782 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [May i, 1889. 
requested for Mr. Hanneu's despatch, Foochow No. j 
588, and Mr. Chalmers' despatch, Tamsuei No. 326, re- 
garding the establishment of inodel plantations at Pak- 
ling aud Tarnsui. 
7. — In conclusion, it is evident that there are causes 
for the representations put forward by merchants ; 
nor am I the only one who has called attention to them. 
In the Peking Gazette I have noted what the "Viceroy 
of the Min-Che' provinces said about the collapse of 
the Tea markets in a Memorial to the Emperor, and 
also what the Viceroy cf the Two Kiang afterwards 
said in another Memorial about the success and cheap- 
ness of Iudian and Japanese Teas and the losses of 
Chinese merchants, and how the Likin had been slightly 
reduced in consequence, in the hope of benefiting an 
industry of so much importance to China and the 
Chinese. An evil so widely known and recognised 
ought, of course, to be cured. It is true that at the 
start China alone produced Tea and everybody bought 
from China, and that while the ever-growing popula- 
tions of Russia, America, and the Pacific prefer Chine e 
Tea and scarcely touch Indian, even England does 
not yet take less, although latterly buying more and 
more Indian Tea ; in fact, so many places want Chinese 
Tea that no matter what quantity is produced there 
is but little fear of its finding a market. And more- 
over, Indian Tea, although possessing the good quality 
of strength, is now pronounced to be in some 
way harmful, while Chinese Tea is not harm- 
ful, and, although not so strong, possesses in a high de- 
gree another exoellent quality — flavour, — in[which Indian 
teas are deficient; as long as teas possess this flavour 
they will find purchasers. Accordingly, the important 
point to attend to is flavour: growers must take care 
of their plants and keep them in good condition, 
and those who conduct the various processes which 
fit the leaf for use, must exercise the utmost care 
at every step to ensure that the tea will keep and 
that its flavour will not be lost. The ' hill tax ' 
apart — which ought to be repealed for the encourage- 
ment of growers, — I do not consider that any good 
will attend the reduction of ordinary Likin and Ex- 
port Duty ; but there is unquestionably room for im- 
provement in every step and every process in growing 
and preparing tea, and it is most important that 
whatever can be done shall be done. 
8. — Copies of the letters, and despatches received 
and issued connected with this question are submitted 
for the Yamen's consideration, and also some figures 
from the tea statistics of the last twenty years. 
ROBERT HART, 
Inspector-General nf Customs. 
— China Mail. 
♦ 
BARK AND DRUG TRADE REPORT. 
London, March 21st. 
Bael Fruit. — Two cases, together 3 cwt., of recently 
imported sliced fruit are held at 2§d per lb., a price 
which was not obtainable at auction. 
Cardamoms. — Arrivals have have been more plentiful 
lately and it was generally expected that some de- 
cline would be established at today's drug sales. Such, 
in fact, was the case, aud only 93 out of the 372 
packages catalogued were sold at an irregular fall in 
price, from 2d to 5d per lb. Nearly all the holders 
decided to hold back for higher rates, and some of 
them withdrew the whole of their supply without go- 
ing through the form of offering it. The following 
prices were paid : Ceylon Malabar, medium to bo.ld 
good pale but warty round 2s 7d ; small to medium 
heavy round, rather dull in coat 2s 5d ; pale and yel- 
low, mixed sizes 2s 2d ; fair medium size, brownish 
coat Is 8d ; good partly bleached undipped, shelly and 
split 10^d per lb. Mysore, fine medium to bold and 
heavy, very well bleached 3s to 3s 2d ; small to me- 
dium ditto 2s 8d ; medium to bold good yellow 2s 
lOd ; medium;to small pale 2s 5d ; small to medium 
yellow aud pale mixed, good appearance Is 8d to Is 
JJd ; small long yellow Is 5d ; very small pale Is 3d 
per lb. Mangalore, good pale M M M, at 2s lid per lb., 
a very cheap lot. Wild Ceylon, bold heavy Is lOd ; 
ordinary thin lOd per lb. Dull seeds Is 4d to Is 6d 
per lb. The exports from Ceylon duriDg the periods 
between October 1st and February 21st have" been: 
1888-9, 130,336 lb; 1887-8, 159,430 lb.; 1886-7,1-18,147 ib. 
Cinchona. — Fine genuine loxa bark brings very high 
prices 2s Id to 2s 2d per lb. being paid today for 
two lots. Two parcels, together 160 bales, flat yellow 
calisaya were shown, but bought in, there being no 
offers. Twenty-eight bales bold floe bright Maracaibo 
were bought in at 9d to lOd per lb. Guayaquil sold 
well at Is 7d to Is 8d for fine grey mossy quill, and 
from 4§d up to Is Id for common damaged to good 
brown silvery ditto. Fifty bales Lima good broken 
yellow quill were offered, and an offer of 2|d per lb. 
was refused. 
Coca Leaves.— Ten bales good fresh green, but 
broken, leaves are held at Is per lb. but, there were 
no bids at lid per lb. Two bales common brown 
leaves, from Java (?) sold at A 1 per lb. 
Ohoton Seed.— Eleven bags fair brown Ceylon seed 
s jld at 13s per cwt. 
Oubebs. — Six bags bold spurious grey fruit imported 
from Singapore were bought in today at £23 10s per 
cwt. ; genuine cubebs are held at £24 10s to £25, but 
scarcely any are here at present. 
Oils (Essential).— Fine Cinnamon oil sold today 
at Is 6d to Is 7d per ox-, and Cinnamon leaf oil at ljd 
per oz. Citrouella oil is very neglected, and native 
brands on the spot cannot be quoted over fd to jjd 
per oz., according to quantity. At the auctions 150 
cases Lemongrass sold cheaply at lfd per oz. 
Quinine. — Prices still oontinue to decline, and the 
week under review has witnessed the first transactions 
in shilling quinine, about 20,000 oz., including B. & S., 
Auerbach, and Brunswick, being reported sold at that 
price by second-hand holders. Today's auctions were 
looked forward to with considerable interest by the 
trade, 37,500 oz., being advertised for sale partly with- 
out reserve. There was not very much bidding, and 
12,500 oz. B. & S. were sold to brokers at Is OJd to Is 
0£d per oz. Another broker refused Is OJd for B. & S. 
In Id being his limit. 5,000 oz. Jobst, 2,000 oz. Zimmer, 
and 2,000 oz. Italian quinine are all limited at Is Id per 
oz., and offers of Is OJd to Is OJd were refused. 
Vanilla. — At today's sales 96 cases met a pretty 
terisk demand, and sold at again higher rates : fine 
fresh chocolate, but without much flavour, 6 to 8 
inches, 16s 6d to 20s ; brown, 3| to 6 inches, 10s 6d 
to 12s ; good crystallised chocolate, 6J to 9 inches, 
16s 6d to 22s; 5± to 6 inches, lis 6d to 16s per lb. 
A case of 44 lb of varying lengths, partly mouldy, 
from Macassar, sold at 3s 3d per lb. 
♦ 
THE AMSTERDAM CINCHONA AUCTIONS. 
(Telegram from our Correspondent.) 
Amsterdam, March 21st. 
At today's bark auctions the whole of the supply 
offered, consisting of 2,083 packages bark, was sold 
at lower prices as compared with the last auctions, 
the average unit value being fully 7gC per half kilo, 
or ljd per lb. Manufacturers' barks, chips and quills, 
realised from 7c to 60c per J kilo (=ljd to lid per 
lb.), ditto root from 14c to 18c (=2Jd to 3|d per lb.) 
Druggists' barks, chips, broken quilfs, and quills sold 
at 9c to 71c (=lfd to Is Id per lb.), and druggists' 
root at 22c to 55c or 4d to lOd per lb. The principal 
buyers were the Auerbach quinine factory, Mr. Gustav 
Briegleb, of Amsterdam, and Messrs. C. L. Schepp 
& Zoon, of Rotterdam. 
Tin Mining in Johore — The last mail from Sin- 
gapore brought us news that Mr. E. A. Watson, 
the old Ceylon planter who is reported to be on 
the road to fortune in connection with some newly 
disoovered tin mines in Johore is at present in 
the Native States along with his brother-in-law 
Mr. Gibson. 
