368 



[April 1908. 



for them prevents the too rapid evapora- 

 tion ot the moisture in the soil." 



Yours very sincerely, 



B. HARRISON BURRINGBAR. 



River Tweed, N.S.W., Australia. 



[This plant is simply one of the family 

 Legumiuosae, to which cloves, peas, 

 beans, crotalaria, dadap, and other 

 plants already so successfully used in 

 Ceylon to enrich poor soils, belong.— Ed.] 



BURMA AS A MARKET FOR 

 CEYLON AND INDIAN TEA. 



Sir,— It has often struck me that, 

 while pushing sales of their tea for 

 a field all over the world, Ceylon planters 

 seem to have entirely neglected to do so 

 in Burma, which is at their gates. 



The Barman is beaten by no one in 

 the East for his powers of tea consump- 

 tion. In even the poorest houses the tea 

 pot is going every day and all day. 

 They do not care for coffee at all; in fact, 

 it is rarely or never drunk except in 

 large towns where the task has been 

 acquired. The tea they drink is of 

 Chinese make and is retailed at about 

 oneanna a packet of about J of a lb. 



Very possibly— to use a Burmese 

 expression— I may seem to be "teaching 

 the crocodile to swim " ; but as I have 

 never yet come across any one trying, or 

 seen any attempt made, to push your teas 

 or those from India out here, I write you 

 this note. Ceylon and Indian teas can be 

 got at all grocers, but in 1 lb. tins at 

 14 as. to Rs. 1*4 per lb. The ordinary 

 village Burman not only cannot run 

 to this and likes to buy his tea in little 

 lots, just as he can afford it, but he 

 dislikes the flavour of Ceylon and Indian 

 teas, and says they are too bitter — the 

 consequence is that the sale of this 

 Chinese tea is immense. I regret I can- 

 not give you the figures of import, but 

 will obtain them if required, and also, if 

 required, will send you a sample packet 

 of tea sold everywhere to the towns- 



man as well as the villager. If I am 

 " chewing the chewed and gr inding the 

 ground," please put this letter into 

 the W.P.B. 



The enclosure speaks for itself.* 



Yours truly, 



J. G. F. MARSHALL. 



Tavoy, Burmah, 8th March, 1908. 



DIOSCOREA VS. YAMS. 



Sir,— In your issue for December, 

 1907, I note that, after quoting my 

 Bulletin on the YaUtias, or Taniers, of 

 Porto Rico, you make this statement : 

 '" This is the great ' yam ' crop of tropi- 

 cal America, but is as yet little known 

 in the East, where the taro (Caladium) 

 is cultivated. " Since the crop in question 

 has been most deplorably confused with 

 the taro, I regret that you should have 

 added to the confusion by stating that 

 the tanier is the great yam crop. In my 

 eleven years' experience in tropical agri- 

 culture, I have never before heard either 

 the taniers or the taros called yams. As 

 you probably know, some types of sweet 

 potatoes (Ipornuea spp ) are in some 

 districts of the United States known as 

 " yams," but all true yams belong to the 

 genus Dioncorea, with the possible ex- 

 ception of some species of Smilax. 



You would oblige me by correcting 

 your statement in the " Agriculturist." 



Yours very truly, 



O. W. BARRETT, 



Plant Introducer 



Washington, D.C., February 17, 1908. 



In Ceylon all " root " crops are gener- 

 cally classed as " yams," even potatoes 

 being included under this head, but it is 

 much to be wished that the name could 

 be restricted to the Dioscorea — Ed.] 



* A P.O. notice stating that tho skins, etc., are 

 prohibited articles. —Ed. 



