74° , 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [May i, i&88 
for 1887-8 as compared with season 1886-7, is 
made up as follows : — 
lb. 
From Shanghai and Hankow . . 13,806,414 
„ Foochow .. .. 14,273,669 
,, Canton and Macao .. 172,424 
On the other hand, there has been an increase [torn 
Amoy of 201,5451b., and from Japan of 170 1581b. 
America has taken 4,429,6071b. less this season, than 
in the last, 3J millions being deficient in the Japan ex- 
port and about a million from China. The Australian 
Colonies have received 3,8 49,8971b. more this season, 
and the Continent of Europe 1, 790,9811b., the latter 
being chiefly to Russia. This does not account for 
the large and unaccountable falling-off in the export 
from England. 
The export to Eussia direct, exclusive of the 
quantity included in the export to the Continent, 
is 12 million pounds, against 11| millions last 
year. Eussian Manchuria has taken 7,211,224 
lb. against 8,339,155, lb. last season ; but Eussia, 
no doubt, draws supplies from China by other out- 
lets, than through the treaty ports, and for 
which no returns are published. We notice that 
the North of China has taken from the Yangtse ports 
and Shanghai 51 millions, against the same quantity 
last year. Here are the total figures :— 
Export from China and Japan lb. 
To England ... 1887-88 121,741,407 
Do ... 188t>-87 149,023,211 
Do ... 1885-86 150,139,658 
To United States 
Do 
uo 
1887-83 66,065,117 
1886-87 7U,494,751 
1885-86 63,965,379 
To Australian Colonies 1887-88 23,791,511 
Do ... 1886-87 19,961,614 
Do ... 1885-86 21,769,305 
To Continent of Europe 1887-83 13,245,016 
Do ... 1886-37 8,531,035 
Do ... 1885-83 8,663,926 
In view of the large increase which is taking 
place in the production in India and Ceylon, 
the serious question for the British producer is 
whether the decrease in the export to Great Britain 
will be permanent, or only temporary? We hope 
as the production of tea in China does not as in 
other countries, depend on external consumption, 
the very low and unremunerative prices realized 
during the last two or three years, for a large 
portion of what is exported, will have the effect of 
curtailing, if not putting an end to, shipments of 
all teas which sell in England for only 3f d to 4x1 
per pound. 
It will be impossible, however, to form any 
correct opinion on this point until we recoive the 
first three months' returns of the new season's 
export, and these will, no doubt, be watched with 
great interest. Our mail news from China 
indicates a poor season before those interested in 
the tea of the Far East. 
ME. E. E. PINEO AND CEYLON TEA IN 
AMEEICA. 
Mr. R. E. Pinoo landed last evening from the 
P. & O. steamer " Ganges," having come back from 
America by way of Japan — where he has been visit- 
ing the tea districts — and has just come iu the nick 
of time to give Mr. Rutherford and the Planters' 
Association the latest information in reference to the 
prospects of Ceylon tea in America. Mr. Pineo had 
to part company with Mr. MacOornbie Murray, be- 
cause the field in Philadelphia scarcely gave pro- 
mise of a business sufficient for the two. But Mr. 
Plheo lias now in view a much more likely way of 
creating a demand for our toas iu the Western 
States through the co-operation of an enterprising 
New York capitalist not hitherto engaged in the tea 
trade, and who proposes to commence operations in 
Chicago and beyond, by the free distribution of 10,000 
samples (each of 1 lb.) of Ceylon teas. Mr. Pineo's 
partner, however, naturally asks for some tangible 
evidence that the Ceylon planting community are 
interested in, and prepared to back up this new 
business — a departure from the line he has hitherto 
been engaged in. And for our part, we think there 
is a case to be taken into practical consideration 
by the Managers of the Ceylon Tea Distribution 
Fund, before whom, no doubt, Mr. Pineo will be 
prepared to give full particulars of the proposal, 
as also of his experienej so far in promoting the 
acceptance of Ceylon teas in the Slates. We 
are glad to see Mr. Pineo looking well, and prepared 
to run through Uva to see the great change and the 
beginning of the Tea Enterprise in the Principality. 
Mr. Pineo agrees with us in anticipating thU the 
rich valleys of Uvi will be covered with native tea 
gardens ere-long, the leaf being sold to central 
factories. What with tea, tobaccj, cotton, cacao, 
and other products, Uva will yet show a wonderful 
increase in production and, consequently, in heavy 
traffic for her railway. 
♦ 
THE HARVESTING OF CINCHONA. 
The best method of working cinchona trees has been 
much discussed, particularly by the planters of Wynaad, 
but so far without any definite conclusion having been 
arrived at. Hitherto the area of yielding trees in that 
district has been comparatively smill, and isolated 
planters have been content to try one system or another 
with varying results. But millions of plants have been 
put out within the last sis or seven years, and will soon 
be fit to bark, so it is of great importance that the mat- 
ter should be inquired into, and an authoritative deci- 
sion if possible, be made on the question. There are 
three systems of taking the bark more or less in vosjue, 
namely, stripping, shaving, and coppicing. The first 
of these has, we believe, not been generally found to 
answer. It oonsists in removing a long strip of bark 
down to the wood, and then covering up the part to 
allow it to renew; butthebvrk very often refuses to 
renew under this treatment, and the tree is per- 
manently damaged, if not entirely destroyed. 
Shaving is the process most U3uilly adopted, and 
it has one advantage, at least, over cop- 
picing, viz., that the proprietor gets a small revenue 
each year after the fourth, instead of having to wait 
till the seventh or eighth, and posssibly losing his tree 
by canker in the interval. It miy be done with 
the ordinary pruning knife, which many planters 
maintain is the best instrument for the purpose, or 
with specially made spokeshaves, or with a Ceylon in- 
vention called a boxscraper. This last answers very 
well for orignal bark, but, as at present made, will 
not remove the th ok or renewed bark ; it is also 
rather expensive. After shaving, the tree is usually 
covered with grass. The rival methods of shaving and 
coppicing have both advocates who insist on the 
superiority of their own plan, and it is difficult to decide 
between them. A few years ago, when "druggists' 
quill " was worth four shillings a pound, a man who 
cut down a few thousand well grown trees made a 
small fortune. Unluckily there were very few who 
could do so. The demand for this variety — apparently 
only to be used as an ornament in druggists' 
shop windows — 3eems now almost to have died out, 
for while the enormous Ceylon export has lowered 
the price of every kind of bark, the fall in quill is the 
greatest of all. Shavings which were worth half a cr»wn 
or three shillings a pound, are now down to eighteen 
pence, but the quotations for quill have sunk lower. 
While too, it is evident that the Ceylon supply of 
bark is gradually becoming exhausted, and that the 
market for ordinary kinds is improving, it seems 
questionable if quill will be again in great demand. 
Still, if we take the present market rates as a guide, 
the pecuniary advantages of the two processes appear 
to be pretty evenly balanced. The question as to 
whether the tree is checked in its growth or not 
by continued shaving may be left out of the present 
calculation; it seems agreed that, if the operation 
