35<^ 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. INov. 2, 1885. 



Mothek-ok-Pkaiil, the material of which ornament- 

 al buttons, buckles, fan sticks, card cases and other 

 fancy articles are niilde, is the principal production 

 of Tahiti, and makes a commerce variously estimated 

 between |.20,000 and $100,000 a yenr'—Ameriraii 

 Grocer. 



DiiPKEKSiON IS Java. — On the 5tli Septeniljer, 

 trade, industry, and plantation enterprise at Batavia 

 continued greatly depressed, one conseiiuence Ijeing 

 a heavy fall in the value of real estate and wide- 

 spread financial mistrust. Withdrawals of work- 

 ing capital resulting in stoppage of work ou estates 

 were then of daily occurrence. Cultivation was 

 checked by obstinate drought. Tea estates and 

 other plantations inland were suflerihg heavily 

 from want of rain. CoiJee estates have become so 

 depreciated in .Java, since low prices for that 

 product set in, that recently two of them assessed 

 at 117,000 guilders were sold together for only 

 100 guilders. — Straits Tillies. 



Wateuwuei'i. I'owEH. — I have read with interest 

 what have been said on waterwheel power, but 

 as some of your readers may lia\e waferwhccls 

 working badly from some cause —and there are 

 many badly constructed wheels in the country — it 

 has occurred to me to send you a very rough way 

 of ascertaining the working h. p. of a waterwlieel. 

 Here it is on a separate sheet if you understand 

 it and think it is correct. I may be wrong, but 

 I think for a rough calculation it will be useful : 

 As one-fourth only of the number of buckets of 

 an ordinary waterwheel contains the effective 

 water, note what depth of water there is in tlie 

 buckets when the wheel is working. Each cubic 

 foot of water weighs G'2^ lb. ; therefore multiply the 

 total cubic feet of water in the buckets by Ii2.l and 

 the product by the number of feet the mean 

 circumference of the wheel travels per minute and 

 divide by HiH.OOO — answer, the working horse-power. 

 —Cur. 



Tka in ■inn LowEK I't'SHELLAWA I'lSTiacr. — Con- 

 founding Mahavilla with Kiverside estate, some time 

 ago, we did injustice to the latter flourishing pro- 

 perty belonging to an old and much respected 

 colonist (Mr. W. S. Bennett), and which has taken 

 a new lease of life under the influence of the all- 

 prevailing new product tea. Eiverside, which was first 

 opened in coffee a good many years ago, lias 'I'^'i 

 acres cidtivated. of wliieli '2'i7 are tea, ami tlie re- 

 mainder cardamoms and cacao. The cacao appears 

 rather a failure as far as can be judged ; the 

 cardamoms are fairly good; but the tea (of which 

 the estate ahnost entirely consists) is looking ex- 

 tremely well, and promises to give large yields of 

 leaf, 'it is at present too young to crop. The 

 climate is hot and steamy, I'iO inches rain, any 

 amount of water power on the estate. On tlie 

 «'holc Kiverside is a flourishing young estate, and 

 ought to do very well when the tea comes regul- 

 arly into bearing, so that our old friend Mr. I 

 Bennett in to be heartily congratulated on his pro- I 

 misiiig property. j 



Tea TiiADE. — According to tr.ide authorities tlie tone 

 of the tea trade generally is perfectly steady and settled. 

 This is satisfactory at li'ast. The Urocir says: — '■ ,VII 

 Is i|Hict and free friim outside, influences ; and as re- 

 gards statistics, there is nothing in tbem calculated to 1 

 create distrust iu the result of future operations, rather 

 the reverse, as demand at present seems to be over- 

 taking the supiily,— and while this is so, low prices 

 cauuot be expected to go lower still." This is the 

 pleasant stale of things that planters arc looking for- 1 

 ward to with hope, and the eooner it comes the better 

 for tbem. The 6'roar has something favourable to say [ 

 about ludiau tea;—" Uotwitbstauding the stronger I 



competition that tlireatens them on all sides, Indian 

 teas may be said to throughly maintain their position in 

 the market, aud, having gained a firm hold upon the 

 taste of consumers, there is little fear of their losing it 

 by either undergoing a ileterioration in quality, or by 

 becoming permanently dearer than other teas. What- 

 ever may have been thought of some of the earlier im- 

 ports iu July — and we know for certain that the opinion 

 of several experts iu the matter of tasling was strictly 

 adverse, — the shipments received since have been of a 

 much improved character, aud bid fait to keep up tlie 

 reputation of the teas grown in Assam for their ex- 

 cellence aud superiority over those of other countiies. 

 Not only has the assortment on offer become larger aud 

 more varied, hut it has consisted of more numerous 

 breaks of the choicest and finest growths, which have 

 met with grcati.T competition, and been taken off lit 

 stitfcr prices. In short, the tone of the whole trade has 

 been much healthier tiiau of late, as even the commoner 

 sorts which were uniformly dejjressed last month, have 

 been of readier sale ; and those importers who held back 

 their teas on account of the depression then exist'ug, 

 have since realized firmer rates than if they had 

 forced them upon unwilling buyers iimnediately upon 

 the landing of the teas in this port." On the sub- 

 ject of statisiics the same authority says: — *' The 

 consumption of Indian tea is large and increasing, 

 the deliveries in Loudon alone during the past sc,ven 

 months having reached ^9,77-5,600 lb., against 36,060ra50 

 lb. last year, and 33,758, nJO lb. in the .same pe iod 

 of 1883. All this while the imports here were on 

 a diminished scale, compri'^iug only 23,077,750 lb. 

 this year, as compared with 25,719. 1-50 lb. in 1884 

 and 25,019,450 lb in the first seven months of 1883, 

 The consequence was, that by the end of July 

 the stock ri'maining on hand or in bond was reduced 

 to 10,568.550 lb., against 1 3,480,450 lb. and 13,003,900 lb., 

 in the two preceding years. ^A'itll these deficiencies in the 

 available su^iply of Assam teas staring them in the 

 face, it is no wonder that both the dealers and the 

 retailers have given more attention to Ceylon and 

 Java teas, which have been found to serve as good 

 substitutes for Indian sorts at the fag-end of the 

 season, as they have not only been tolerably abund- 

 ant, but also rather cheap; and, po^se-ssing several 

 characteristics of the tea plant in Darjeeling. C'a- 

 char, and the Sylhet districts for pungency ami 

 general excellence of qualitv, the above-mentioned 

 kinds have fairly satisfied the general requirements 

 of the home trade. The early arrivals of Indian tea 

 this sunnner were of decidedly inferior quality, con- 

 taining a larger proportion than usual of poor and 

 thin-liquoriiig grades; for wliich buyers refused to 

 compete, and importers pressing sales rather (ban 

 otherwise, a material decline, say of about 2il pet- 

 lb., was established for these by the beginning of 

 the present month. In (-omparison with thnsf; now 

 ruling for China descriptions, prices of Indian are 

 rather bisher for the finer as well as the lower 

 qualities, but cheaper for the medium qualities, be- 

 sides being also easier to buy than atsth's time last year." 

 It is useful to read the comments of the trade 

 papers on Indian tea, although they are not always 

 remarkable for profundity of wisdom and foresight. 

 This is what the /'rm/ifn-JAr-^ir-i /I'tt-iVc- sa.is .-— " The 

 Indian tea market has been well supplied, chii-tty with 

 new season's growths, the \ roportit)u of really fine teas 

 being sniall, although there is a general improvement 

 in the quality offered. Competition A\as active for the 

 choice parcels of Darjeeling and otbe' fine growths, 

 for which, iu most case-, extreme prices were obtained, 

 while all good teas have comnianded previous high 

 rates. It ihe supply of equally line kinds contiiiuea 

 rates are likely to decline, as the consumption of the 

 better sorts has become more limited. Indian teas at 

 about Is do not compare favourably with China 

 growths, and (|Uotations for the less desirable kinds will 

 probiibly give way as .soon as a better scKction is on 

 oft'cr. The imports from the Cachar districts seem, so 

 far, inleiior, and unless the i|iiaIityof future shipments 

 is more attractive, the result is likely to prove dis- 

 appointing to importers,- //0J"C awj Colmiinl Mnil, 



