April r, 1890. 1 THE TROPSOAt AGRICULTURIST. 687 
when the clay's work is done, the chatty is 
brought to the principal Moorman who alone has 
the quicksilver, a few globules of which dropped 
Lito the chatty, quickly separates the gold. This 
work like the gemming is carried on on joint- 
stock principles. We saw a Email ball of gold, the 
result of melting two days' washings and which 
was worth over a sovereign. No great fortune there- 
fore so far in washing out say ten rupees worth 
of gold daily ; but as the work is done by a 
man and a boy, those concerned no doubt con- 
sider the profit to be sufficient. Some distance 
away it was reported to us that a European is 
engaged in washing for gold with a number of 
natives and that he is employing steam pumping 
machinery and doing well — that is getting £2 
worth of gold a day — but this story has to be 
verified. Save as an interesting adjunct to the 
gem-digging, there is nothing attractive in the 
gold-washing at Waragoda, except as showing how 
freely and widely gold in minute partioles is 
distributed in Ceylon. The chance of finding 
a good deposit of gems, on the other hand, is muoh 
more likely to attract native industry, capitalists 
and possibly, eventually European means of working. 
We do not suppose that the Kelam Valley gemmi- 
ferous deposit will ever prove so rich as the deposits 
found in Eakwana ; but as a supplementary industry 
to the latter, it is well worthy of the attention of 
the experts now in the island, and of all interested 
in the development of the mineral wealth of Ceylon. 

PAYING DUTY ON TEA ON LANDING. 
Our readers' attention was recently drawn to this 
subject by our correspondents Messrs. William Walker 
& Sons, a firm of high standing and weli-known in 
Aberdeen and Scotland generally, who have sent a 
petition to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, urging 
him to separate the tea received into England, and 
place that required for exportation in a bonded ware- 
house, while the duty on that intended for home 
consumption should be paid at the ship's side. This 
in theory seems reasonable enough, but in practice it 
would not be found workable from the simple fact 
that when tea is imported it is impossible in nearly 
every instance to say whether it will be ultimately 
used in this counti y or exported. Then, with regard 
to the payment of the duty iD a lump sum instead 
of instalments, when the tea is actually rf qnircdfor 
consumption, objections would be raised to this change 
—first by the importers, who would be calhd upon 
to advance the whole of the duty upon the arrival 
of the steamer conveying the tea, and before they 
had an opportunity of selling it. Even supposing 
the amount of the duty were reduced from sixpence 
to (say) three or four pence per pound, it would in- 
volve the importers in a considerable outlay, which 
would have to be paid in cash, and would probably 
lead to a restriction in the term of the prompt. Con- 
sidering how unprofitably the China tea trade has 
been carried on for the last few years, it is hardly 
likely the suggestion would meet with favour at the 
hands of the importers. 
Secondly, the retail grocers would, in addition to 
haying to btar the loss of time in the prompt to 
which we have already alluded, have also to pay the 
amount of the tea duty on all they might require 
to buy, whether required for immediate use or for 
keeping in stock. Now it is well known that certain 
kinds of tea are only imported at particular times 
of the year, and grocerB, in order to maintain the 
quality of their blends of tea, are compelled to buy 
in advanco of their wants, and it would be hard 
to make them pay the duty on the whole of the 
purchase at the prompt. The privilege of storing 
tea in bond being one that bns been enjoyed for so 
many years, and has never involved the Crown in 
the loss of a single sixpence, some strong reasons 
must be assigned before any change iu the mode of 
collection should be entertained, 
The convenience which would attend the fact of 
tea being free and stored in warehouses, where the 
delivery could take place without the vexatious de- 
lays which now occur, is, of course, a point no one 
will be inclined to deny, and moreover, the sampling 
question would, no doubt, be placed on a more 
satisfactory footing — a consummation devoutly to be 
wished; but the primary oifficulty of paying the 
duty iu advance has to be got over first, and, with- 
out going so far as to say that the remedy would 
be as bad as the disease, yet we are sure the opposi- 
tion to the course proposed by our correspondents 
would be very great, and, as far as we can learn, 
the trade generally — and certainly the retail grocers 
— have not shown any evidence of their apprecia- 
tion of the suggestion to put their money in the hands 
of the Crown before they are absolutely obliged to 
do so. The profits on grocery articles in the present 
day do not allow of any gratuitous offerings to the 
Chancellor of the Exchequer, but, on the other 
hand, every penny has to be saved and expenses 
curtailed as far as possible to enable grocers to 
make a living iu this age of excessive competition and 
low prices.— Grocer, Feb. 8th. 
« 
FORESTS AND FOEESTEY. 
Yesterday afternoon a paper on " The Utility of 
Forests and the Study of Forestry " was read by Dr. 
W. Schlich (Professor of Forestry at the Royal Col- 
lege of Engineering, Coopers-hill) before the Indian 
section of the Society of Arts. The chair was taken 
by Major-GeDeral Michael, c. s. I., and among those 
present were Sir Peter Lumsdtn, Sir Owen Burne, Sir 
George Birdwood, Sir Henry Cunningham, Sir Alexan- 
der Taylor, Sir Juland Danvers, Sir J. Fayrer, Sir 
Charles Bernard, General Keatinge, Mr. Seton-Karr, 
Dr. Hyde Clarke, and Mr. T. H. Tborntcn. 
Dr. Schlich, in the course of his paper, said that 
although forestry had been practised in the United 
Kingdom for centuries, it did not receive much at- 
tention until the progress of forestry in India required 
the appointment of properly qualified experts who 
could not be procured in this country. In 1864 Dr. D. 
Brandis (now Sir Dietrich Brandis, K. c. I, E ) bad 
been appointed the First Inspector-General of Forests 
to the Government India, and that eniuent organizer 
perceived at once that if forestry in India was to be 
really successful and lasting it was necessary to secure 
the service of an efficient staff to manage the exten- 
sive forests of our Indian Empire. As to the import- 
ance of forests there could of course be no doubt what- 
ever, and although, observations in India had not yet 
taken place over a sufficiently long period, to yield 
decided results, those in Germany, France, and Swit- 
zerland had settled many questions, while they had 
thrown additional light on others. As far as our know- 
ledge went at present, the following summary indicated 
cenerally the utility of forests in the economy of man 
and of nature : — (1) Forests supply timber, fuel, and 
other forest produce ; (2) they offer a convenient oppor- 
tunity for the investment of capital and for enterprise ; 
(3) they produce a demand for labour in their manage- 
ment and working, as well as in a variety of industries 
which depend upon forests for their raw material ; (4) 
they reduce the temperature of the air and soil to a 
moderate extent, and render the climate more equable; 
(5) they increase the relative humidity of the air, 
and reduce evaporation to a considerable extent; 
(6) they tend to increase the rainfall;* (7) they 
help to regulate the water supply, insure a more 
sustained feeding of springs, tend to reduae violeut 
sludge, and render the flow of water in rivers more 
continuous ; (8) they assist in preventing landslips, 
avalanches, the silting up of rivers and low lands, 
and arrebt moving sands ; (9) they reduce the velo- 
city of air currents, protect adjoining fields against 
cold or dry winds, and afford shelter to cattle, game, 
and useful birds ; (10) they assist in the production 
* On absolute rainfall the effect is very slight. 
Their great use oliruatioally is in conserving moisture, 
-Ed. T.A, 
