November i, 1884.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



387 



but its effect on the price of quinine can only be ex- 

 plained on the ground that the stars in their courses are 

 fighting against the planters. In short, things are looking 

 about as blue as they can. 



The Madras Government, which has always managed to 

 admirably dissemble its love for the coffee industry, is 

 now going to take the next step and kick us downstairs 

 altogether. It has already refused to make a slight alter- 

 ation in the existing law of coutracts, so as to enable 

 us to proceed under it against defaulting coolies. I may 

 mention, by the way, that it is only a quite recent 

 decision of the High Court that informed us that we did 

 not possess this right, after it had been exercised for 25 

 years; we might have survived this refusal, but Govern- 

 ment have another attention in store for us. This is the 

 revision of the Wynaad settlement, which is just about 

 to be taken in hand. Nobody seems to know very much 

 about the rights of the case, but it would appear I hat at 

 the time when Tippoo was giving us trouble the Rajah of 

 Cochin, who owned all the Wynaad, also uttered a wild 

 shriek of liberty and had all his property promptly con- 

 fiscated. The Nairs, who were his tenants, remained in 

 possession, and as the district was considered to be an 

 utterly worthless and fever-stricken jungle, they were left 

 alone. When the planters came into the district they bought 

 the laud from the Nairs, giving in many cases very large sums 

 for the freehold, or else paying down a smaller amount, and 

 settling for ^au annual rental. Government stood by all 

 these years and saw this going on, but if it now turns 

 out that the Nairs had no right to dispose of the land, 

 the planters are to be made tenants of the Crown, " on 

 such terms as may be settled at the conclusion of the re- 

 vision." And as to the sums paid for the land, we may 

 recover them if we can from the Nairs, who will, of course, 

 be utterly and irretrievably ruined. The only gleam of 

 hope for us is, that as the Nairs will be even worse off than 

 ourselves, someone in England is sure to make a fuss about it. 



The gold miues which you heard so much of two years 

 ago are nearly all gone to smash ; the miners and the highly 

 salaried managers have disappeared, and the only traces of 

 them are the bungalows and adits that they lived and 

 worked in. Some of the companies, whose capital is not 

 entirely exhausted, are going into cultivation of rhea fibre 

 and other products ; their prospects of success are more 

 or less doubtful, but the directors have adopted the motto 

 of the railway ticket offices " No money returned," and the 

 shareholders can " examine their change" at their leisure. 

 I should mention, however, that the Balagluit mine in 

 Mysore is said to have lately given an extraordinarily good 

 out-turn, but their capital appears to be nearly gone, and 

 a prospectus has beeu issued in the Madras papers offer- 

 ing a new issue of shares for sale. "Whether they will be 

 taken up or not remains to be seen. The crushing which 

 raised the shareholder' hopes was little more than a trial 

 one, and though money is said to be so cheap in England, 

 the British public has had enough of gold-mining to last it 

 a bit longer. — Times of India. 



TEA IN AMERICA. 



The hold which the Japanese had at one time on the 

 American market has been weakened by the action of tea 

 growers and importers who were indifferent to the quality 

 of the teas supplied, and very reckless in regard to the 

 colouring process and matter used in the manipulation. 

 A good opportunity was thus offered for the introduction 

 of Indian teas. Strange to say, the attempt recently made 

 has not been vigorously pursued. The new York corre- 

 spondent of the Grocer writing on August 14th says : — 



" The steamship ' America,' which sailed from this port 

 yesterday, carried Mr. K. Okura (of Okura and Co., Japan) 

 and Mr. M. Yokohama, both of whom are numbers of the 

 Nippon Seicha Kiokai, the first named being chairman of 

 its governing committee. The organization is a commercial 

 association of over a thousand tea producers and merchants. 

 On the 6th inst. both gentlemen entertained at dinner, at 

 Delmonico's, leadiug tea merchants of this city, the object 

 being to make their acquaintance and gather information 

 relative to the trade in Japan tea and silks. Mr. Okura is a 

 man of fine personal appearance. Mr. Yokohama has spent 

 three years in London, is an extensive traveller, and has a 

 fine command of English. The total commerce of the United 



States with Japan is about £1,000,000 sterling, of which 

 £3,000,000 is imports (00 per cent, of which are tea and 

 silk), and exports of about £800,0011, of which three four! lis 

 are petroleum, and the balance all manner of gimcracks. 



" Siuce 1X7S the imports from Japan have doubled, and 

 the exports increased 50 per cent. The imports of tea 



amount to about 35,000,0001b., representing nearly 



half the tea consumed here. I believe that England oi 

 English interests can reduce this but it cannot he done 

 without a sacrifice of a great deal of money, continuous 

 hard work and a great deal of advertising. Can you tell 

 the grocers of this country why immigrants accustomed 

 to drinking blended teas, or congou, or souchong in tin ir 

 native country, abandon their use here ? The truthis, our 

 retail tea dealers know very little about blending teas, and 

 have little disposition to learn. For a time, when the 

 Calcutta Syndicate spent a good deal of hard cash in bring- 

 ing Indian teas to the notice of the trade, an inquiry was 

 started amongst grocers in regard to the best methods and 

 formulro for usiug them with other sorts. It bade fair to in- 

 crease rapidly, and finally result in creating a good demand 

 for India teas and such China sorts as congou and souchong. 



" The cessation of work on the part of those interested 

 in Indian teas has caused the interest awakened to die out. 

 The custom is growing of giving presents to purchasers of 

 tea. Those who do this and understand their business are 

 giving their customers blended teas, and the result is — 

 satisfied consumers, and the demoralization of uongift-giving 

 dealers through loss of trade. Japan tea will lose favour with 

 consumers in proportion as mixed teas of a high order are 

 pushed upon their notice. The flavour of medium and low 

 grade Japan tea is not agreeable. Originally when they 

 were introduced, they became very popular, because the 

 people were imbued with the notiou that they were purer 

 than China teas, aud hence less injurious to health. They 

 were free from colouring matter. Later, they began send- 

 ing coloured teas here, and now again the demand for 

 natural leaf is reasserting itself, and coloured teas are 

 decidedly less popular than two or three years ago. It 

 is claimed that basket-fired Japans lose their flavour much 

 more rapidly than coloured teas. Then let the shipments 

 come forward more gradually. From 1872 to 1877 a great 

 deal of money was lost in the Japan tea trade, due to 

 the importation of common tea and dust. It was asserted 

 in 1879 that not more than 1,250,000 lb. out of a total 

 import of 23,000,000 lb. was choice, and equal in stylo and 

 flavour to the first lots received here in 1859, and which 

 changed the demand from China to Japan teas. 



"At one time the teas were so badly coloured that a 

 disagreeable scum arose in the liquor, and hurt the sale 

 of Japan teas so much that the excessive use of gypsum 

 and Prussian blue was ordered to be stopped. That was 

 in 1874, siuce which time less and less of objectionable 

 matter has been used. These and other facts bearing upon 

 the trade in Japau were presented to the Messrs. Okura 

 aud Yokohama by Mr. F. N.Barrett, of the American Grocer, 

 atthe dinner given by those gentlemen. His position was 

 endorsed by Mr. F. B. Thurber. The latter gentleman made; 

 a capital speech upon the progress made by Japan, paying a 

 high compliment to their shrewdness, wisdom, culture, and 

 spirit of enterprise. There was a grand opportunity For 

 the introduction of Indian teas in United States. If'' 

 believed teas from China and Japan had had their day 

 owing to the common aud trashy kinds introduced." 



If teas from China and Japan have had their day. it 

 seems strange that the endeavour to popularize Indian tea 

 should have collapsed just at a time when there was a pro- 

 spect of some result. The Japanese are doing their best to 

 maintain their position, and it seems extraordinary that 

 those interested in the Indian tea industry should leave 

 the field to them at a time when the chances in favour of 

 Indian tea were good. — Ifuiiie ami Golonial Mail. 



TEA ADVERTISEMENTS. 



The following advertisements which appealed in the 

 Standard are interesting, as showing the different lines 

 on which the prevailing system of pushing tea is con- 

 ducted. We omit the addresses of the vendors : — 



The Perfection of Fine Tea, 

 Pure " China " Lapsang Souchong, of the same kind and 

 quality that used to be imported many years ago, but now 



