January i, 1890.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 4$9 
GEEMAN TEADE IN THE EAST. 
The following extracts from an article in the National 
Gazette of Berlin headed " German Trade with Oeylon 
and Singapore " show how closely the press in Germany 
watches the development of trade. The article is 
written by Dr. Paul Neubauer, who has travelled several 
times all over the world in order to make a special 
study of Germany's trade relations and prospects, and 
the following translation has been sent to us by a 
Ceylon planter now at home: — 
"The commercial relations which we are about to 
discuss embrace only a small portion of Indian trade, 
but they are of special importance because of the line 
of Imperial mail steamers. In considering the trade 
of the Straits Settlements and of Ceylon, the shipping 
tonnage of both amounting to as much as 4,229,351 
tons in 1885, we would observe that Colombo not only 
includes the trade of Ceylon, but also the greater part 
of the east and west coasts of Southern India. It is 
oonnected with Europe by the N. G. Lloyd, P. and O. 
and M. M. steamers runniDg to India, China and 
Australia, and Hamburg line, the A.-H. Llovd and the 
Rubattino lines, but most especially by the B. I. lines, 
which has almost the monopoly of freight from the 
Persian Gulf to the Straits Settlements. The N. G. 
Lloyd have made arrangements with the B. I. by which 
the former are able to grant through bills of lading 
via Colombo to the various parts of Persia, India and 
Burma." (There is also a long account of shipping 
oommuuioations and outlets for trade with Singapore 
and Penang.) 
" Some of the principal houses of business in Singa- 
pore are German, and there are several in the various 
rice ports in Bangkok, Mandalay and the Sunda Islands. 
In the Straits Settlements out of 1,761 Europeans 
206 are Germans. It may be well to allude here to the 
danger which the whole European trade is exposed to 
by wholesale immigration of Chinese. They already 
outnumber the Malays and thoy are by no means all of 
the labouring class, but number many tradprs and 
even merchants among them. In the British Colonies 
and in Sumatra the industrial and artisan class is 
nearly all Chinese. Their merchants in Singapore and 
Penang are immensely wealthy and they bid fair 
before very long to acquire the whole of the inter- 
mediate trade of the adjacent territories. They hold 
a great deal of landed property in Singapore, especially 
in the commoroial quarter. These are facts which 
should attract the serious attention of the Euro- 
pean commercial community, as although the business 
done with Europe by the wealthy Chinese firms is not 
yet of any great extent, it soon will be, and the con- 
sequences to the mercantile community will be serious. 
The Germans stand to lose even more than the English 
and French owing to the absence of a German Bank 
at Singapore which would be of immense advantage 
as facilitating the transactions of export and import 
bouses in Germany. 
" In Colombo there are also several import German 
firms, among which that of the German Consul, Messrs. 
Freudenberg & Co., ranks as high as any of the Eng- 
ish houses, if not higher, having a large import and 
port business, large oil mills, &c, &o. 
''The importanoo of these trading centres can be dear- 
ly gathered lrom the foregoing remarks. The important 
business of both will steadily increase, as the countries 
round about them are opened up and in a more marked 
way still should the report of tropical produce; Singa- 
pore especinlly so and to the advantage of Germany 
from us proximity to the German colonies in the 
South Seas. As soon as the producing powers of New 
Guinea and the Bismarck archipelego have passed 
beyond the experimental stage, their communication 
with Singapore as an outlet will become necessary. 
"The present movement of trade in Singapore repre- 
sents a value of 260,000,000 dollars ; in Oeylon about 
1191,000,1100. This latter quantity is the aotual trade of 
the islau I, transhipment goods representing a muoh 
higher value." 
(A detail d acoount of merchandise imported, and 
exported then follows, with quantities and values.) 
"The staple produce of Oeylon is, however, ooffee, tea, 
cinnamon, oinohoua, arecauuts, copra, cooonut oil and 
timber. In recent years there have been fluctuations 
in these products which call for special notice. Coffee, 
which several years ago represented one-third of the 
whole export, is now steadily declining owing to leaf- 
disease. Tea, however, shows the opposite results. As 
ooffee has decreased, tea has increased, and most of the 
coffee estates have been converted into tea. This oir. 
curostance is especially worthy of attention by the 
German market. The tea itself is of excellent flavour, 
quite equal, if not superior, to China tea, and the tea 
planters of Oeylon have this advantage over the Obinese 
that their tea is sorted and packed for shipment on the 
estate itself, eo that no rranipulation of the article it 
possible. Oeylon shipments to Germany consist at 
present principally of coconut oil, coffee, coir &c, but 
little or no tea as yet." 
TEA CHAEGES. 
Messrs. Anderson Brothers of 16 Philpot Lane 
issued the following circular on 6th December : — 
We regret to inform you that the Docks and 
Wharves have issued the following notice: — "Incon- 
sequence of the great increase in the cost of labour 
and other expenditure resulting from the recent strike, 
we beg to inform you the discount at present allowed 
on Importers' Charges on Tea will be reduoed from 20 
per cent to 10 per cent, and such reduoed discount 
will apply to all Tea arriving by ships reporting on 
and after the 1st January next." 
4 
TOBACCO CULTIVATION. 
Now that tobacco cultivation is becoming an in- 
dustry of some prominence in Oeylon, it may be well 
to note what is being done in other and new coun- 
tries in regard to this enterprise. The last issue of 
the London Chamber of Commerce Journal says that a 
bright future is before Congo tobacco, both for cutting 
purposes and cigar making. Some samples produced 
by persons having no knowledge of its cultivation, 
and which had not been fermented, displayed a very 
good quality, and the leaves were very supple . A 
correspondent states that he receivdd specimens from 
different parts of the Upper and Lower Congo coun- 
try. From these he made oigars which gave excel- 
lent results as to quality and combustion — in fact 
leaving nothing to be desired. The Upper Congo 
tobaccos are superior in quality to those of the 
Lower Congo, especially in the fineness of the 
leaves, and he attributes this to the difference in 
the character of the soil, which is drier in the 
Upper Congo districts than those of the Lower, 
which are generally damp. In sending this glowing 
account of the product, the correspondent notifies the 
Journal that a company is being formed in Belgium 
to cultivate tobacco in the Congo Free State systemati- 
cally, and under proper direction ; that it will be une 
affaire d'or ; and that " within two or three years all 
Belgian manufacturers will use the tobacco for cutting 
purposes and oigars." 
The " Nail-iess Horse Shoe Company," in which Mr. 
A. Boss, of Matale, has an interest, is making good 
progress towards launching on the London market, 
where it may be looked for very shortly. 
Quite recently we met a gentleman, formerly manager 
of the Monerikando estate in the Haputale district, 
Mr. Walker. He is in the enjoyment of good health, 
and was, when we saw him, on the point of leaving 
England for Switzerland, where he intended to winter 
with his family. He spoke in high terms of the quality 
of Ceylon teas, and was taking with him a quantity of 
the leaf, the produce of his old district, being resolved 
to drink no other, as well as to make its quality known 
to friends abroad. We gathered from him that he has 
not any intention of returning to Ceylou — at the same 
time ho was very pleased to gather from us all the par- 
ticulars we were able to supply, as to the great strides 
made by the Ceylon tea industry. 
Amongst the latest registrations of new undert,' k i' > 
we have to notioe the " The Oeylon Gem and Mining 
Syndicate " registered by Sydney Morse, 4, Fenchurch 
Avenue, E.G., with a capital of £10,400 in £1 shares. 
