agio 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [October i, 1885, 



.1 am noiv reaily to supply plants of CilhanxijJon 

 latum. This tree yields a good timber, is hardy in 

 oliai;icter ; tlie fruit is very much the shape of the 

 olive, and (he stone or berry wlieQ stripped of the 

 pulp yields a beverage, the Hivour of which is 

 considered to be littween cocra and c iffee. — lam, 

 dejr fir. yours truly, THOS. CHRISTY. 



MB. J. HUGHES ON TEA MANUFACTUBE 

 AND OTHEB TOPICS. 



London, 14th Aug. 1885. 



Dear Sir, — I have to acluiowledge with thanks 

 receipt of the work on the coconut palm, which is full of 

 valuable information to those interested in such plant- 

 ations. As regards the scientific manufacture of tea 

 there can be no doubt that young men with a know- 

 ledge of chemistry will prove useful in tea factories. 

 It is true that the whole operation is mechanical, 

 but the different stages depend on the result of 

 chemical changes going on, and when the best 

 method of treatment is once decided upon a few 

 simple tests will enable assistants to carry out 

 the manufacture with great precision and to obtain 

 uniform results. 



Mr. Arnold White, late of Ceylon, has an article 

 in the August number of Good Words which you may 

 have noticed already. I had hoped to have written 

 more, but am much engaged at present. 



An article in the June Tropical Aiirifultiirist on 

 the Queensland sugar enterprize, copied from the Field, 

 was written by a personal friend to myself from 

 Queensland.— Yours very truly, JOHN HUGHES. 



CINCHONA BAEK. 



6, Mincing Lane, London E. C, l-lth Aug. 1885. 



Dear Sir, — We beg to hand you co])y of a 

 special circular which we have issued on the sub. 

 ject of cinchona bark grown in your island, which 

 may be of interest to you. — Dear sir, yours faith- 

 fully, LEWIS & PEAT. 



6, Mincing Lane, London, 14th August 1S?5. 



Gentlemen, — In our regular fortnightly Price Cur- 

 rent on this important article, we bad the tratiflc- 

 ation of reporting a very satisfactory result of the 

 enormous auctions held last Tuesday, when nearly one 

 niilli'jn pounds of Ceylon and East Indian Eiirk were 

 sold at firm prices, the finer qualities at some advance. 



In this sale many parcels were of good rich quality, 

 a large p,^rt of renewed (in proportion to natural, about 

 one-tliirtl) both Officinalis and Succirubia testing ex- 

 tremely well. The quality and condition of Ceylon 

 shipm-Mits has certainly much improved this season, 

 and tlie estates are reapiug advantage from the greater 

 Cftre in harvest ing and packing. 



Succi.'ubra iSjwki'tiliaviiii/s when bold clean and of fresh 

 color, have been com[teted for frequently for 2)r7u/- 

 (■//.si.,' purposes; quills, mostly for the same purposes, 

 have soUl at low anil disappointing prices, and gener- 

 ally speaki.ig we doubt the profit of sending such, un- 

 less when grey mossy quills can be shipped ; but only 

 moderate quantities can be sold to the Drtiggists. and 

 they must be bold e\'en lengths, not broken, and in 

 cases. We have had much less of ti''i(/s and youitti 

 branch than in former seasons— all odd mixed poor 

 lots, cut too thin or too woody have sold at relatively 

 low rates. Sevcr.tl parcels of good clean liont have sold 

 at high prices as high as 2s 4d p.'r lb. for Otbcinalis 

 and Is ■Id per lb. or Succirubra, but the average of 

 the latter is very low compared with the former. 



In recent auctions stem and trunk chips and sliav- 

 ing< of which the greater part consists sold at— 



per 111. 

 s. d. s. d. 

 Officinalis, part renewed and renewed ... S.V to 2 11 

 natural ... ... 5 to 1 5 



Succirubra, part renewed and renewed ... (I G to 3 

 natural ... ... 'A to 1 7 



Oalisaya has been very disappointing and sold at low 

 rates ; Hybrid rather better. The total quantity oifered 

 (and practically all sold) since Ist January reaches the 

 large total of 



Ceylon. East India. Java. 



fc. lb. lb. 



7,2n0,n00 361,200 88,300 in 18S5 

 Against to same date 5,120,000 404,000 61,250 in 1884 

 The almost total cessation of Imjiorts fruni Central 

 America of Soft Columbian, Pitayo, and Ouprea^only 

 about 923 packages since 1st January and of OalLsaya 

 (Bolivia) about 915 packages — and the continued good 

 deliveries to date, viz. : — 



4.1,099 pkgs. delivered to Ist Aug. 1885 ) 



Against 49,240 ... ... 1884 V* 



50,385 ... ... lSs3j 



Eesult, in our Stock being reduced to : — 



75,552 pkgs. of all sorts... 1885 



Against S8,94ii ,.. ... 181 



94,nC8 ... ... 1883 



The unjirecedentedly low prices for Sulphate of 

 Quinine has attracted the attention of speculators ; to- 

 day's lowest quotation of 2s lid to 3s per oz, shewing 

 an advance of 4d from the lowest price reported by 

 manufacturers, who have been unwilling to sell in large 

 quantities both here and in America; therefore we are 

 hopeful that the worst is over regarding prices, and 

 that though trade generally is so depressed, we may 

 see firm if nnt higher rates maintained for Cinchona; 

 as we do not think we shall receive any quantity from 

 Central America for some time to come, ou account 

 of the revolution there which stops all trade and col- 

 lecting of produce. It is almosl needless for us to 

 remark that odd part-els of 1, 3. or 3 packages do not 

 meet with attention always, and sell below their act- 

 ual value as, when manufacturers have so many sam. 



pies to test, they do not all analyse the small lot 



Your obedient servants, Lewis & Peat, Brokers. 



COCA AND COCAINE. 



- London, E. C, 14th Aug. 1885. 



De.w Sib, — It is as well for planters who are now 

 on all sides demanding seeds and plants of "Eiyth- 

 roxylon Coca" to know that they have got the South 

 American markets against them which j-ield an 

 enormous weight of coca leaves a year, and a few 

 pence would induce the idauters to sell to shippers 

 in place of selling to the shop and storekeepers for 

 home consumption. The Italians have been pur- 

 chasing coca leaves at a high price to make an ex- 

 change operation, as they require a medium for pay- 

 ment of their goods. 



The price of coca leaves has fallen today for good 

 quality in London to 1/ per lb., and cocaine is selling 

 here at 3/ per. gi-amme tube or CO/ per oz. They 

 have got up the jdeld with the new leaves to as 

 high as two grammes of cocaine to 1 lb. of leaves. 

 There is no doubt that the coca will be used in Ceylon 

 and India for making liqueur and wine, and as 

 the process has been so fully described in your 

 journal for manufacturing cocaine, there is notliing 

 to prevent chemists making it on the spot w'ben the 

 price of leaves falls. 



We have today received from Bolivia cocaine of 

 really good quality and white in colour for us to 

 examine and report upon. To save freight, one 

 house has started a manufactory at Lima for making 

 the crude extract of cocaine, which will enable 

 them to finish oft the cocaine here at a low price. 

 On considering the future prosjiccts of price, it is 

 not improbable that it will go down to Id a grain 

 for first quality cocaine, or 40/ per ounce. 



No doubt you will have called the attention of 

 your readers in the Observer or the Tropieal Agri- 

 culturist to remarks that have appeared in the paper 



* East India packages as a whole are noio large 

 than formerly. 



