812 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [June i, 1889. 
" To be forewarned is to be forearmed." We 
oan see that ere very many years a resort to 
our own forests for our supply of sleepers will 
be forced upon us unless our engineers can de- 
termine that the use o£ wood, may profit- 
ably be abandoned for that of iron or steel, 
sleepers. But as to this alternative we have 
repeatedly been told that the non-elastic charac- 
ter of such sleepers, and the diminished " tie" 
they afford to a railroad, render them particularly 
unfitted to mountain lines, the sharp curves 
upon wbich tend greatly to the disturbance of the 
permanent way. The matter is therefore one which 
we think, in view of present warnings, on many 
sides, calls for early and very attentive consider- 
ation, and we strongly recommend that this should 
be given to it without delay by the responsible 
local authorities. There is room indeed for a 
local Commission to consider the best means of 
supplying the Ceylon Eailways locally with sleep- 
ers, and the Conservator of Forests, Director of 
Botanic Gardens, along with the Bailway Engineer 
for Ways and Works, could not fail to furnish 
a very useful and suggestive Beport on the subject 
if they were called to the duty by the Governor. 
WEIGHING TEAS. 
Ceylon Association in London, London 12th April 
1889. 
A. Philip Esq., Secretary, Planters'Association,Kandy, 
Ceylon. 
Dear Sir, — Referring to rny letter of 5th instaDt, 
I omitted to mention therein that in weighing teas 
for trial shipments as suggested, care should be taken 
to weigh with beam scales only, and it will- be well 
also that the weights of the packages should be made 
to conform to the custom of weighing here to pounds 
only. I was instructed by our Committee to mention 
these points. — I am, yours faithfully, 
(Signed.) Wm. Martin Leake, Secretary. 
4» 
FORESTRY IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 
The following note is officially communicated to 
the editor of the Tropical Agriculturist from Ade- 
laide by this mail : — 
Mr. J. E. Brown (the Conservator of Forests) 
has just returned from a trip to the north where 
he has been arranging for the planting operations 
of the coming season. 
At Bundalur 770 acres were laid out for planting, 
upon which it is intended to put out 7o0,000 trees 
consisting chiefly of sugar mana, Tasmanian red 
and blue gums together with a fine collection of 
newly introduced forest trees from Queensland, 
which were presented to the Department by the 
Director of the Botanical Gardens at Melbourne. 
The stock of trees in hand at Bundalur this 
year consists of about 1,200,000, so that the Con- 
servator expects to have a few hundred thousand 
for distribution among farmers and others. 
♦ — 
INDIAN V. CEYLON TEAS. 
A Colombo merchant (not in tea aa proprietor 
or agent) writes : — 
"lam struck with the splendid prices obtained for 
Indian tea as compared with Oeylon. See Gow'e last 
circular. I have been watching this for some time. 
It does not look as if India had much to fear from us, 
Any way she can lick us altogether in the matter of 
price." 
(From Gow Wilson d- Stanton's Indian, Ceylon and 
Java Tea Report.) 
April 12 th 1889. 
Indian. — The recent low prices have at length pro- 
moted better competition, and a somewhat improved 
feeling has been manifested. The scarcity of Teas 
over Is is now commencing to be felt, with the result 
that many teas of this class are being disposed of 
at rather higher rates. Some exceptionally fine teas 
from the " Chardwar " estate, realized high prices, 
the pekoe fetching 2s 8|d ; the broken pekoe, 2s 7J I ; 
and the pekoe souchong 2s l£d. 
Ceylon. — Sales have been very heavy, and in con- 
sequence some little irregularity has occurred, but 
only the lower and medium grades have suffered to 
any appreciable extent. Good liquoricg and fine 
flavoured teas continue to meet with the chief at- 
tention, and realize steady rates. The quality is about 
on a par with last we^ks. The following averages 
may be mentioned ; — " Mayfield," Is ljd ; " Bj^awan- 
talawa," Is ljd ; '• Chapeltoa," Is Id; and " Waver- 
ley," Is Id. An average of 9fd per lb. was obtained. 
Tea in America. — The Ilyogo News of 1st inst. 
says : — Telegraphic information has been received 
here of a great fire in Chicago which destroyed 
thirty thousand packages of tea, about twothirds 
of which were the produce of Japan. If this had 
happened shortly after the opening of the tea season 
it would have caused more excitement in the local 
market than is possible at present. — China Mail, 
April 17th. 
i he Kangra Valley, tea planters are doing one 
wise thing with a view to publish the sale of 
their tea at the Paris Exhibition. They have asked 
Lord Lytton to do what he can to bring it to 
notice for the Parisian afternoon tea — which, by 
the way, is a French verb now; "je afternoon tea, 
nous afternoon-teaofts," and so on, especicaliy elles 
afternoon-teac«t — and to send out some hint as to 
the sort of blend most likely to catch Parisian 
taste. — L. d> C. Express. 
Sale op Tea Estate shares. — It speaks well for 
the prospects betore the shareholders of the Yati- 
deriya Tea Company that shares in this Company 
should have changed hands at a premium so soon 
after its formation. A tew days ago a number of 
shares of R100 each sold for R115, and there is every 
prospect of their going higher, seeing that the estate 
is likely to yield very handsome profits, notwithstand- 
ing the fall in the value of tea. The soil is excep- 
tionally good, and the management of the estate all 
that could be desired. A substantial dividend is pretty 
sure to be declared on this year's working. — Local 
"Times." 
The Cost of Making Quinine. — One Ameri- 
can "expert" in quinine declares on this question 
that, — "A great deal depends on good management 
and the location of the factory. However, there can 
be no question about the cost being in excess of pre- 
sent market values. I will say this much. If you 
take the price of bark at one and a half pence per 
unit, the same testing three per cent quinine or 48 
ounces per hundred weight, the cost of quinine 
in the bark on the London docks would be 18 - 7c. 
per ounce, and, in addition, it costs 11c. per ounce 
to take the bark from the London docks until the 
quinine is delivered in New York. Thus you have 
29'7c. as the actual cost of foreign quinine put 
on the New York market. It is not necessary to 
go into further details." — This information was 
given to a representative of the Oil, Faint and Drug 
Reporter during a long interview in which a great 
deal of useful information was afforded respecting 
quinine and cinchona bark generally : we are re- 
publishing the full report in the Tropical Agri- 
culturist, 
