August i, 1893.] THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
87 
EUROPEAN IMPOKT DUTIES ON TEA. 
Among the Lew fealurei in the recently i6£u«d 
report of the Bengal Chsmber of Oommerce for 1892- 
93 is an appendix ehoniug the various cuttoms duties 
that govern the import of tea into European countries. 
Of these the bigheat appears to ba that of Purtngal 
where ibe import dufy is equal loan En({li^h equi- 
va'ent of la ll*5d per pound. Switzerland comes lowest 
wilh a duty of only l'7d per pound. In Rusfi* the 
duties are enormously high, being in the case of t( a im- 
ported into any European port or over any European 
frontier, Is 10-2d. On tea imported through the 
Iikatsk cubtom-house, by way of Siberia and tbe 
steppes, the doty is Is l"7d ; but on what is known 
as brick tea so imported the duty is only 2 6d. tiaob 
tea as is brought into Eussia, arcompnLied by accre- 
dited certilicatefi showing it tote of Kassiau prepara- 
tion, is allowed to enter on payment of lO'Od per 
pound. In England, Denmark, Germany, and Spain 
the scale rangts from 4d to 6-5d. In Greece, lt*ly, and 
Austria-Hungary, the duties ere very heavy. — Pioneer. 
SELANGOE. 
The coffee planters ba e been oompl&ining a good 
deal Utely about the diimage done by Chinese wood 
cutters OD their estates. The planters say that whore 
the sun finds its way in through tbe jungle tbe soil 
is materially injured f(.r coffee plunti ig. The wood- 
cutting men do not as a rule buve much resipect for 
the rights of private property, an 1 rtceutly four 
oUtnlera were fined §10 each tor catting timber on 
th'j Mount Estate. 
Mr. Raymond le't yesterday fi>r Perak wh(re he 
intends to ie»i e< He has left many tr ends behind 
him who will be glad to hear of his succeis in that 
State. 
Mr, Venning, Government Treasurer of Selangor, 
who has this year been appoiated Visiting Commis- 
sioiier to the Keeliui; and Cjcos Itliuds, left K ang 
today for Singapore, from «h cli port he leave* by 
H. M.S. "Pigmy" for ihe Islands. Straits I'imes. 
CINOHONA, &c., REPORT. 
(From the Chemist and Diuc/gist.) 
Loudon, June 1. 
Cinchona.— The fortnit-'htly bark-auct onB held on Tues- 
day weie of fuir extent, the ten catalogues comprising:— 
Pflcbagea Pacliagts 
Ceylon cinchona 
sa 
ofwhiih 764 
East Indian cinchona 1 
185 
„ 1038 
Java cinchona 
ii'l 
W. African cinchona 
48 
',. i'^ 
S. American (Caiisaya ) 
cincliona 
185 
185 
do (Pitayo), &c. 
6l8 
463 
2, 
Ml 
2,498 
The larks offered showeJ no feature of any importance 
excepting that presented by the inclusion and ihe partial 
sale of 648 bales a uth American barks imported over 
ten years ago, most of wliiuh were now offered without 
reserve. There w>re also a few lots of common Ceylon 
barks seven years old, fur which very low prices were 
accepted. The parcels generally were of medium quality 
with a fair sprinkling of Otiicinahs and a few good 
Ledgers. The tone througliout the auctions was some- 
vfhat wavering, but upon the whole prices were lower, 
and sale m:iy safely be said to have been one of the 
worbt f r sellers which have ever been held. The aver- 
age unit probably • id not exceei Jd per lb. 
The following are the approximate quantities pur- 
chased by tke priuC'pal buyers : - 
Lb. 
Agents for the Mannlieim and Amsterdam works 140,572 
Agents for the AuerOach works ... .,. 8.5,395 
Messrs. Howard iic Sons ... ... G2,«43 
Agents for the Frankfort-o/Maiii and Stuttgart 
works ... ... 40,913 
Agents for the Brunswick works ... ... 3-J,638 
Ajjeiits for the American and l uliau wor- s ... 35,119 
Agenis for the I'uris works ... ... k'J.^ili! 
Mr. Thomas Whiffen ... ... 18,824 
Sundry druggisiM ... ... ei,80o 
Total qmiulity sold ... ... 63 ',744 
bought in or withdrawn ... ... 97,57;^ 
Total quantity of bark olleted ... 628,310 
Quinine.— Business is practically at a stand still in this 
article. German second-hand bulk can be had at 9|d per 
02. from the second-hand ; and the manufacturers' quota- 
tions are as follows :— Howard's vials Is 2d to Is 3d ; 
tins Is Id to Is 2d; Whiffen vials Is 2d; tins Is 
Pelletier vials Is 5id ; Milan vials Is Id; tins Ud; 
Zimmer, Jobst, Auerbach and Mannheim tins Ud ; Bruns- 
wick tins lOjd per oz. 
CEYLON PLANTERS IN NORTHERN 
INDIA. 
(From an ex-Cei/lon Planter.) 
One of our largest Companies in Sylhet ia now 
managed by an old Ceylon planter, Mr. E. Todd 
Naylor, formerly of Haputale. If you want a few 
facts about temperature it was 103° in the shade 
of my bungalow verandah a month ago, and it ia 
now 93°— too hot to make writing pleasant ! 
NATAL TEA. 
THE SEASON'S PRODUCTION. 
Mr. G. W. Drummond, of Kearsney sends us the 
lollowing special Natal tea report: — We have cow 
arrivt d a"^^ tbe end of the tea seifon. On the whole 
it hos been a good one. The outturn for this factory 
will be between 380,0001b. and 390,0001b., but the 
exact figures cannot be obtained for another week or 10 
days. This means aa increase of 30,000 lb. on onr 
original estimate, and an increase of over 100,0001b. 
on the total outturn of last season. We are glad to 
know thst the Clifton and Nonoti estates have also done 
well, and made a snbstantial increase on their la$t 
year's crop. The total outturn for Natal was esima- 
ted at the beginning of the season to reach 560.0001b. 
and we can now safely fay that this has been more 
than accomplished. In fact, we should put the tea 
crop of tbe colony during the past seasoD, 1892-93 »t 
about 580,000 lb. in round figures. — iVa<a? Mwcury, 
" PICKINGS " WITH A LOCAL APPLICATION^ 
The Department of Agriculture of New Zealand 
have offered a series of prizes for the best Collkc- 
TioN OF Noxious Weeds found growing in the colony, 
properly mounted, with scientific names attached 
together with the name of the place where gathered. 
Two prizes are also offered for collections of insects 
if'jurious to vegetation. There is an instance how 
a properly organized Agricultural Department could 
gather the information that is necessary for the study 
of the means whereby the interests of the agricul- 
turist may be safe-guarded. It is a crying shame 
that the plea you have so often put forward for a 
properly organized Agricultural Department in this 
chief of the British Crown Colonies has found no 
commendation among those in authority. 
Mr. R. Atherton, to judge from his contribution to 
the last numberof the ''Magazine of the School of Agri- 
culture," has not lost faith in Sugar Cane Cultivation 
in Ceylon. I wonder how many supporters he could 
count in his belief in the cane as a remunerative crop, 
when it is remembered how many thousands of pounds 
were lost and how many planters were ruined in the 
attempt to grow it. Your " Directory " account of 
"Susjar Cultivation in Ceylon" is just a tale of woe. 
Even in the exceptional case of Baddegama you note 
that the saccharometer shows a density only of 9"^ 
against 11° and 12° in other sugar producing countries. 
Mr. Atherton, however seems to hint that the right 
sites were not chosen for sugar planting, and urges 
that further experiments — Government, if notpri\ate 
— should be undertaken. Onr present Governor him- 
self is said to have expressed his surprise that the 
cane was not cultivated in Ceylon. 
The "Planters' Monthly" of Honolulu mentions cases 
of 6, 7, 8, Kud even 10 tons of St o<u being produced 
per acre, as showing what good cultivation can ac- 
complish in exceptionally fine spots. The 'average 
yield, however, it puts down at 1 tons to the acce. 
