268 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, [October i, 1889. 
July 30th Aug. 13th 
1 B Oeylon original succirubra sold 
shavings ... l|d sold l|d 
7 B „ rend. o£Bc. chips 4£d to 5d sold 4Jd to 5d 
SB „ orig. snce. chips 2d sold 3jdto4d 
26 B Java orig. ledger, chips 6§d to 7 A sold 8d 
22 B , orig. ledger, branch 
chips 3d refused 3Jd 
12 B „ orig. ledger, root 6Jd asked 7Jd 
8 BEast Indian rend, crown 
shavings 4d asked 4Jd 
4 B „ orig. „ . If d asked 2d 
The following are the approximate quantities pur- 
chased by the principal buyers : — 
Lb. 
Agents for the Mannheim & Amsterdam works 80,681 
Agents for the Auerbach factory ... 69,234 
Agents for the American, French, &c, works 61,074 
Agents for the. Brunswick factory ... 14,907 
Agents forthe Frankfort o/M and Stuttgart works 9,818 
Messrs. Howards & Sons ... ... 5,719 
Sundry druggists, &c... ... ... 6,617 
Total sold ... ... 248,050 
Bought in or withdrawn ... 22,028 
Total quantity catalogued ... 270,078 
It should be well understood that the mere weight 
of bark purchased affords no guide whatever to the 
quinine yield represented by it, firms who buy a small 
quantity of bark by weight frequently taking the richest 
lots, and vice versa. 
South American Bark.— Two hundred and fifteen 
small bales of cultivated Bolivian Oalisaya quill, alto- 
gether weighing 12,085 lb., were offered and sold, one 
good bright lot, rather split at 8d, the rest, dull and 
irregular quill at 5d to 6|d per lb. The quality was 
rather below the usual standard. 
African Bark. — Another parcel of cinchona from 
the West Coast of Africa, imported via Lisbon, was 
offered and sold at 3Jd to 4d for weak long thin and irre- 
gular Succirubra quill, and 2d to 2Jd for low to weak 
broken Oalisaya quill. The whole weighed only 3,108 
lb., and every bale was country damaged. Our imports 
from all sources since the last report have been 1,151 
packages. 
Cubebs. — Over 240 packages have been imported 
this week, but four-fifths of this is said to be in transit 
only. Holders still quote £24 to £28 according to 
quality. The cultivation of cubebs is being taken up 
with a great deal of energy in Java, and the director of 
the Buitenzorg Botanical Gardens reports a strong 
demand for seed from several quarters. 
Quinine.— The market at the close of last week 
entered from a passively firm state into one of very 
considerable activity, and heavy transactions have been 
reported daily at gradually advancing prices. The re- 
ported sales in second-hands total up to about 160,000 
oz., nearly half of which is put down to the Brunswick, 
and about one-fourth to the B & S brands. About 
60,000 oz. are said to have been sold on the spot at 12Jd 
to 12jd, and, ultimately at 13d for bulk ; November 
at 14d ; December delivery at 13d to 14d ; January- 
March at 13Jd (early in the week) ; and February at 
14d per oz. Today the market closed rather quieter 
though the makers' agents are selling very cautiously, 
and quote Is 3d per oz. for December delivery. Last 
night an offer of 13Jcl is said to have been refused for 
a small lot on the spot, and today 13|d is reported to 
have been paid. — Chemist and Druggist. 
« 
CEYJ on tea in ameeica. 
We are indebted to Mr. F. F. Street for the 
following : — 
"Colombo, 9th tember 1889. The following 
interesting extracts ficm a letter from New York 
written by Mr. Lenyon Parsons, formerly of Co- 
lombo, will I think interest some of your planting 
rcader8. 
"My idea in writing to you is to get ready in 
case Ceylon Tea comes to the front here. We are 
ready to receive consignments both of tea and cocoa, 
which information if not of use to you pass on 
to some one to whom it will do good. 1 have always 
taken an active interest in Ceylon tea here, holding 
Murray's agency (of Philadelphia), but I find the 
grocers will not use it ; hence the jobbers will not. 
When the public ask for it, the grocers will, then 
the jobbers, and then is the time for consignments. 
These do not I believe pay just now. It is a mistaken 
notion of the Ceylon people that this market is not 
being tried because it is, especially by representatives 
of London firms. I tried it myself with Murray's 
tea, but grocers will not take it, as they make more 
money out of cheap trash. This is the experience of 
others here besides my firm. As I happen to know 
some prominent grocers, I know what I am talking 
about. Of course the right thing is to start a retail 
place here and advertise. New York city is tlie 
place to begin, for the simple reason that if the 
public buy the tea the grocers and jobbers will, and 
these latter people will advertise it, through their 
travellers or " drummers " as they are called, of 
their own free will, out West. 1 saw a Canadian 
writing something about vested interests liere 
in the Ceylon papers. There are none that will 
not at once disappear, when once the profit 
of an enterprise is shown. He might have known 
that in this city, at least, dollars are dollars ! Show 
the men here that they get more for their money 
by purchasing Ceylon tea than Chinese and they 
will help you along. I always have a stock of Ceylon 
tea, from Murray, on hand for personal iriends, 
and find 90 per cent of them want nothing better 
and eagerly ask for it. Having an American part- 
ner I am well acquainted with the likes and dis- 
likes of the people here ; and without that know- 
ledge it would be much better to start an enterprise 
in the North Pole as far as the profit is concerned. 
" The Oeylon people seem to be stumbling in the 
dark about the way to start a Tea Company here : 
surely business men must know know that they 
can apply to business firms and get full information 
in all they want to know. When I saw that a 
plan was on foot to sell tea in conjunction with 
earthenware for the purpose of pushing the inter- 
ests of Tea ! it made me think the Island had 
suffered in some way from the heat." 
' ' I hope this new Company will prosper, as I am 
anxious to see Ceylon came to the front." 
TEA-DRINKING IN AMEEICA. 
To the Editor of the Englishman. 
Sir, — With reference to a statement in a recent issue 
of the Englishman on a matter of some importance to 
many of your readers, you might explain that there is 
no duty on tea imported to the United States in British 
owned vessels, or, in fact, in vessels of any country 
having treaties with the United States. 
In order to create a market here for Indian teas, the 
people must first be taught how to prepare the tea. 
They have been accustomed of " stew " the rubbish 
sent here from Japan, and, in fact, have come to like it, 
so that it is difficult to induce even private housekeepers 
to take the little trouble necessary to make an infusion 
of Indian tea, fresh each time it is wanted for use. 
The hotels and restaurants, which are iha chief 
consumers of tea, draw each customer's supply 
froin a huge boiler which is kept stewing all day long, 
and to which a handful of tea and- a kettle of wat.r is 
added as occasion demands. Indian tea prepared 
in this fashion is, of course, undrinkable, but until the 
public demand something different the hotel-keeper 
will not change, even if you supply him with Indian 
tea for nothing. A. S. M. 
San Francisco, California, U. S. A., J uly 24th, 
