4i* THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [December i, 1889. 
Manuring Hillsides. — The bottom of a hill in the 
valley is undoubtedly richer in vegetable matter than 
the sides, unless the latter have been recently and 
heavily manured. But it is a fallacy to draw manure 
at any season on a side hill with the notion that it 
will wash down. We have tried that repeatedly, anil 
the manure never fertilized much, if any, below the 
line where it was drawn. Undoubtedly rains washed 
over the land end the manure on the soil below, but 
the valuable properties of the manure were deposited 
where it lay, while the deodorized water passed on 
below. It is doubtless to this necessity for water 
saturated with manure to sink that running streams 
and large bodies of water owe their power to cleanse 
themselves. The nitrates are heavier aud 6ink to the 
bottom. Hence the mud from ponds and running 
streams becomes such valuable manure in many cases. 
It contains most of the fertilizing elements that the 
water above it has contained. — American Cultivator. 
The Java Cinchona Plant&ks and the Fall 
in the Price of Bark. — The Secretary of the Soeka- 
boemi Agricultural Association sends us a copy of 
a memorial addressed by the Committee of that 
body to the Minister for the Colonies at the 
Hague, dated 25th October 1889. Translated into 
English, it runs as follows 
The Committee &c. have the honour to state : That 
the present low position in the market of the unit at 
the cinchona bark sales must be chiefly ascribed to 
the ' bear ' speculating of quinine manufacturers. That 
a good deal of quinine is sold by these for future delivery, 
whilst they are as yet not possessed of the bark from 
which to manufacture it. That this is done simply 
in order to buy the cinchona bark as cheaply as pos- 
sible, and that it is proved that some quinine manu- 
facturers could not fulfil their engagements if they 
had to deliver immediately the quinine sold for future 
delivery. That the inexplicable ' bear ' speculating of 
quinine manufacturers, who must however make a 
profit by the sale at as high a figare as possible of 
their product, is only to be explained by the fact, 
that they forego the profit on the principal item, in 
order to make sure of the profits accruing in good 
number from minor items in the manufacture. That 
in 1885 inter alia for 17,000 kilograms of cinchona bark 
f4o,000 net were realized, equal to a unit of 35 cents, 
whilst in that year the export of cinchona bark from 
Ceylon was 14,000,000 English pounds. That now in 
1889 the unit has fallen to seven cents per half kilo- 
gram, notwithstanding that the export of cinchona bark 
from Ceylon has also fallen to 8,000,000 English pounds* 
and the consumption of quinine in America in that perod 
of 4 years has increased by 100 per cent. That the 
Government of Netherlands India is not only a 
dealer in coffee beans, as Your Excellency a short 
time ago remarked in an interpellation in the Second 
Chamber of the States-General, but also a dealer in 
cinchona bark. That it is our candid opinion that 
there is no doubt that an equally stringent inter- 
vention by Your Excellency in the cinchona market, 
as recently in the coffee market, may be of very 
great influence on the raising oftbeuuit and conse- 
quently of the prices of quinine. That finally it is 
of not the slightest advantage to private sellers, if 
they raise their unit to fifteen cents, so long as the 
Government factories' cinchona barks are favored & 
tout prix. That as there was a reason for Your 
Excellency, when the stock of coffee had shrunk from 
400,000 bales to 60,000 bales, no longer to part with 
the Government coffee at a price which the ' bear ' 
party in that product wished to give for it, there 
is equal, if not more, reason, to make an end of 
the game in quinine. These are the reasons why 
the abovementioned Committee beg Your Excellency 
to take into consideration, to be pleased henceforth 
to fix the unit of the cinchona barks of the Govern- 
ment of Netherlands India at a minimum of 15 
cents for manufacturers' barks. 
* The actual quantity exported in the 12 months 
ended September was 10,498,000 lb.— Ed. 
All about Tobacco. — Messrs. A. M. <fe J. 
Ferguson have collected from their exoellent perio- 
dical, ih« Tropical Agriculturist, a series of articles 
and letters on the subject of Tobacco growth. An 
index is prefixed. The culture of Tobacco in Britain 
is alluded to, large use being made, and duly 
acknowledged, of Mr. E. J. Beale's treatise on the 
subject. — Gardeners' 1 Chronicle. 
CEYLON OOLONOS FOE ■■ MKRICA, AND THE 
Present Depreciation in the Tea Market. — We 
take the followng extract from Messrs Rucker 
& Bencraft'e Weekly Circular : — 
" We noticed in the recent sales some very fairly 
prepared Oolongs which realized Is 4|d to Is 5d 
per lb. We have already pointed out that the con- 
sumption of fermented teas, i. e., Congous, Indians and 
Ceylons in the United States aud Canada is only about 
10 per cent of the total tea delivered, Green T^as, Japans 
and Oolongs, all uofermented teas, amounting to 82 mil- 
lions.Oougous, Souchongs, Indians and Cevlons to seven 
millions. As we said on Oct. 4th, 1888," for one lb. of 
Ceylon the Americans aud Canadians drink 80 lb. of 
China and Japan unfermented tea. At present, with a 
moderate curtailment of plucking it seems likely we 
shall be able for some time to deal in this country with 
all the Ceylon tea made, bnt when it becomes 
necessary to open up new markets in the United 
States and in Canada it must be done with oolongs." 
It is evident that the present depression in the tea 
market was expected by those interested in the tea 
trade, because we find that the terminal price of 
common Congous for November was only 4 10-16thsd 
and for December 4 13-16thsd against 5 4-16thsd the 
previous month whilst for January the price is 
quoted 5 2-16thsd and for March and April 5 3-16thsd. 
Employment of Females in Tea Factories in 
Anhdi. — The Peking Gazette of 9th Oct. contains 
the following on the above subject (as translated 
into the N.-C. Herald}: — 
Some one having brought to the notice of the 
Throne the numerous abuses connected with the em- 
ployment of women and girls in tea factories all over 
the country, the Emperor issued on the 3lst of August 
last a Decree ordering a strict investigation into the 
matter. The Governor of Anhui now submits, in obe- 
dience to these instructions, the result of the enquiries 
which he has caused to be institute 1 on the subject. 
The two chief places of tea production in the province 
are T'un-hai and Ma-fu, situated respectively in the 
Prefecture of Hni-ch'ou and the department of Liu-an. 
By a custom of long standing all the poor females of 
these districts resort to tea picking every year as a 
means of gaining a livelihood. The tea factories con- 
sist of an outer and an inner establishment, in the 
former of which the men attend to the firing of the 
article, while in the latter the woman pick the leaves. 
Women who live in the vicinity return to their homes 
every night, those who come from a distance find a 
home with relatives, and such a thing as residence in 
inns or remaining shelterless all night is unknown. 
The presence, however, of such a miscellaneous crowd 
of people, with good and bad characters intermixed, 
makes it necessary for the local authorities to exer- 
cise careful supervision over these establishments 
every Spring, and so far the intercourse between the 
people and the tea merchants has produced no serious 
result. Exclusive of the above, there are no tea dis- 
tricts in the province of any importance to attract 
any large gathering of people, and the number of 
female tea-pickers is so small as to render it com- 
paratively easy to check abuses. The Governor is of 
opinion that any general prohibition which would pre- 
vent women and girls from engaging in tea-picking 
would from the nature of the case be very hard to en- 
force, as it would deprive a poor class of people of 
their only meanB of livelihood. He acknowledges, 
however, the necessity of guarding against the abuses 
engendered by the low state of morality which pre- 
vails in this degenerate age, and he promises to do 
all he can in concert with the authorities of the tea 
establishments to inculcate a feeling of self-respect 
amongst the female inhabitanta of the tea districts. 
