March i, 1889.J THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
579 
Cinchona- — Flat Oalisaya bark continues to be im- 
ported here in very beavy quantities, nml there seems 
little doubt tbat sooner or later the market must de- 
cline. At the auction today about 180 packages of 
this variety were shown and only two sold at Is 8d 
per lb for good bright sound. A few bales damaged 
''cultivated flat OaliKnyu lii-ought 10.\d per lb. Or- 
dinary grey Guayaquil realised ."id to H^d per lb. Lima 
is pirtly held at 8d per lb., much beyond the value. 
For other varieties extremely high rates continue to 
he paid: Ijoxa, good bright fresh mossy to very small 
broken quill from 2s to Is per lb ; ifuauoco Is Id to 
Is 3d per lb. The shipments from Oeylon in the 
period between October 1st aud December 13th have 
been:— 1888, 3,023,319 lb ; 1887, 1,81)3,726 lb ; 1886, 
2,954,055 lb. Up to the present the following quan- 
tities are advertised for sale next Tuesday: — Oeylon 
bark 2,014; East Indian 1G0; Java 319; South American 
355 ; aud Fiji, 3 packages ; total 2,851 packages. 
Coca LEAVES. — The 11 boxes crushed Java leaves of 
good appearauce, of which wo published the analysis 
in a recent report, were today disposed of at 7d per 
lb; and 3 packages small very badly-cured leaves, also 
from Java were withdrawn. Of South American leaves 
II) bales were shown. ' For good bright green Bolivian 
Is Id was refused, the price being Is 6d per lb; while 
a somewhat damaged parcel found abuyer at Is per lb. 
CrotoN Seed.— Five robbins Fast Indian seed of ordi- 
nary quantity brought 15spercwt. 
Km a Nuts. — One box of good dried West Indian seeds 
sold dearly at LOd per lb ; for a small and wormy lot 
SS<\ per lb is asked. 
Mate (Paraguay Tea).— An 80-lb cask of very good 
quality catalogued as "matico," is held for Is per lb. 
The drui; is hardly ever seen in the open raarke there. 
Nijx Vomica. — At today's auctions 210 packages were 
offered, all of the inferior variety. The price for 
•nail, fairly silky seed from Bombay and Calcutta 
i s * Twenty-seven bags, partly damaged and small 
I I imported from Saigon (French Iudo-China, sold 
;u ' 1 B 3d por cwt. 
< 0CONUT Oil, — On the spot a moderate busiuess is 
-lone at. C27 for good Oeylon in pipes £28 to .£29 
for^jood to Rue Cochin, and 627 for Mauritius. 
I'ai.m On,. — Fine Lagos remains exceedingly steady 
at £38 10s. 
Essential Oils.— Citronella dull, at <d to 15-16ths d. 
per oz. on the spot' The Ceylon exports are again very 
large this season. Nutmeg oil, "Fisher's," ia quoted 
at 7 ■ 1 per oz. 
Ql QflNB, — Some slight improvement became appa- 
rent soon after the close of our last report, aud sales 
of German bulk, including B ,v S at ls3id to Is Hid per 
oz. for January-February and later delivery were re- 
ported. This business was followed during the present 
week by further transactions in B k S bulk, spot and 
Pebnwry-April dolivery at Is 3Ad,aodAnerbaob, April 
delivery at Is 3|d per oz., and Whiffon's, in second 
hand, at Is 4.1 peroz. Today tho Gorman makers 
quote Is Id per oz., and do not seem anxious to 
buok orders, but we think Is 3Jd would still buv 
in second hand. 
Vanilla. — The first shipments of new season's 
Mauritius beans were offerod today, anil sold with good 
competition at an advance of Is 6d to 2s fid per 1 b.; 
I til mall chocolate, slightly crystallised 3 to 7.'. inch 
5s '.id to Lis; good fresh 7', to ;i, lis to l.s H t;,l ; or- 
dinary brownish 5s to 9s ; common dry 2s to Is Od.— 
Chemist and Druggist, 
ULACKMAN'S TEA WITHBBBB. 
In Mr. Armstrong's paper on, the manufactur* 
of lea, read before the Maskeliya Planters' Associa- 
tion in August 1885, he there suggested the use 
of the Blackmail s air propeller lo draw up the 
hot air from the driora to tho withering loft to 
aid in withering leal in wet weather. Ceylon should 
not lose tho credit of having nunlo the Jiiggeslion 
llrat.— Cor. 
MATALE COFFEE. 
(From a Cor respondent.) 
Although " Matale " is a word of only six letters 
it comprises a very large district, and its weather 
is about as varied as its products. It is quite a 
mistake to suppose that a correspondent writing 
from tho town of Matale, or Matale West, can give 
you a report of the weather experienced at this 
season of the year, as being that of Matale district. 
It is perhaps equally uncertain to report on the 
Matale coffee unless the correspondent has had the 
advantage of visiting or getting reports from the 
various divisions of the district. 
With reference to the weather and its pranks, 
permit one illustration. Last week two visitors 
from Matale West were surprised to find we had 
been having so much rain : they left in the morn- 
ing during a storm of wind and rain and had 
gone about two miles only, when they got out of 
it, and had fine weather for the rest of their 
journey, while the whole of that day was wet and 
windy here. 
In support of the paragraph sent you the other 
day, in which mention was made that coffee seemed 
to be regaining strength, &c, allow me to add for 
the information of "Planter," that an old Matale 
planter who knows this portion of the district well, 
on seeing the coffee, remarked it was astonishing 
bow well it was looking, full of spike, and only 
wanted dry weather to bring out and set the blossom. 
It may be and doubtless is too far gone to ex- 
pect a revival of the old product, but it is surely 
not too much to expect to hear the rattle of the 
pulper as it removes the beans from the cherry 
gathered in the north end of Matale East. 
CEYLON TEA AT THE EXHIBITIONS AND 
IN AMERICA. 
(From a Planting Correspondent.) 
I think you gave the home people a very proper 
rub up in your Thursday's article. It is too absurd 
of Messrs. Leake and Shand complaining of want 
of sympathy and information from this side. If 
there is one thing more than another which our 
Secretary prides himself on, it is prompt attention 
to matters requiring explanation etc. Mr. Shand 
is to blame for not giving details of the 
expenditure on the home side. We have a large 
expenditure on Brussels for which we get no return 
or precious little, and what is unexpended on our 
vote of Kli.OOO is required for Glasgow deficiency 
from which we were led to expect such a lot of 
benefit, ana even profit. Then now Paris : "Look 
sharp," writes Mr. Shand, ''or I '11 treat with others 
for my corner of the Paris Exhibition." If the 
Ceylon Tea Fund Committee don't look sharp 
they will find themselves in for a big expenditure 
there. Now all this prevents our dealing with 
pushing our tea in America where they do drink 
tea. Let Dr. Duke's plan be tried in its entirety. Mr. 
McCombie Murray undertakes to do it exactly as Dr. 
Duke wants it done for .. 11)800 
including cost of pamphlets. The 6,000 lb. 
of tea would cost .. .. ... 2,000 
Say S3, 200 
or B8,000. I believe more would come of that 
than tin FrenOD ami Brussels Exhibitions, which 
will co.t KIO.UIH) at the very least. 
If. however, wo profer Mr. McCombio Murray's ela- 
borate plan of working New York and Philadelphia 
by interviews, pamphlets. Ac, the cost will be ^1,000 
Cost of 6,000 lb. tea and duly, tor I see 
the freight is included . . . . 2,000 
Total.. $3,000 
or. say, R7.500. 
