August x, 1881.] THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
75 
mill iu the centre of a large field of natural fl.ix. the 
calling used to pay very well. To cultivate did not 
do so well. This, however, can be easily explained. 
We'had to pay eight shillings a day for ordinary 
labor. Our steam engine used to consume over a ton 
of coal per day, which coat 30a per ton. The engine 
driver u-ed to receive 15s per day salary. This out- 
lay, which is very considerable, could b? altogether saved 
in Ceylon, for every coffee estate has its water wh-el, 
and a command of water power. The only expense 
therefore which the pliinter would be put to would 
be to buy one of the small machines I speak of, and 
attach it to his water-wheel. 
Pnormiun tenax always rinds a ready market, and 
within the last few years has been applied to many 
uses which were not known when the industry first 
began in New Zealand. This illustrates the saying 
that supply always create* its own demand, and 
shews the folly of the conclusions of many wiseacres 
who pretend to figure out exactly what the world will 
want, and everything over and above is a ridiculous 
waste. With regard to cinchona bark of all de- 
scriptions, I have been told that the consumption of 
the whole world cannot exceed certain figures, unci 
critics base their calculations on the ground that last, year 
showed an increase over the produce of the year 
before, this year must be a proportionate increase, next 
year a further, and so on, making no allowances what 
ever for new uses, which extra supply always creates. 
There is nothing I know of which illustrates the 
folly of this argument so "ell as our experiences in 
wools. In the year 1845 to 1S50 before the Cape, 
Australian Colonies, and New Zealand sent wools to 
the London market, the price per pound was about 
one sixpence. Now there is almost thirty times the 
quantity and the price is nearly double. Rope made 
from New Zealand flex was tested along with pure 
Manilla of equal strand and size: the result showed 
most favorably for flax. The Manilla broke at a strain 
of about 13 cwt., while the flux did not break till it 
reached 17 c*t. I remember seeing an account in 
one of the home papers some time ago, where it spoke 
of a flue table-cloth having been made from New 
Zealand flax which was presented to H. B. H. the 
Prince of Wales. I remember the comments on the 
article at the time were most flattering, and gave 
every encouragement to prosecute the manufacture of 
that class of goods from Kew Zealand flax. The 
value of a ton of fltx is about 50 to CO pounds 
sterling. It may have fluctuated a little lately ; but 
not that I know of. In conclusion, I shall be glad 
to answer any questions that may be asked of me. 
Apologizing for trespassing so much on your space, I 
am, jours truly, PHOEMIUM TENAX. 
Crickets. — " For the la*t five years or so (says the 
Hamilton [Victoria] Spectator) ihe black crickets have 
beeu a source of trouble io gardeners, .".nd the Chinese 
Vegetable-growers particularly complain of having 'too 
muchee chckel.' The insects are very voracious and 
make a cl an sweep of everything green that comes 
in their way. They are to be found in myiiads in 
the neighbourhood of creeks and watercourses, and 
they mor-tly affect black clayey soils where the crevices 
in the surface afford them shelter. Latterly we are 
told that the crickets have increased to the dimen- 
sions of a regular plague, marching forth in vast 
armies and dostroyiug every blado of grass in their 
way as completely as do the locusts. Some parts of 
Monivae nre overrun with them, and the invaders 
are now advancing upon Buckley's Swamp. The only 
effectu i] means ot cheeking r -r destroying the crickets 
is to turn out flocks of young turkeys in the neigh- 
bourhood of their haunts. The turkeys are very per- 
severing iu hunting the insects, and they gobble turm 
up by the thousauii." 
THE MYSTERY OF THE TEA TRADE. 
(North-China Herald) 
We do not think it nccessory to make any apology 
to our readers for directing their attention to the 
letter which appears below under the signature 
of " Chaa Szee." Most of the residents here 
have such a direct interest in the matter he treats on 
that we think it well to make a few remarks on what 
appears to us a very important subject. Our corre« 
spondent states, and apparently it would be difficult to 
deny it, that shippers of tea are paying in Hankow 
from 6d. to 7d. per pound over rates current recently in 
London. The question then to be solved is, — are there 
any reasons sufficiently good lo warrant such an advance? 
One answer to this would he — and there is probably 
some reason io it — that the sale he refers to was not a 
fair indication of the value of the tea; that the tea 
was, in fact, sacrificed. We have taken some little 
trouble to riud out whether such might not have been 
the case, and the conclusion we have arrived at is that 
the tea in question would probably have fetched from 
Is. 3d. to Is. 4d. instead of Is. Id., had it been more 
carefully handled on arrival in London. This then will 
apparently do away at once with half the discrep- 
ancy which be asserts to exist, but it must not be 
forgotteu that this is a risk which a large proportion 
of shipments must always run. It also appeal's that 
his sale is a fairly recent one, for he states that he 
purchased the tea in Decembar ; it could not, there* 
fore, be on the London market before the latter end 
of February, when we are informed that teas of good 
quality were scarce and wanted, a state of things which 
will not exist when present purchases arrive, it is, 
therefore, a fair argument that the value of such tea 
will be less when the d'ficiency ceases. For the 
sake of argument, however, we will assume that the 
present value of such tea iu London is Is. 3d. per lb. 
Is there any just reason why Is. Sd. should be paid 
for similar, or, according to our correspondent, for 
inferior quality? To our minds one fact only would 
justify such an advance, and that is the certainty of 
a marked deficiency in supplies. Rep rts from Hankow 
refer to n deficiency the first crop of from 10 to 15 per 
cent. Without going so far as to deny that this may be 
possible, we must confers to being somewhat sceptical 
on this point, nor do we think that a short first 
crop necessarily means a short total export. The 
season 1878 and 1879 is, we doubt not, still within 
the recollection of many of our readers, and if we are 
not mistaken there wa* a very large actual decrease 
in the first crop. Still the total supply of the season 
was ample, or, judging from the disastrous results, 
more than ample, that season being acknowledged as one 
of the worst the trade ever experienced. We are 
therefore unable to see that a problematical deficiency 
is a sufficiently good reason for paying in China 5d. 
per lb. more than teas are worth in London. 
But are buyer< in Loudon, at the time present ship- 
ments arrive, likely to act upon the supposition that 
there is a short supply, or will they treat the state- 
ment as nothing more than a rcpoit? The cry of 
" Wolf" has been so of i en raised and so often proved 
to be devoid of truth that we have no hesitation in 
stating that not the slightest hied will be paid to this 
report until an actual deficiency will be apparent. 
Judging from the fact that they will ca ry over from 
last sensou a large surplus stock ; 'hat the supply from 
the south of China promises to be large; that, as onr 
correspondent observes, there is the certainty of a large 
increase from India, we can see no cnance of any 
deficiency being felt in Loudon for many months to 
come. Grauted that the whole Chiuese crop is inferior 
in quality, we should — it may be in our ignorance — 
have supposed that this was a strong reason for paying 
less than usual whereas that the contrary is the case 
seems a tolerably well authenticated fact. That there 
will most certainly be a dearth of 6ne teas of China 
