May i, 1890.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST- 747 
and those who have charge of the interests of Indian 
tea producers are also earnestly pushing those in- 
terests. It is satisfactory to learn that the sale of 
Indian tea in France is on the increase, and it is to 
be hoped tbat the movement will not lack support- 
Indian tea growers often express surprise at the 
growth of the Ceylon tea trade, but fail to reflect on 
the fact that those interested in the latter industry 
are keen enough to see the advantage to bo reaped 
by constant effort to bring their wari s to the notice 
of the public, and are quite willing to contribute 
freely to bring this about. 
The increased landings of tea, as shown in the 
Board of Tiade .Returns for last month, are chiefly 
from India and Ceylon, but there is also nu increase 
in those from China- The quantity taken for coi sump- 
tion is, however, only 13,000,000 lb., against 14,429,000 
lb., while wine and tobacco show an increased con- 
sumption as well as an increased import. The stock 
of tea in the bonded warehouses at the end of the 
month is given as 123,527,810 lb. as compared with 
113,715,118 lb-, and that of tobacco 125,521,130 lb. 
compared with 107,755,000 lb. 
The tea growers ot China are in despair. The returns 
from the Focchow district are especially troubled, for 
the export of tea again shows a further shrinkage. The 
Governor of Formosa has resolved to start a model 
plantation, and make tea after the Indian fashion, 
under the supervision of an expert from Assam. Possi- 
bly this idea will be imitated, although the conser- 
vatism of the Flowery Land will bo slow to follow 
another's lead in the matter of turning out their own 
pet product for market. 
The much-abused coffee-drinker may pluck up heart 
of grace. According to the Lancet, Dr. Luderitz has 
recently made a number of observations on the de- 
structive power of coffee upon various microbes. He 
found that the organisms all died in a longer or shorter 
period — e. g., in one series of experiments anthrax 
bacilli were destroyed in three hours, anthrax spores 
in four weeks, cholera bacilli in four hours, and 
thestreptococous of erysipelas in one day. It was, how- 
ever, remarkable that good coffee and bad coffee pro- 
duced precisely similar effects. He believes that, as pre- 
vious observers have suggested, the antiseptic effect of 
coffee does not depend on the caffeine it contains, but 
on the empyreumatic oils developed by roasfrng. 
At the moan nt there are several facts to prove thnt 
the positiou of coffee is favourable to importers, but 
the most s'rikingof all, sajs the Grocer, is the official 
estimate of the Government crop of Java coffee, which 
gives the probable outturn for this siason at only 
187,000 piculs, in contrast with an actual yield of 
585,000 piculs last year. This mutt make a great 
difference in the quantity tbat will be avai'able for 
the Dutch Company's publio sales as the season ad- 
vances, for the stocks in reserve are anything but 
excessive, and owing to the consequent diminution in 
the supplies of favourite coffees on the Continent, 
an improved demand from shippers here is likely to 
be experienced for that quarter. Should such a change 
as the above really take place, the total supply in 
London will be further trenohed upon, and instead 
of prices receding, they may continue to harden as 
they have done since the opening of the year, being 
for the commoner sorts 2s to 4s per cwt. dearer than 
they were then. The consignments of the first 
portion of the new season's crops of plantation 
Ceylor , other Last India, Jamaica, and Costa Rica, 
&c, lately put forward, have, so far, afforded entire 
satisfaction to the dealers as well as the exporters, 
because the quality has been superior to the average 
of preceding years, aud almost fancy prices have been 
obtainable, particularly when fine bold, blue coloury, 
and close-made peaberry kinds have ranged from about 
110s to 120a, aud to even 130s, or more, unroasted and 
in bond. At such a high rate of prime cost, equal to 
Is 4d to Is 6d per lb. net duiy paid and roasted, 
without allowing a single fraction for the dealers' or 
retailers' profit, it is no wonder that the consumption 
of Iho artiolo does not progress as it should do in this 
country; neither is it surpn'sing that the dealers 
complain of tho difficulties and disadvantages thoy 
labour under in trying to push the sale of ooffee, when 
it haH tc compete with the cheapness of tea and 
chicory, to say nothing of certain forma of adultera- 
tion, and pay a Customs impost of 14s per cwt. besides. 
—E.andC. Mail 
THE SUGGESTION OF A TEA PBODUCEES' 
UNION. 
To the Editor of the Home and Colonial Mail. 
Sir, — Why not a Producers' Union ! Well, sir, there 
are reasons why not, but these have nothing to do with 
the " sweet reasonableness" of your correspondent's 
proposal. It is mainly because tea planters are not given 
to combination. They care nought for general inter- 
ests ; they have one idea, to make a good crop, and to 
reali-e good prices for their own produce, and to leave 
their neighbours to the tender mercies of one who shall 
be nameless. A combination of tea growers is a capital 
idea, but it will never be anything else. The tea indus- 
try, so use a phrase now so commonly applied, is pecu- 
liarly constituted. I have read former correspondence 
in your useful paper bordering upon this subject, 
and abler pens than mine have, I think, pointed 
out the difficulty attending attempts at combination 
amongst tea producers. Rival interests, sir. It is of no 
use blinking it. The big companies bar the way. For 
real undiluted selfishness some people I know who are 
in tea stand pre-eminent. Some of these large tea com- 
panies are under the control of men who do not recog- 
nise any other interests in tea but those of their own 
concerns, and so long as they have the power there will 
be no fusion for the general good. The notion of a 
Producers' Union is a sound one ; but when it comes to 
the detail of it some will pull one way and some an- 
other, and in the desire to look after " number one" 
all other objects will be forgotten. " Individualism," 
as your correspondent oalls it, will die very hard in ail 
commercial circles ; but I think that if ever we ap- 
proach to that happy state of things which sanguine 
Socialists picture, it will be tea garden proprietors who 
will make the last stand on the threshold of the new era 
and raise their old cry, and wave the tattered banner 
of " perish everj body else so long as my teas and my 
interests are first and foremost. This is considered 
smart and clever in business but it is fatal to unity of 
interests as well as grossly impolitic. The man who sets 
out with the idea welding the rival tea interests into 
one harmonious whole for the general good of producers 
will need to be made of something more than human olay. 
I am, sir, your obedient servant, Kdmaon. 
Rubber. — There are over 120 India-rubber manu- 
facturers in the United States, employing 15,000 
hands, and producing annually 280,000 tons of 
goods, valued at 260,000,000 dole, — Electrical Trades 
Journal. 
The Oranges op the Kasi Hills. — Few people 
in Bengal have any idea of the profusion in which 
oranges grow on the southern slopes of the Kasi 
Hills and elsewhere in Assam. In computing a 
harvest the oranges, it appears, are neither weighed 
nor measured, but are actually counted. We are 
thus informed that the number imported last year 
into Bengal was 37,053,960, valued at one lakh 
and eighty-three thousand rupees. Yet it was a bad 
year ; for more than 75g million oranges oame down 
the river the year before, and more than 40 millions 
three years ago. — Pioneer, Maroh 24th. 
The Production of Ivory. — There are annually 
killed in Africa a minimum of 65,000 elephantB, 
yielding a production of a quantity of raw ivory, 
the selling price of which is some £850,000. This 
quantity is shipped to various parts of the world — 
to the Amerioan, the European, and the Asian 
markets. A large quantity is, however, kept by 
the native princes of Africa, who are very fond of 
— and as a rule, very good judges of— ivory. The 
production out of Africa is only insignificant, and 
India, Ceylon, and Sumatra together produce only 
some 20,000 kilogs. per year. India is the largest 
consumer of ivory, and China is also a good market, 
-^Electrical Trades Journal, 
