3tf 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [NorraiBSfi i, 1884. 



they made the hest of it, aud embalmed the mortified 

 leg with the dead body of poor John. The Chinese in 

 llje Straits earn, if they are good workmen, about 4s. a 

 day. Perhaps, we have three Chinamen all told in Cey- 

 lon, hut it is curious to notice that four days' steam from 

 Colombo to Siugaporc you are virtually in China, for the 

 Chinamen are gradually filling it up. Of course there is 

 much to be said on both sides — but the California!] 8, so 

 far as I saw, miss their Chinese servants sadly — in fact, 

 a Chinaman is at a premium. In my opinion the time 

 had not come to stop Chinese immigration. At present 

 only tradesmen are allowed to enter the country, though 

 for every Chinese coolie who dies one is allowed to 

 take his place. A big business is done in certificates from 

 all I can hear. AVhy, I heard that one of the most 

 violent of the anti-Chinese agitators still kept to his 

 Chinese servants. He is not a true patriot, like the 

 Englishman who refused to eat slave-grown sugar. Some 

 two or three years ago a Queensland planter engaged 500 

 of our Siuhalese to go to his sugar plantations. They 

 went, much t-> our surprise, for such a thing as Sinhalese 

 emigration was unknown. They proved a bad bargain, for 

 they were gaol-birds of the worst type. Few of them ever 

 found their way to the plantation, many were absorbed 

 in the towns, whilst a few found their way hack home.'' 



An Opening for English Gibls. — " There is just one 

 word of advice I should like to give to fathers and brothers. 

 To the latter, if you go to Ceylon — or to any other colony, 

 for the matter of that — take your sister with you. Eng- 

 land is overstocked with women, who are clamouring for 

 work and votes and husbands, too. Now England is send- 

 ing out some of its best blood to its distant possessions. 

 A\ 1 1 y should the young men go and not the young women ? 

 I am convinced that the presence of his sister would have 

 saved many a young fellow, in the pioneering days, from 

 drink aud rain, in Ceylon alone, if she had been there to 

 look after his bungalow and minister to his wants. Fel- 

 lows used to come in from a hard day's work on the slopes, 

 fagged and weary, to their bungalow. There was food for 

 them prepared by native servants, but it was often, not fit 

 to eat. So some went to the beer or brandy for consolation. 

 Things are better now, and ladies more numerous ; but 

 still, in colonizing, sister aud brother may well go out 

 together. But there is no need for me to expatiate on the 

 advantages of my proposal." 



" What do you think of the prospects of the North 

 Borneo Company?" I asked Mr. Ferguson, as he rose to 

 go. " I cannot say from actual experience, but we have 

 one or two correspondents there from whom we hear 

 now and then. It took Ceylon seventeen hard years 

 of pioneering before we begau to think that success 

 would be possible, and North Borneo is yet a very 

 young e^intry. There are at present a few plantations 

 of tea, coffee, aud cinchona scattered along the coast, while 

 collectors are at work in the interior gathering ivory aud min- 

 erals. It is like other colonies — it needs capital and men." 

 Kew Gardens. — " I cannot, by the way, over-estimate 

 the value, of the work which Sir Joseph Hooker aud Kew 

 Gardens do for us, not only for Ceylon, but for all the 

 tropical countries wherein fresh productions are being tried. 

 He has correspondents and collectors in all parts, and if 

 any one wishes to try experiments he has only to write 

 to K^w for advice and specimens, which are forwarded to 

 him from the gardens. You might think that it would 

 be easier for us fo send to the country where the plant 

 or fruit was indigenous rather than to England, but the 

 difficulties would often prove too great. Kew is of vast 

 service to the planters in many respects." " The military 

 force," said Mr. F'erguson, iu conclusion, " stationed in 

 Ceylon, costs us £120,000 a year, or 10 per cent of our 

 revenue. Now, why should we be compelled to expend 

 this sum on British troops we don't want. It is a serious 

 grievance. Ycu use Ceylon as a convenient centre, from 

 which you may draw in case ol any little war in India, 

 in China, in New Zealand, in South Africa, or Egypt. I 

 do not think it fair to impose this burden upon us." 



FLIES AND BUGS. 



Beetles, insects, roaches, ants. bed-bugSj rats, mice 

 chipmunks, cleared out by " Kuogh on Bats 

 Smith & Co., Madras. Sole Agents. 



•op- 

 W. E. 



TEA EXPORTS FROM CHINA. 



Our tea-planting readers are doubtless aware that 

 the Chinese tea season commences at the beginning 

 of May, and is practically over by the end of Dec- 

 ember ; for instance, last year out of a total export 

 for the season of 1883-4 of 151 millions of pounds, 

 no less than 147J millions were shipped before the 

 end of the year. 



This accounts in a great measure for the small effect 

 the war between France and China has had on the 

 London market. It is generally believed in England 

 that long before the new teas have to he shipped in 

 May next year, the war will be over, and theie will 

 therefore be no interruption on the shipments of next 

 season's teas. In the meantime, the stocks in England 

 and the exports up to the end of the year will, it 

 is thought, suffice to meet the monthly deliveries for 

 consumption and export of 12£ million pounds without 

 reducing the slock alarmingly. 



The recent advance of about 2d per lb. is, no doubt, 

 owing chiefly to the improved position of the article 

 arising from a decrease in the supply occasioned by 

 the low prices which have been recently current for 

 low-classed congous, and not to the Eranco-Chiuese 

 war which up to this time has interfered very little 

 with this season's export. 



Chinese Yellow Tea.— The agent of the British 

 and Foreign Bible Society, in describing his recep- 

 tion by I he Chinese Governor-General of the Kuldja, 

 wrote : — " We were offered very choice yellow tea 

 such as the Emperor reserves for himself and his 

 favourites, though sometimes sold by them for 50s a 

 pound." No doubt the "yellow tea" described was 

 composed of the finest " orange pekoe tips." Such 

 tea could be made in Ceylon, but no one would give 

 a paying price for it. 



Indian Tea in Melbourne. — We regret not being 

 able to notice "shipments advised or on the water" 

 from Calcutta. No one here has any stocks, and 

 few dealers have hand-to-mouth supplies. It certainly 

 seems strange that a Syndicate who so madly rushed 

 nearly 3,000,0001b. upon an untried market in one 

 season should allow three mouths of a new season to 

 pass with a total export to Australian ports of under 

 7,0001b. Importers here seemed nervous in ordering, 

 probably being afraid that the Syndicate would again 

 commence shipping ; the same fear may have deterred 

 the Syndicate, and the result is all grades suitable for 

 blenders' requirements are badly wanted, and not a 

 single leaf is obtainable.— Alfred Harvey & Co., Tea 

 Brokers. — Australasian Trade Review. 



Tea Cultivation in Bengal. — Having recently 

 dealt with the Report on Tea Cultivation in As- 

 sam, we now copy from the Englishman an ab- 

 stract from the report on the culture in Bengal, in- 

 cluding such widely different localities as Darjiling 

 and Chittagong. There is some astounding error in 

 the figures for average yield in all the Bengal dis- 

 tricts The figures 1,411 lb. per acre are as pre- 

 posterously too high as 141 lb. would seem to be too 

 low. In tbo case of by far the largest district, 

 Darjiling, we are able to check the calculation, for 

 we are told that 2(>,992 acres under mature plants 

 had yielded 7,628,825 lb. This is almost exactly at 

 the rate of 320 lb. or 4 maunds per acre, and the 

 average for all Bengal must be considerably below 

 instead of above this figure. It is interesting to learn, 

 that, by manuring with cotton-seed (crushed, of course), 

 the quality of tea had been slightly improved and 

 the yield of leaf very considerably increased. 





