Tt4E TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Dec. i, 1893. 
an offer of lOd being rejcctetl; fjr the other lot of 4.500 
of the Brunswick <juiuiae abo in lOO-oz. tias, a bid of 9g I 
was rejected. 
Vanilla. — About 7C0 packages were offered today, aud 
of these two-thirds sold at s'.eady ra'es for the belter 
qualities, at a decHue cf Gl to 1b oh 9hort beans. At 
firsf, competition was very good, but towurJa the end 
it became less lively. Good fresh i-hocohite sold at «i 
to U's ; medium to good slightly crystal lisei, to 7 
inches, at 3s to 9s; common foxy and rough at from Is 
yd to 4s per lb. 
THE AMSTERDAM MARKET. 
Amsterdam, Ojt. 19. 
The ciDcbona auolions to bo held in Amsterdam on 
Novemb er 9th will coueist of 4,610 bales and 202 
cases or about 420 tons weigljt o£ bark, divided as 
follows :— From Gosrernmeot pUntations 34 bales and 
17 cases, about 33 tons ; from private platations 
4,266 bales and 275 cases, about 357 tone. This quan- 
tity contains : Of druggists' bark — Succirubra, quills 
194 cases ; br kon quills and chips 1C6 bales and £'H 
cases; roat 107 bales. Of mauafaoluring bsrk — Ledgeri- 
BDE, broken quills and chips 2,859 bales; root 8J7 bales. 
Hybrids, broken quills and chips 580 bales; root 3'3 
bales. OtGciualiP; broken quills and chips 15 bale°, 
root 3 bales. — Chemist ani Druytjut. 
THE CUBEB MARKET. 
The 0. P. ^ D. Reporter, in rcviening the position 
of eubebp, observes: — Cubebs are now approaobing (he 
level which prevailed previous to 1880. In Oatober 
'77, minimum piioe ot cubebs in the Niw York 
market reached the noprecedentedly low figure of 8c 
per lb, ; but from this time forward, with a few re- 
trogreesive steps, values appreciated until bi^h-tvater 
mack was attained in '89, when sales were made ss 
high at §l-75 per lb. The cauEe3 of the high prices 
relate principally to specu'ative manipuIalioD, It Ids 
been estimated that the average annual consumption 
of oubebs is about 150,000 lb , end if this is reasonably 
Bccuratp, the proportiou of the production brought 
to the United States is very considerable as will be 
perceived by reference to the Government reports 
for tbe past tun years. These are the figure : 
'83, 120,618 lb. ; '84, 89,745 lb. ; '85, 82,529 lb. ; 'ae, 
110,066 lb.; '87, 61,481 lb.; '88,68.031 1b.; '89,51,021 
lb. ; '90, 84,729 lb. ; '91, 65,404 lb. ; and '92, 115,974 
lb. Tbe year of the largest importation was 1879, 
when 277,422 lb. arrived in this country. It is easy 
to understand that such immense quantities w:re not 
needed except to meet a fictitious, speculat've iuqu'ry 
which developed strongly about that time. — C/nmist 
and Druggist. 
ESTATE MANAGEMENT (IN CEYLON.) 
A very important and commendable step was taken 
by the directors of the Orientsl Bank Estates Com- 
pany, at their recent general meeting. It wcs no 
other tban the appointment of two gentlemen possessed 
of Ceylon experience to act with them on the 
Beard. This was a tacit admistioD, thit the element 
of locil experienca was abseut from their council of 
management, and that in crJer to command success 
in the working of their valuable and exten-^ivs es'ate 
property, such experts were absolutely neceatary. The 
i3oard ot Directors bad not previoutly cjotained an? 
sbatebolder who had the tlightest acqusintance with 
Ceylon or Ceylon iniluttries, nor bad any office bearer 
cf the company ever been in the island. It is true 
the London manager, Mr. Rhod'', has had some ex- 
perience cf coffee planting in the Neilgherries, but so 
far at we are informed he had never seen a tea plant, 
nnlesB, perhaps, in a nursery. With the best possibla 
intentions, therefore, and with the most earnest 
desire to duly discharge the"r duty, the Board and the 
staff of their company could not pcssibly carry on 
the management ot the numerous estates in their 
charge in a manner conducive to the beet interests of 
the shareholders. 
When we allude to "management" wa refer 
especially to that one element iu all such 
pd^t^Akipgl ^rbio^ M ^9 eieeutial to success 
above all other coneideratione. We mftan a cordial no> 
dersfaoding between tbe governing bo ly in London 
and the Company's Eupcrintcudeuts aud visiting agenti 
in tbe island ; if this be absent there ^-ao be no good 
fueling between tkem, and consequently no eucoeu iq 
the working of the properties. On this bubjeet we 
do not profess to have any pereooal knowledge, but 
reports coming from many sources, and of long con- 
tinuance, assure us cf a lamentable absence of any 
approach to cdenfe coidiai where there should have 
been perfect understanding and mutual coQ8d«nee. 
These unfortunate facte were a common talk in tbe 
room during the meeting, and anyone baviug ao- 
quaintance with shareholders present could not well 
be ignorant of thef^e things. If the directors of this 
company des're information as t> what const iiutea 
good maoagement let them tsj^rtiin how matters 
etind betweea the Directors and the Superin- 
tendents of the Oeylon Tea Plantatioa Oom- 
pany, and they will at once learn what it is 
which bai had so much to di with earuiog 
continuous dividends of 15 per cent, duriog tbe last 
6 or 7 yearf>. The liberal, even geierout treatment 
accorded the working staS of tbe latter company, 
the entire cocfilence placed in everyone of them and 
the bu8ineg«-lik3 tone of the correspoodeuce passing 
between the London ofiioe and tbe Cjmpaoy'a repre- 
sentatives in the island, all go to consiitutc (be 
secret of tbeir fuocesc 
The long, almost wearisome ftddress of tbe 
chairman at the late meeting, failed to restore 
confidence in the minds of the sbarebolderi 
praseit, a result that was only attained by 
the appointmerit on the Board of such exports as 
Messrs. Rutherford and Nornaan Grieve. Men not 
can alone restore the Comptny to its proper 
condition of security and prosperity, and now that 
changes have been made io tbe Board of Diraotors, bo 
doubtotbers will follow in due time.— C*yon Adverlieer, 
» 
NOTES AND COMMENTS FROM LONDON j 
TKA-CoKHit-CuOCOLATE. 
It IB pasting strauge that whilst a decided improve- 
ment has taken place of late years in the quality of 
tea and cUocjlat'j dispenred at city buffets, tbe coffee 
vended is still execrable in flivour, and often nn- 
drinkable, aud it is no doubt to this fact that we 
must ascribe tbe dec'iue in the consumption of the 
betry which is dwind ing year by 3eir. The truth 
if, we believe, that tbe nigh price of coSee n'mco the 
devastation of leaf diseice has been such a great in- 
ducement to aduliera'e ground coffee which admits 
of eapy manipulalion, thit coffee shop-keopers ar(i 
unable to resist the strong temptation to mike money 
in thfs way. 
A month or so ago tbe demand in Mincing-lsne ran 
very much on teas for price, now, however, there seems 
to be a decided rush for full flavoured broken pekoes 
and any of these pa^sefsing full flavour and point 
command great attention from bu}crs, for not only 
this market but for the Continent, where as we uoder- 
sta-iid there is a strong enquiry for grades of various 
degrees Purchases for those quarters lave been oon- 
siotrable, though tho declared exparta do nr t as yet 
show any large advance. Travelling on the Continent 
by English touriits no doubt goes far to account for 
this growing increase in tbe demand for full flavoured 
Ceylon teas. 
Surely the planters and merchants of Oeylon will 
rot allow their admirable shoiv at Chicago to be 
closed without some practical outcome in the form 
of agencies throughout some of tbe leading centres 
ot American population, where the tea, which was so 
admired in the Ceylon Court, may be purchased at 
reasoable prices. This is the ta^k which tbe colony 
has now to take in baud, and though it is true that 
the Government will not join in any financial support 
to epecu'ative business transactions, there can be no 
good reison why they may not consent to allo« a 
portion of the ofBoial Tea Fund to be devoted for a 
certiin time to the advertising of Ceylou tea 
AmericaiQ citi^B, involTiog no sgrt o( ciek. 
