THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [December x, 1889. 
Penny Quinine is made up in boxes of the value of 
one penny each containing for use in tropical climates 
or for severe cases in temperate climates, 2 pills of 
each 4 grains of sulphate of quinine ; or else 4 pills 
of 2 grains each ; or, for tonic or temperate climate 
purposes, 8 one-grain pills. Twelve penny boxes are 
packed in one shilling box, and the particulars are 
printed in the language of the district for which they 
are intended, and are made suitable to the requirements 
of that district. 
Stronger pills can be had on application, as horses, 
cattle, sheep, and dogs, in fact all domestic animals, 
suffer from fever and feverish colds, and to these animals 
quinine is just as valuable as it is to mankind, and 
at the present price there is no reason why they 
should not have it. Opium smoking. — The only known 
harmless palliative of the sufferings endured by the 
opium smoker who wishes to abandon the habit is 
found iu the use of quinine. To wholesale buyers 
who may be prepared to use their especial facilities 
for opeuing up new districts to pu^h his pills, Mr. 
.Rivers Hicks will be glad .o offer advantageous terms. 
To the retailer, the pills will thus be a 50 per cent 
article ; for he will sell for 12 pence that which costs him 
8 pence. To the public, they will in many cases mean 
health restored or even life preserved for the sum of 
1 penny;— We are, dear sir, yours faithfully, 
RIVERS HICKS & Co. 
CEYLON TEAS AND AN EXPERTS' PRO- 
PHECIES FIVE MONTHS AGO. 
Dear Sie, — The Dealers' Trade Circular has not 
proved to be a true prophet: vide extract from an 
enolosed London tea circular, and to the such 
sweeping assertions as for instance " For low grades 
there is no future " exception has and always will 
be taken by those directly interested in the pro- 
duction of Ceylon tea. SOUCHONG. 
(I. A. Rucker <& BencrafVs Weekly Tea Circular, 
London, Thursday evening, May 30th, 1889. 
Recurring once more to our old text, we extract 
from the same able Circular, Dealer's Trade Circular, 
issued we may say broadcast over the United King- 
dom, and read and considered by those interested 
in tea in every town, the following remarks on — 
" Ceylon Teas. — Arrivals have been moderate though 
continuous, and prices remain exceedingly low for all 
but the very best hquouring sorts. The last invoice 
of 'Hoolankande ' has beaten record with Broken 
Pekoe, 3s If d ; Pekoe, 2s 6|d ; Pekoe Souchong, Is 
lOJd. This average is very high and should encourage 
planters to strive for quality instead of quantity. 
Th e ruck of common tea that is forced on to an 
unwilling market kills all life in the Trade. Pekoe 
Souchongs at 6d, earthy, coarse and rank ; Pekoes 
at 7d, very burnt, and tasting like charred paper, 
are not likely to increase the prestige of Oeylon Tea, 
though they may leave a profit to the importer, if, we 
suspect, they are often almost refuse from the factories. 
" In closing our remarks we venture to predict still 
higher prices for choice Teas, owing to the absence of 
Indian Pekoes of high class, and till July the only sub- 
stitute for fine China Teas must be ' Oeylon.' For low 
grades there is no future. Stocks of low China and 
Indian are enormous and no demand, the only way 
to get rid of the weight is to virtually give it away 
the a cost of freight and packages." 
RICE CULTURE — PEACTICAL QUESTIONS 
ANSWERED. 
Central Province. 
Dear Sni. — In answer to "Householder." — Ha- 
thial which is a seven months' crop and Honderavale 
a six months' crop yields about 60 per cent of rice 
on the paddy. 
The cost of pounding and cleaning is 2 lahas of 
paddy to every bushel of rice delivered; or l-5th 
the value of the paddy, or about from 20 to 25 cents. 
A bushol of paddy is sold from Rl to Rl-50 
according to season. X. 
RICE CULTURE : PRACTICAL QUESTIONS 
ANSWERED. 
Kurunegala, Oct, 25th. 
Dear Sir, — In the Kurunegala District two bushels 
of paddy produce one bushel of rice. It costs a 
villager nothing to convert paddy into rice as the 
females of his household do the pounding. 
The average cost in town of pounding two bushels 
of paddy into one bushel of rice is 37J cents. 
The ordinary price of home grown paddy in the 
market averages between 87| cents and Rl, per 
bushel, and rarely rises to Rl-25, except in times 
of scarcity caused either by prolonged drought or 
heavy floods. 
The ordinary villager in this district has no 
paddy to sell, all that he gets from his field being 
used for home conEumption. After satisfying do- 
mestic requirements, if any paddy remains, it is 
generally bartered at the nearest boutique, invari- 
ably kept by a money-grubbing Moorman, the Shy- 
lock of the village, for salt-fish, curry-stuffs etc. 
Those who have no surplus paddy, barter their 
garden produce for these village luxuries. 
Some of the headmen (who are by the way entitled 
to what is known as huwandiram, a tax on paddy 
for supervision of fields etc.) and influential villagers 
store their surplus paddy in granaries, and this 
paddy they seldom sell, the Kandyan idea being 
that the best indicia of one's wealth, like the cattle 
of the old Romans, is his paddy. There are one 
or two such individuals, who are personally known 
to me, who would at this moment be worth between 
R5.000, and R6.000 in paddy alone, which has 
been stored up for years. 
We have no " peddling villagers " in this district. 
During reaping time, when almost every thrash- 
ing floor has its quota of stocks, paddy is 
cheap, and if any person desires to sell, which is 
rarely the case, he will not be able to get more 
than 75 cents for a bushel. But I have known of 
instances where paddy has been sold at the thrashing 
floor for Rl-09 per bushel, but this is seldom the. 
case. 
There is no such article known as " home grown 
rice." 
The paddy that is generally brought into market 
is that which forms the share of the Government 
renters. Boutique-keepers and traders buy up the 
paddy rents from Government, recover and collect 
the tythe, which in some eases is one-tenth, and 
in others one-fourteenth of the produce, and bring 
it into town, where they either sell it in the husk, 
or pound and sell it as rice. The pounding process 
is generally entrusted to indigent village women, 
who for a livelihood undertake the work. 
F. H. M. 
No. II. 
Western Province. 
Dear Sir, — The information required by " House- 
holder " as to how much paddy is required 
to make a bushel of rice, and what is the 
ordinary cost of conversion ? I may inform him, 
that two bushels of paddy (both steamed or raw) 
are required to convert a bushel of rice, at a cost 
of I85C. per bushel of rice. 
The ordinary price of a bushel of home-grown 
paddy is from Rl to Rl'32 and rice ^R2-24 to 
E2-56.— Yours faithfully, 
A VILLAGER. 
No. III. 
Bentota, October 27th. 
Deah Sir, — The information required by " House- 
holder " as to how much paddy is required to make 
a bushel of rice &c. maybe useful to many. In this 
part of the island, it is generally admitted tbat two 
bushels of paddy produce one bushel of rice, but 
