its raw state is charged 3d per lb. in A'ictoria, New- 

 South Wales Soutli Australia, Tasmania and New 

 Z -aland. In Queensland the charge is 4d, and in 

 Western Australia only iH. There is no distinction 

 in the case of the roasted article in \'ictoiia, N. S. 

 Wales and Westeni Australia ; but in Queensland 

 the charge is Bd, in S. Australia an<l Tasmania 4d, 

 and in New Zealand 5d. In connection with coffee 

 w-e may say that the duty on chirory is 3d per lb. 

 in ^'ietoria. N. S. Wales, and New Zealand ; 4d in 

 (Queensland, S. Australasia and Tasmania; and 2d in 

 Westei-n Australia. ChwoUile is charged 3d per lb. 

 in Victoria, N. S. Wales, S. Australia, Tasmania and 

 N. Zealand; -ki in Queenslaial: and -Jd in W. Aus- 

 tralia. ( 'oeoff. beans are free in Victoria; 3d per lb. 

 ill ?\. S. Wales, S. .-Viistralia Tasmania and N. Zea- 

 land; ui Queensland and \V. Australia "Jd. "Pre- 

 pared'' beans are 3d in N'ietoria, N. S. Wales, S. 



Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand ; 4d in Queens - 

 land ; ami '2A in W. Australia. Coconut oil is not 

 separately shewn in the table. Spires, including, of 

 course, cinnamon, are charged 2d per lb. in Victoria, wdien 

 ground ; ungi'ound free. The eliarge in N. S. Wales. 

 Queensland, and .S. Australia is 2d ; in ^^'. Australia 

 and N. Zealand 3d ; aud in Tasmania 4d. The duties 

 on tea are 3d per lb in Victoria, N. S. Wales and 

 S. Australia; Cd (£2 per mannd) in Queensland and 

 Tasmania* ; and 4d in W. Australia and New Zealand. 

 As our readers are aware, the duty on tea in \'ietoria, 

 which Sir Bryan O'Loghlen proposed to abolish, 

 is now to lie retained. The a\-erage value of the 

 China tea sent to Australia is scarcely one shilb'tifr 

 per lb., but Indian tea brings the whole up to about 

 the shilling in bond. The duty of 3d per lb. there- 

 fore is 2.") per cent on the value ; the 4d duty 33;', 

 per cent ; while the 6d duty in England and the 

 Australian colonies which le\-y it is 50 pei- cent of the 

 \alue. This is a heavy impost, but if a general war 

 follows the present outbreak in Egypt we fear an 

 enhancement rather than a reduction of the English 

 iluty may lie anticipated. The present too is not a 

 time for the Australian colonies largely to reduce any 

 taxes, but it is to be hoped they will at no distant 

 date confederate for Customs purposes as well as self- 

 defence. 



ARTIFICIAL QUININE. 



(I'o the Editor, "Madras Mail.") 

 SiK, — A few weeks ago the English papers men- 

 lioneil the discovery of artificial Quinine by a ('he- 

 niist in Paris. \\ e wrote to our coriespondents in 

 London on the subject, and have much plea- 111 e in 

 enclosing a copy of their reply, which will be of in- 

 terest to Planters in India aud C' yl 'U. 



Madras, 9tli August. ('PvOV.^inii-: ami Co, 



Messrs. Croysduie, & Co., Madras. 

 DkaR Sir,— . . . Tile Syuthetic niauufactiire of Quinine has 

 :iUvays been Ihe dream of Chemists, and is eonsidered ^wssibie 

 liy some of the (^inhiine mannfacturers, tint, as yet, lias never 

 been aecoinijlished. You will observe that even M. Maumene, 

 does not eunsider liLs iirocess perfect, ami we fancv that a less 

 interested iiidge ndgllt tiiid it impracticable, and even shonlrt it 

 he at:complished, there remain two tliinj^s to be considered. 



1st. Expense. 



2iul. Would it have the .same effec-t on tin- human frann- V 

 For, it is a well-known fact that articles manufactured syii 

 thetically sometimes liave different' effects from those of the artiile 

 manufacUlred nalin-aHy, altlioush the chemists' formula may tie 

 similar. This is a most, important jjoiut, for it is not here a 

 question of a dye, like Itulii^o, lint of the most imjiortant chi-m- 

 ical, vised in cases vhere tlie issues of life and deafli, humanly 

 s]ieakin^, haiifc on its quality. 



,-\!i:iiii. should the syntlietic article lie really identical in re- 

 sults with iiatm-al article, then, prejudice will stej, in, aial -we 

 wish the Planters of Cinchona could know what a stubborn oli- 

 stacle this is to tlie intriidnctiou of anything' new. People will 

 not experiment, meilical practitioners dare not. The exjierience 

 we had iuti-oduciiifi the ^^eilyherry Cini-houa, which, after all 

 pntlnced the .sauie article a^ the .South Ann-rican bark did] 

 Iter iiade us that any change must be a very gradual process] 

 and any new article must take a long time to work its way 

 into practical use. 



This Syntlietic Quinine is no nev-- idea, A\e have been tllreut- 

 em I with it fur many years, and, as a tratle, we ignore it, and 

 tlii, k the >'eilgherr\ Planters of Cinchona can affonl to do the 

 san.'-, if fur n.i other reason than the following : — 



.•■Jiould this invention he what it claims to he, and should it, 

 aft- r much time spent in overcoming prejudice, enter into the 

 maiket as a reality, the almost certain effect would be to dri^e 

 the present Quinine manufacturers into the necessity of forc- 

 ing on the public the valuable qualities of the other Alkaloids 

 conlainetl in the bark, .some of them really superior in effects, 

 in some cases to Quinine itself, which Alkaloids are at present 

 uef.lected. We should then see the difference in price between 

 Quiniiie and the other Alkaloids almost disappear, and the mnun- 

 faclnrers would be able to produce Quinine at an infinitely 

 lower cost, whilst still being able to pay remunerative price's 

 for the hark in consequence of 1: - increased value of what are 

 now considered bye products. W ! . u the >'cil;ilierry Cinchona 

 I'lanlers consider that their sncci. .;bras, so rich iii .^IkaloiiL, 

 would tlius losi- on the one hand .jm lower pr ces of Quinine,' 

 and gain on the other from high, r proportionatie pricfti of the 



■* Proposed to be reduced to 4d from Ist January, 1882. 



