130 
THF TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [August i, 1889 
coffee enterprise must still and for many year s 
yet tell in favour of the cultured plants. In mos* 
cases, however, there is no encouragement to pre- 
serve such coffee bushes as remain in the district. 
Our hopes must rest on tea, and a rebound from 
low to high prices, such as so frequently marked 
the history of the coffee enterprise. By the way, 
planters in Ceylon must be surprised to learn that 
" scientific men," according to the Rio News and 
other authorities, have come to the conclusion 
that coffee disease in Java, Ceylon and Brazil is 
identical, caused by " a worm which eats the roots." 
White grub, no doubt, did harm to our coffee, but 
the fatal disease was due to a fungus, and if, in 
addition to the insect diseases they suffer from, this 
vegetable pest finds its way to the plantations of 
Brazil, the world's supply of coffee may be so 
lessened as to tell greatly in favour of tea. 
♦ 
OPENING OF FOOCHOW TEA MARKET. 
The Foochow Echo of the 8th instant says:— The 
stock of new tea now amounts to 225,000 chests of all 
sorts. It is not expected that musters will be sent 
out for another week. The Foochow Echo learns that 
new season's new make congous, costing 8d. a 9Jd, 
(and which looked so cheap in China,) are losing 20 
per cent. The London market for new teas appears 
to have opened at about 30 per cent, under last year. 
Mr. W. P. Galton writes the following letter, dated 
5tb June, to the Foochow Echo : — 
Sir, — It may be of interest, at the present time, to 
draw attention to the comparative dates of opening 
the tea market, and the stocks of Congou at that time; 
dating from 1869, when steamers were first introduced; 
the " Achilles" and " West Indian" loading for London. 
Those who have experience of the past can draw 
their own conclusions. 
Date of 
Stock of 
Year. 
opening. 
Congou. 
1869 
... June 25th 
... 276,927 
1870 
... July 1st 
... 245,112 
1871 
... June 13th 
... 133,070 
1872 
... May 24th 
... 50,705 
1873 
... June 20th 
... 258,430 
1874 
... do 2nd 
... 96.630 
1875 
... May 19th 
2,550 
1876 
... do 20th 
2,560 
1877 
... do 24th 
... 40,004 
1878 
... do 14th 
... 47,960 
1879 
.. June 6th 
... 282,612 
1880 
... do 5th 
... 291,080 
1881 
... May 28th 
... 83,110 
... 155,040 
1882 
... do 29th 
1883 
... Jui>e 11th 
... 333,700 
1884 
... do 6th 
... 310,000 
1885 
... do 20th 
... 329.000 
1886 
... May 24th 
... 175,000 
1887 
... do 30th 
... 165,500 
1888 
... do 30th 
... 117,700 
CINCHONA BARK :— WANTED : A SYNDICATE 
OF CINCHONA PLANTERS TO REGULATE 
SUPPLY OF BARK TO EUROPE 
DURING 1890-91. 
Our heading in brief summarizes the purport 
of the important letter addressed to us by Baron 
von Rosenberg which will be found (on page 
136.) It is addressed to the Editor of the 
Tropical Agriculturist, but without waiting for the 
noxt issue of our monthly periodical, we at once 
g ive it a place in our daily paper, so as 
to ensure its consideration and discussion by our 
planting and mercantile community interested in 
cinchona aa early as possible. The Baron von 
Rosenberg must, of course, be aware that very 
numerous have been the attempts made through 
the press to check the free harvesting of cinchona 
bark during the past few years. It has been 
shown again and again and with fuller demonstra- 
tion than even our correspondent today affords, how 
much better it would be for the cinchona producers 
if they did not force so large a quantity — and 
especially of the inferior qualities — of bark on 
the European market during each succeeding 
year. There has not been a shadow of a 
shade of dissent from this proposition ; but 
nevertheless year by year, the export has gone on 
increasing far above all estimates, the simple but 
all-sufficient explanation of the Ceylon planter being. 
My poverty, but not my will consents. 
With his coffee ruined, and his tea not yet in bear- 
ing, the hardlyjtried planter in this island had to 
cut his cinchona bark to get any money at all to 
keep his work going. With an increasing area 
giving crop under tea, and with the great additional 
claim on the time and attention of planters and 
coolies necessitated by tea, and aUo no doubt with 
the greatly contracted area under cinchona, this 
year at last has seen an appreciable diminution of 
the exports of bark. Still, compared with last year, 
the reduction is not much, and it is very certain 
now that do what we may our estimates for the 
season ending 80th September next is to be ex- 
ceeded. We estimated 9 millions lb. as our total 
export for season 1888-89 ; but to the 4th instant 
we have shipped 8,445,013 1b. So that it is pretty 
certain the total outturn will be nearer 10 than 9 
millions. This, however, would indicate a substan- 
tial reduction on the past three years, as the 
following comparison will show : — 
Exports of Cinchona Bark from Ceylon : 
Season 1888-9 (say) 10,000,000 lb. 
Do 1887-8 ... 11,704.932 lb. 
Do 1886-7 ... 14,389,184 lb. 
Do 1885-6 ... 15,364,912 lb. 
For next season — 1889-90 — already an estimate of 
8 millions of pounds has been put forward, and 
although the total amount of available bark in 
this island has undoubtedly been very largely 
contracted by the enormous exports of the past 
four years — due to the hard times for planters and 
their supplacement of cinchona by tea, — still it 
is almost certain that 8 millions lb. at least will 
be shipped, unless some movement takes place 
such as that suggested by Baron von Rosenberg to 
regulate and reduce the harvesting and exports. 
Is it then feasible to form a Syndicate, or adopt 
an Agreement embracing the Cinchona Planters of 
Ceylon, India and Java to regulate their supply of 
bark to Europe during, say the next two or three 
years? Some time ago, we think the suggestion 
would have been laughed " out of court " in 
Ceylon. But that was when the whole of our 
hillcountry nearly was covered with cinchona in 
various stages ; that was when the crisis following 
the collapse of coffee was at its height ; and again 
it was at a time when most of us thought that 
the only chance for Ceylon was to get its bark 
into the home market before Java or India began 
to harvest largely. Now, the whole aspect of the 
cinchona question has altered both here and 
with the other two great Eastern C9m- 
petitors. The area under cinchona — the number 
of holders of bark — in Ceylon has con- 
tracted enormously. Cinchona has been entirely 
cl' ared out of many districts, and it should not 
be difficult to form a'l the proprietors or agents 
holding appreciable areas of harvestable bark into 
an Association for the purpose desired by Baron 
von Rosenberg, as far as their personal subscrip- 
tion to the proposal is concerned. How the prac- 
tical work of regulating the cropping and export 
would be managed, is a matter we do not discuss 
for the present. Again so far as acquaintance with 
their resources — the extent of their planting and 
quantity of available bark — is ooncerned, we know 
