May i) 1890.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
741 
thing like buoyancy, there was flatnesB, and the biddings 
for the fine qualities were so slack that they ruled Id 
to 2d per lb. below the Novem'.er rates, the proportion 
sold at the deoliue being ratber small ; but the very 
fineat growths fetched the former value. The other 
and commoner scrts also found a dull market, but hold- 
ers were desirous of affecting a cltaranoe, and at a re- 
duction of about a halfpenny per pound the rest of the 
supply was taken off with a pretty fair competition 
towards the finish. Ordinary to good first qualify was 
realised at 6Jd to lOJd, fine at Is to la 3d, and auperior 
garden plantation at Is 4d to Is 6d ; also seconds at 
from 6d to Is Id, with extra at la 4d; thirds at of d to 
lid, and best at Is to Is 2d ; fourths at 5|d to 9d ; par- 
cels " unworked" at 5jd to 8d ; and broken (in boxes) 
at 6id to 6£d per lb.— H. & 0. Mail. 
A PRODUCERS' UNION— THE NEED OF 
THE DAY. 
Tig/is agit rabida cum tigride pacem 
Perpetuam, ssevis inter se conveuit urbis. — Juvenal. 
Tiger with tiger, bear with b9ar, you'll find 
In leagues offensive and defensive joined. — Tate. 
To the Editor of the Home and Colonial Mail. 
Sib, — The readers who have read No. 9 of the Spec- 
tator, issued on Mwrch 10h, 1710, will recognise the 
quotation from the tinman satirist, which served as the 
text for I he imp lisbable essny on "Olubs," commencing 
as follows :.— '"Man is said to be a sociable animal 
When a set of men find themselves agree in any par- 
ticular, though never so trivial, they establish them- 
selves into a kind of fraternity." 
The purpose of this letter being to impress upon 
those whose cause you support and represent so well 
the need and the advantage of combination, I have 
ventured to borrow the text, without personal refer- 
ence to the tiger and barring the bear. 
The absence 01* solidarity among producers has long 
been a souroe of wuudermi nt to those who see the 
benefit of organ sed action for common purposes, and 
who note how its utility is recognised in almost every 
department of social, political, and commercial life. 
We have learned many things from those who are 
termed Socialists, some cf them bad and some good. 
In the latter category I would place the lesson that 
th ere is an alternative to Individualism, and that 
" free and unrestricted competition " is not a divine 
revelation, but a superstition begotton by man's in- 
herent selfishness. But superstitions die hard ; and 
the Individualism which has marked the history of our 
industry more than that of any other survives. What 
is the result ? 
Producers having to face strong organisations seek- 
ing their own ends -and legitimately so— are beaten 
in detail, each one fighting for his own hand; and 
their interests go to the wall. 
Does the history of the past twenty years show any 
instance of a great question affecting them being settled 
in their favour ? They have protested and schemed 
and struggled in vain. Why ? Because they have 
no machinery for combined action, nor the spirit to 
create it. It matters not whether the dispute is with 
the dealers about conditions of sale, or with the ware- 
housekeepers about their charges, or with the ship- 
owners — down goes the producer before every fresh 
demand. 
What is the remedy ? JuBt to learn the lesson 
which John Burns, Broadhurst, and Company have 
taught their clients and to put it into practice. 
But how oan so many separate and conflicting 
interests be reconciled the critic will ask? My point 
is ih it the interests are identical, and are only sepa- 
rate by reasen of an ild-fashioned cxcluaiveness whioh 
still hi 'Ids sway in high places. Event- and necessity 
are rapidly tending to concentration of interests and 
tl ii wisn policy of amalgamation ; in witness whereof 
I rite sonio instructive fii/nres before me. During 1889 
ninety-five million pounds of tea were shipped trom 
Calcutta, of which .-ixiy-tnree millions - and to the 
credit, of just ten firms, and twent) millions to ten 
bher linns; that is to say. eighty-'fiv • per cent, of all 
iLq tea produced is controlled in Uulcutta by twenty 
firms, representing, let us say, thirty independent 
interests in London. If, with the assistance of thesis 
or eight leading firms of brokers here, who negotiate 
the sale of four-fifths of the production, means cannot 
be found for acting in concert for the common good, 
then, indeed, the case is past curing. 
The mention of brokers may lead another critio 
to ask, What is the use of brokers and their 
association if they cannot safeguard the interest 
of their employers! That is a straight question, and 
shall have a plain answer. The Brokers' Association 
exists for the purpose of collecting statistics and— 
subscriptions. Its members are engaged in keen 
competition and rivalry among themselves, and but too 
faithfully reflect therein the spirit which has hitherto 
governed the action of those whom they 6erve. More- 
over, the fear of "the boycott" effectually deters them 
from taking up an independent attitude on any ques- 
tion likelj to be unpopular with their customers even 
when it would be just and reasonable to do so. 
But the practioal reader will ask, For what ends 
should producers especially combine? I will indicate 
a few that occur to me. A reduction of the marine 
and fire insuranoe premiums, now quite out of pro- 
portion to the average risk, owinir u> 'he great care 
bestowed upon tea, A reduction of the ibree months 
prompt to a much sbo.t^r period R/str.ction of 
the days on which auc ions are held; sales thiee 
times a week being, in the opinion of many, p e- 
judicial to the stab-Iky of the market. Making 
warehousekeepers responsible for loss on contracts 
cancelled, when work for which they are paid is 
badly done. Making brokers responsible for the com- 
pletion of contracts, subject to the arbitration of a 
duly constituted Committee of Arbitiators, in place 
of the preaent system under which certain buyers 
decline to take delivery on too slight, pretext. Agree- 
ment to abandon the pri sent pressure to sell before 
teas are ready for delivery. The abolition of the 1 A 
draft allowaroe — a tax of £1 per cent upon the value 
of the crop. Reduction of the exorbitant rate of freight 
— now 45s net per ton from Calcutta. 
Necessity is the parent of invention ; the need of a 
Producers' Union is evident. Is there no genius forth- 
coming to oall it into being ? — Yours &c, 
— H. and 0. Mail. Sigma. 
TEA PLANTING DOWN SOUTH. 
(By an Old Hand.) 
Udugama has the exact climate for tea ; but we 
must import the neoessary fertility of soil, unless we 
choose to wait till the tea roots reach the stiff iron 
soil far below. Grumblings are again heard about 
the road even wh"n the Government has given in 
a very popular road officer all to om selves. His 
genial presence in our midst is a boon, but we want 
that road finished. The Sinhalese holiday iB causing 
all things to hang fire. That word " the Sinhalese 
holiday " used to be a terrible bogie, but we are 
making ourselves independent of it. We can't get 
a fowl for love or money from the villages. A 
Buddhist crusade or revival is said to be the cause — 
" Thou shalt not kill " a koli, but any number of 
men. There are lot of murders, but preoious few 
kolies for a ohange. 
PREPARED PAPER FOR LINING TEA 
BOXES V8. TEA LEAD. 
We have received from Mr. Maitland-Kirwan, 
a Bami-le of prepared paper which is intended to 
supersede the use of tea lead in lining chests of tea 
for local and export purposes. The paper is very 
firm in texture, waterproof and of course much 
light r than the thinnest of lead. In sending us 
the aiimp.'es (which wo circulated in the Fort) 
Mr. Maitland-Kirwan writes to us as fol-lows : — 
" Elkaduwa, March 18th. — Referring to our con- 
