August i, 1887! THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
83 
coffee was more popular than tea. Alexander 
Pope resembled Voltaire in his inordinate liking 
for the former, and a well-known passage in 
" The Eape of the Lock " tells us that " coffee, 
which makes the politician wise, And see through 
ail things with his half-shut eyes, Sent up new 
vapours to the Baron's brain, New stratagems 
the radiant lock to gain." The demand for the 
berry soon became so great that Arabia was unable 
to supply enough. It began, therefore, to be cultiv- 
ated in Batavia and Java by the Dutch, by the 
inhabitants of the West Indies, and by the planters 
of Brazil. In England the best coffee is supposed 
to be a mixture of Mocha and Plantation, while 
in the United States there is an immense import- 
ation of the Rio berry. 
<e> 
PINEAPPLE AND COCONUT CULTIVATION 
IN FLORIDA. 
Coconut raising is a growing industry in Southern 
Florida. Pineapple and coconuts pay very well. 
Ten thousand pineapples can be raised, it is said, 
to an acre, and the same amount of space will 
support fifty coconut trees. The latter require 
very little cultivation. They begin to bear at 
from nine to twelve years of age, and produce 
from 80 to 150 nuts to the tree. They bring about 
five cents apiece to the grower. Many groves have 
been planted within a few years. One new Jersey 
gentleman has 330,000 trees. — P.M. Budget, June 6th. 
DEMAND AND SUPPLY : TEA. 
The development of tea-planting in India furnishes 
one of the most extraordinary chapters in the economic 
history of this country. It is about 30 years ago, that 
a practical beginning was made with it, and one of 
the first concerns, the Assam Company, had to pass 
through a severe trial as some people in Calcutta may 
still remember ; but fortunatply it stood the test, an 1 
has become the largest and one of the most success- 
ful concerns in this industry. In the early days of 
tea-planting there were many contingencies opposing 
its progress, but apparently nothing could arrest it, 
neither the unhealthiness of the climate to the early 
settlers, nor the vexations of the land laws and 
labour enactments. • The absence of roads, and the 
difficulty of navigation in rivers unsurveyed and full 
of snags, proved but temporary barriers to an enterprize, 
which, in its rapid development, has no comparison in 
other countries. 
Only relatively it may be compared with the activity 
which prevailed in the newly discovered gold-fields of 
California and Australia, or with the development of 
sheep-farrniug and horse-breeding in the colonies.but the 
comparison is imperfect in many ways. For tea cultiv- 
ation the land was secured in unhealthy outlying hilly 
districts, labour had to be imported to clear the land, 
there was th? difficulty of getting good seed; of rearing 
seedlings, and of keeping the ground clear, and then 
they had to wait three or four years before getting the 
first crop, provided in the meantime the cultivation was 
not interfered with by red spider, blight or any other 
contingency. It was sinking money with interest upon 
interest, in expectation that the result would in the end 
prove beneficial and lasting. This chapter is not yet 
closed, but with a nucleus garden in full bearing, tho 
extension of cultivation is comparatively safer than 
opening out new ones in this way ; every year more 
area is added to the cultivation, which explains the 
annual increase of manufactured tea. It is almost cert- 
ain that in a few years hence 100 millions of pounds will 
be available for export and local consumption. 
Besides this increase fromlndia proper there is a rapid 
development of the sain industry in Ceylon, which at- 
traotsthe attention of all who have invested money in 
this undertaking. 
In view of such stupendous strides by which the sup- 
ply is being augmented, we look with some anxiety to 
discover the sources of demand which has stimulated 
this kvoiish activity. 
It is a generally asserted and accepted belief that, 
when there is a demand for an article, the supply will 
be forthcoming to meet it ; but in this case it looks 
very much, as if an enormous supply is being manu- 
factured for which by forced measures a demand has 
to be created. According to the principles of National 
economy, this is really a most artificial and unnatural 
proceeding, upsetting all the preconceived notions of 
free-traders. 
But this is not all — Indian tea had to force itself upon 
the attention of the trade, in competition with a well 
developed and established business of old standing; 
the tea trade from China. In spite of its inherent good 
qualities of strength in liquor and appearance in 
leaf, it had to conquer a market and overcome a pre- 
judice of taste with consumers accustomed to the China 
beverage. 
Last but not least it must be borne in mind, that the 
countries accustomed to drink tea are limited to Eng- 
land, America, Russia, Australia and Scandinavia ; 
besides what is consumed in China and the neighbour- 
ing countries of Central Asia. Most of these countries 
have a rapidly increasing population, but beyond this 
little new ground has been opened out for consumption, 
though the Calcutta Tea Syndicate has made praise- 
worthy efforts to introduce it elsewhere. 
If this is then a correct exhibition of the tea industry 
in India and of the prospects abroad, we fail to discover 
any prompt resources to improve prices. Apparently 
there is nothing to look to but a saving in cost of pro- 
duction, to improve the remunerative returns from 
tea-planting. A preferential duty in favour of Indian tea 
over China produce in the English and Colonial market, 
may cause a reaction, but this contingency is at present 
out of reckoning, and will require years of active agit- 
ation to influence home circles. 
It has required a great deal of pushing and touting 
from India, to interest the home trade, and it has re- 
quired a great deal of manipulating and mixing to as- 
similate Indian tea with China brands in order to suit 
the taste of the consumer. The quantity now a nnually 
sold shows, that this work has been well done and ef- 
fectively performed. We have shown a drark side of 
the picture, still we are far from taking a pessi mist view 
of the general situation for tea in this country. An 
enterprize, that has shown so much vitality, that has 
overcome so many obstacles, must have the elements in 
it to triumph over present difficulties. However.it is 
desirable to shorten the trial, and to do so, courage and 
prudence must prevail. Courage that will abandon uu- 
remunerative parts of cultivation and prudence in the 
extension of paying properties ; economy in working 
expenses, coupled with reduction in ordinary charges, 
whilst it passes from the producer to the consumer. 
We are aware, that most of these items have had the 
careful attention of the Calcutta Agency Houses, re- 
presenting the proprietary capital invested in tea, and 
we sympathise with the efforts, made by shippers, to 
break through the combination of shipowners, who try 
to impose upon them rates of freight by artificial moans. 
Let them but persevere and success is certain, because 
every year larger and faster steamers are built, which 
with improvements in machinery can supply speed with 
economy. Finally we could suggest that more efforts 
be made to make tea a cheap and favourite beverage 
for the native population of this country. For common 
tea the price is now very low and practically within 
reach of the great mass of the people. There is no 
prejudice against it either of caste or religion ; it is 
often solicited by native servants of European house- 
holds during the rainy season aud cold weather mouths, 
which shows that the natives are sensible of its healthy 
effect upon the system. 
It is well-known that in all Central Asia, in the coun- 
tries bordering upon India, the people are addicted to 
tea drinking, aud it forms with them a favorite bever- 
age ; practically the people of Asia with the exception 
of India, Burnmh and the Islands of the Malay Archi- 
pelago are ardent consumers of tea. Efforts have re- 
peatedly bsen made to increase the trade in " brick 
tea " across the border, but very little has yet been 
done to introduce it. and make it popular amongst tie 
inhabitants of this country. 
