THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. fMARCH i, 1894. 
TEA IN AMERICA. 
(Madras Times.) 
Our Cejlon contftraporaiies are " boomiug " away 
about Ceylon tea; framirnj plan«i for tie couqiient ot 
North America by Queen Tea, and eo ou. But one 
of tbem kindiy icoludoj Indian tea planters as altiee, 
and writes on "Tbe uoed of besrty co-operation 
between In liau and Oeylon planters?" Will not 
gome one suggest a Planting Dinner, to come oil 
once a }ear? 
An "Old Plinter" writes tbat the recent fall in 
the price of lea, both in Ceylon aod at home, outht 
to ^sd to fresh exertions on the part of everji ue 
interested in the welfare of Oejlon to make kuo^vn 
the merits of Ceylon tea. " Not an opportunity should 
be lost of spreading the name of Oeylon an-l its 
famous tea in every p»per throughont the wt-rld." 
Aliekdy (here are rernarks that Oeylon is tbe cliii f 
exponent of the great ait of advertisement, and yet 
ber planters are not happy I 
The Ceylon Observer tas the tanselfisbness to 
announce that what is wanted is the forina- 
tion of an Advertising Fund for Tea in Aroericit 
to which the planters in bjth India and Ceylon 
should coa'ribute, and in proportion to the estimates 
of production framed in Calcutta and Kandy. " This 
fund should, first, be devoted to tbe pacing of a 
gtaading adv rtisement of an attractive a^ well aj 
inttracttve obaraoter, in the leading newspapers in 
Ampriea." This sudden anxitty for an olliauoe with 
InoTa may be regarded as suggestive. [The "sudd-n 
anxiety" it may interest our cou'cmporary to kr.ow, 
was prompted by the stiegeslion of proprietors who 
have large iatetesia in both lodi.t and Oeylon.— 
Bd. T. A.J 
Ceylon people are still diecuseing the quertion of 
doty or no duty as regai da foreign tea, and op'nions 
are still pretty evenly div ded. The onefection objects 
to tbe possibility of any tea leaving the i«Und which 
is not pure native produce, aod upholds the impost ; 
while the other eees in a free port visioi s of Colombo 
beoomiog the port ol Southern India, and talks glibly 
of " blends." One thing mentioned during the dis- 
cussion is interesting. Trava':core tea is acknowledged 
to be as good aa lowcountry Oeylon. Travancore 
will now take heart I 
THE VICTORIAN COMMISSIONERS 
IN CEYLON. 
Some weeks ago we mentioned that the Victorian 
Government had appointed a Oommission to visit 
various countries in the East for the purpose of 
ascertaining what prospects there are of opening 
up a trade in the produce of Victoria with these 
places. Originally it was intended that the Com- 
mission should consist of Mr. David Wilson, 
agricultural expert, and Mr. Sydr.ey Howe of the 
Customs Department, but it was found afterwards 
that it would be inadvisable for Mr. W>l3on to 
leave at present, and accordingly Mr. J. Kelly also 
of the Customs Department was appointed to 
acoompany Mr. Bowe. These gentlemen arrived in 
Colombo last evening by the mail steamer 
" Arcadia" and are at present staying at the Grand 
Oriental Hotel where one of our representatives 
bad a short conversation with them this morning. 
We had previously learned tbat the reason which 
induced the Victorian Government to depart from the 
original intention to send Mr. Wilson on the 
mission was that the Premier was inundated with 
letters from those engaged in the butter trade 
chiefly pointing out that the export season was 
only half over and that it was absolutely necessary 
that the services of the expert should be retained 
to supeivise ttie export. All the butter which 
leaves the colony is iqspeoted and branded with 
the Government stamp, the London buyers accept- 
ing the butter so branded as cf first quality, 
and the people are therefore anxious tbat there 
Ehould be no laxity in carryii g cut this sytt^tn 
of branding eo that the reputat'cn of their pro- 
duce bhould be maintained. It was slsu pointed 
out, we were informed, that there wre E'ill a 
number of factories to be iofpcclcil by Mr. Wileon 
unJer tbe bonus syttem which has now ceased 
however. The Premier accordingly ra'led a 
meeting of tLo Cabinet at which it was 
decided to ad^tra to the idea of eccdirg 
the CommisFion and eo keep faith »itb 
those who bad already forwarded samples, 
and after corsultiiion niib Dr. WalleEton tbe 
beoretary of the Customs they appointed Mr. Kelly 
to go along with Mr. Bcwe vbo had been pre- 
viously chosen to accompany Mr. Wilsor. on 
this important mierion. Without going into tbe 
details of tbe matter, Mr. Rowe said that it 
vas coneidered very essential that Mr. Wilson on 
account of bis ex(;er( knowledge in the manag- 
ment and shipment ut butter and cheese should 
be on the spot during tbe export seaBon and 
hence the cbange tbat bad been made in the 
personnel of the CommisEloa. 
Mr. Rowe stated that hie colleague and he 
bad credentials from tbe Earl of Hopetoun which 
they intend to take the earliest possible opportunity 
of preeeuting to H a Excellency the Oovirnor. It ii 
alHO their intention to wait upon Hia Excellency 
the Major General with the view of ascer- 
taining whether there is any proapect of tbe 
military authorities favouring a contract for the 
supply of frozen meat for tbe army. It is 
part of their iustruciions that they ehould 
invcHtigate the praoticablity of establishing 
freezing chambers for fiozen meat in Colombo, this 
port forming a central depot for India and the 
EaBt. In some parte of India it ie said a strong 
desire has been (xpressed to have a supply of 
Eucb meat, and it is thought that not merely the 
army but tbe Anglo-Indian community generally 
would become good customers. The CommiE- 
eioners have also brought letters of introduction 
to some of the leading merchants here and these 
they will present with tbe leart poEsible delay ; 
and as soon as they can get the samples of pro- 
duce cleared and secure central premises in which 
to display them they will issue invitations to all 
iutsrested to come and inspect them. They have 
about 122 packages of samples and these include 
preserved meat, ales, jamE,pre£ervee, biscuits, hams, 
flour, eaucee, brandy, soap, compreeted fodder, 
butter, condensed milk, vegetable and natiTe seeds. 
Eucalyptus oil and extract, leather, quinine wine, 
tallow and red gum syrup. Arrangements have 
been made with Mildura for dried fruits of this 
season's crop to be sent on later. It is a^so thought 
that something might be done in potatces. '■ With 
regard to the rest," said Mr. Bowe, "this extract 
from the Age will explain.'' 
The ex ract is as follows : — 
"The embsssy is not strictly confined to tbe lines 
of produce above mentioned. The officers will make 
all possib!e inquiries with regard toother products 
sent to these places by other countries, these being 
also produced in this colony, and the results will be 
repotted to the Government with the general record 
of the trip. The officers will receive wiiiten applios- 
tioDs intimating an intention to open np trade, and 
will transmit the same to GovernmeDt, through whom 
vendor and pnrobaser may lie placed in commui.ica- 
tion. The ofiicers selected are regarded as eminently 
well adapted for the purposes of the tour, audit is 
expected tfiat they will make the best of their oppor- 
tunities." 
