Feb. 1, 1894.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
The Borneo Coffee Compaoj'fl plantations at Terri- 
teepan are just as good as those nearer San^^akan, and 
are also heavy with fruit. 
The timber trade progresce^ steadily. One ehip is in 
port at present loadii g for Obina, and another one is 
expected sooi). The " Memiion," the s'eatuer whicli 
runs jbetween this and Hongboog, takes np as much 
as ehe can carry every lime, andmcst of the Siogapore- 
bouud steamerB take some, which is nsed by the coal 
company at Labuan. — Colonies and India. 
■ * 
ACME CHESTS AND EVEN TARES- 
The local Agent writing to an estate proprietor 
makes some remarks which are worthy o£ note : — 
"What I want to get at is to see if I can get the 
charges for taring done away with. Once get this 
recognised and the bulking is bound to follow. The 
even tares of these packages kills the loss of tea, 
as the 5 chests are aU just under 14 lb. so that 
this is a big advantage in itself as against uneven 
tares, where you may lose almost | of a lb. of tea, 
iu addition to the 1 lb. draft allowance. With chests 
of even tares, not aa ounce of tea ought to be lost to 
the grower and it will come to this before very long. 
I am not advocating the safety of our package or 
its liability to carry tea in good condition to the 
markets of the world, (We who have been watching 
this for the last 18 months are quite satisfied as to 
this.) It is to get practical tests to save the planter 
losing his tea unnecessarily and to save unnecessary 
charges in London that I am determined to work out 
cheats of even tares and unvarying tares, through 
all difiBenlties, whether the chests are wood, or lead, 
or steel, is what will bring this about." 
DRUG-TRADE OF 1893 :-QUlNIi\E, &c. 
Commercially and industrially, 1S93 has been a 
thoroughly bad year. Instead of the generally ex- 
pected trade revival, business has been duller and 
commercial distrust greater than at any time within 
the last twenty years, and it is no exaggeration to 
say that, so far as the drug trade is concerned, there 
have never been so many complaints of malaise as 
during the year now drawing to a close. 
QUININE AND CINCHONA. 
Although it appears impossible to obtain any 
official confirmation of the facts, it seems certain 
that in the spring a sort of understanding was 
arrived at between the qumine-manufacturers, who 
had been in the habit of making speculative sales on 
the competiive system, to cease from cutting prices, 
and to put some limit upon the making of contracts 
for future delivery. These measures have served 
to impart a little more confidence in the 
quinine-market, and this has been accen- 
tuated by the belief that there will shortly be a con- 
siderable reduction in the supply of cinchona-bark. 
Quinine has risen from 9 9-16d ptr oz. for seoou'lhaud 
German in January to lOjd per oz. in December. It 
is, perliaps, as yet somewhat too early to say that the 
prediction made by thu Java Planterb' Association in 
a report issued in March last, that the 1893-94 crop 
of Java ciuohoua b^rk would show an increase of 17 
per cent by weight, and about 23 per cent by quinine- 
v»lue, over the crop of the previuus year, and be 
far and away the biggest crop on record, has befn 
([uito incorrect: But at any rate, there has been a very 
considerable decline in the Java exports during the last 
three or four mouths, and it is thouuht that 
the early months of the comiuij year wiU 
show a turthor dia.inution iu the sopply. Ceylon, 
it seimp, will, toon ceaec to coimt aa a bark- 
prodiiciuu country, r nd the Indian supp'y is also falling 
oti. The qti'niue unit in Amtterdaui fell from o.^c. in 
Jauaary to 2io. in October, but advanced again tu 
84c. ftt the Uccembor auctions. 
Another noteworthv feature in couneotion with the 
cinchoaa trade has been the cleariu); out of considtr- 
able poitioa of the old etocks of I'itajo, soft Oolom- 
553 
bian, and Cuprea barks held in London since 1880 to 
1883. At auction afti r auction these barks have been 
offered for eale, and very frequpntly busmesB was 
concluded at from Id to 2d per lb. for bark which, 
when imported, was worth from Is to 3s per lb. 
Camphor has followed a declining tendency, and the 
same applies to Soudan gum acacia, Zanzibar cloves, 
rhubarb, China soy, buchu leaves (now only a little 
more than one-third of their January price), and mnek.- 
Gum tragacanth, and Tinuevelly senna have ruled high 
in price, and Canadian castnrum has brought figures 
never thought of before — viz., 140s per lb. Lastly, otto 
of rose has advanced nearly 30 per cent as a result of 
successful speeolatiou, while menthol is nearly 80 per 
cent higher in price than it was a twelvemonth »go, 
— Chemiot and Dncjgist. 
A TRIPLEX TEA DRIER. 
London, Jan. 5. 
Allusion has been made above to the severity 
of the weather here yesterday. To that severity 
must, I imagine, be attributed a disappointment 
experienced by myself. Mr. Hector had written 
to me some days previously asking me to be 
present — of course on your behalf — at a public 
exhibition at Chingford, Esses, of a new Triples 
Tea Drier stated to be an improvement upon 
the Gibbs-Barry machine. As it was known to 
me that but one of these machines was in work 
in Ceylon— on Mr. Channicg Esdaile's estate— it had 
seemed to me that it might be of interest to 
your readers did I record of it my personal ob- 
servation. Accepting therefore the invitation, I 
made arrangements, at great personal inconveni- 
ence, to be present at the trial, and with many 
a shiver in the fearful blasts of easterly wind which 
attacked me, put in an appearanca at Liverpool 
Street terminus at the appoinlei early hour. But 
seemingly, I was the only one of all those invited 
who had dared to brave the inclemency of the 
day, for waiting to see the fixed train take its 
departure, not a sign could be seen of the numerous 
company that had been expected. Probably notice 
of the altered intention had been circulated and 
sent in error to my Club address instead of to 
my private one. Candidly, one could hardly be 
sorry, in such bitter weather, that my experiences 
in reaching Liverpool Street had not to be extended 
further. At that terminus I met a lady, formerly 
resident in Ceylon, who had just arrived from the 
country to see a relative attacked by illness. She 
was literally hlue with cold and shaking from head 
to foot as we stood for a minute or two conversing, 
I never recollect a more bitter day. — Loudon Cm-. 
THE ACME CHESTS. 
Wehave now received from Mr. Poison a sample 
of the very neat 201b. Acme tea chests — tare 51b. 
They are exceedingly neat and the local Agent may 
wg'I write : — 
" These are the boxes for fine teas and not one of 
them need even be opened at the Customs." 
- — * ■ 
Bark and Quinine.— We are tired of hear- 
ing of old stocks of cinchona bark and quinine being 
cleared out ; but the story is repeated in the annual 
review of the drug trade (see above) and yet 
prices do not rise ! However, wc see that oar 
contemporary (of (chemist and Druggist) only 
speaks of "a considerable poitiou" of the old 
stocks of South American barks held in London 
since 1880-3 (!) as being chared out. Let us hope 
that the remaining part will shortly disappear and 
so leave a fair field and no favour for btik 
planters in sopplying currtut demaodSi 
