594 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [March i, 1*94. 
petisioi; appearance and m*de a bpsi'ty meal ; but be 
epeedily died of intestin)! ioflamination, fcr tbe 
B*ua!ige WBB adnlterated vrilh aniiiDe. The itecond 
fly breskfisted upon flour, and forthwith eucouaibed 
to the inordifate quantity of atum with wbic-h the 
flour bad been adulterated. Tbe third fly vtn9 slaking 
bis thirst with the couteuta of tbe milk-juf;, when 
violout cramps aoon convulsed his frame and lie gave 
up-the Hhofit, a viotim to«bBltc and impure water, ^be 
4th fly, mutterinK to himself: " The sooner it is over 
the sooner to sleep," alighted on a poitoDed sheet of 
pspcr ozbibiting on iti Burfece the fiKure of a death's 
head and the ominous words ' fly-poison." Applying 
the lip of its proboscis to tbe paper the fourth fly drank 
to its heart's content, growing more vigorous nnd 
cheerful at every mouthful. He did not die: he 
throve and waxed fat. The fly-poieon was adulte- 
rated." 
This 19 not a joke, though ycu may think eo. As I 
was searching the catalogues rf the British Museom 
Beading Room lately for a boolt on Tea under tbe 
name of 'Toledo, Aroucli de,' I found not what I 
wan'ed, hot instead the following awfol name:— Toledo 
Salm Balm Hurtado de Meudozn y Orozco Pimental 
Silva Gomez de 8audoval 0-orio Lnna Aragon la 
Cerda EotiqiKz Haro y Guzman, Pedro Alukutata 
de, Duke del Inf^ntado; and tbe book he wrote was 
" Manifest? del Duqne del Infantadoen Bnero de 1821 
[giving his reasons fordfc'iniug to aeive his country 
in ttie preseut stile ot allairs, &o.) Madrid." I should 
think BO I A. M. F. 
TEA BOXES. 
Duiing recent yearsconsi If-rable attention has been 
paid to the mechanical making of tea-boxt>s, or, niore 
properly speaking, tea-ohests. The gigantic number of 
these chests sent over from the growing and exporting 
countries is little imsgined by those who are not con- 
nected with tbe great wholesale tea oentrep. Tbe 
average coosamption of tea in Grest BritKin and Ire- 
land alone is about 30,000,000 pounds (over one-half 
pound per annum per head of the entire population). 
Every I ea-ohest holds about 1001b. The yesrly tea 
consumption, therefore, entails the use of upwards of 
300,000 chests ; although Ibft absolute number of boxes 
made is far greater, some of tliem holding 50 lb. and 
less. Tbe consumption of Obiua teas have of late years 
fallen oftin this.couutry to a minimum, the great ma- 
jority of tea soiit to this market being from Ae-am 
and UeyloD, where chests of strong make only are 
used. The figures we have given only represent our 
own country's importation of tea chasts nud 
in addition there must be added that the vast im- 
portation of other tea drinking conntriej. Tbe 
millions of boxes required may thus easily be eeti- 
juated. A vast number of hands are required in tbe 
making of these boxes; the cutting of the hardwood 
" Bhoots," the dovetailing, etc. Saw mill ei gineers 
of Eastern experience have of lata been paying marked 
attention to the making of these chests by machinery. 
In our last issue we gave an illustration of a " corner 
locking " machine (dovetailing) for 'ei chest purposes, 
mude by a well-known London firm, who regularly 
export machinery for various trades, Messra. A Yates 
& Co. of Luddenden, Manchester, have fince drawn 
our attention to a plant which they have just erected 
in Ceylon lor the rapid conversion of baulk timber 
into shooks, They state thit by this machinery, per 
hour, a sufBcieut nniaber of "s des'' can be turned 
out for 250—300 boxes, aud that, for ost, it compares 
most favourably with other plants; — TmOer Market. 
INDIAN TEA SALES. 
(From WilUam Moran dt Co.'s Marleet Report.) 
Calcutta, Jan. 24th, 1894. 
TEA.— On i'hursday 18th instant, 8,478 chests were offere I 
and 7,529 soM. London telegrams alvising a steadier 
marVct, our prices hardened somewhat showing seme re- 
covery from the pr.;vious sales' rates. 
Tomorrow about lu.COu chi-sls will be off'red, including 
eome fine invoices from Astam, 
Tbe CemmitUe ot tbe Indian T«k A^soclBtlou bare 
tavcured us with tbf following mtcreeuoi; particultn rc 
gardioK tlie le» crop of ]?93 :— 
Original estimate of crop of lf>9S:— Igf'.SiS.a^e lb. 
Kevised estimate of crop of 1098:— 121,779,778 lb. 
ACICAL OCTTUBN Or Ceoi- 1893. 
lb. 
Aeeam 
Caehar 
Pylb't 
Darjeeliog . . 
Terai 
Docars 
ChittaKODR ... 
Chcta-Nagpor* 
Dehra Dan, Kumaon anit Kangia 
Private aod Native Oardi-iis 
SIM 04,100 
1 ",427,644 
1C.«64.!)B» 
:<,483,-<41 
S'S7,t>53 
»M,374 
4JOO»,M 
1!&.3VI,474 
The total shipmeols to all pltuiea from Ut April to JUt 
December 1h93 are 108,80S.410 lb. Tie eiportt to the 
Ccloniea ant othifr pons toitether with locai ooofiirap- 
tlon are estimated at llj millione, which will Wave 114 
million lb. for export to the Uiiilel KiBgdom. 
Total Qdantitt of Tea passkd thboooh Oal- 
CtTTIA FROM IsT ApRIL 1893 TO 83bd 
Jancaby 1894. 
1893. ibM. 
Great Britain ... lot.6«H',tifll 10l.«»r( «tO 
Australia & New Zealand 5,2:>8,:J03 b i >x'«6l 
America ... 29S,I8^ ' Ps'ooO 
Bombay &iPerieau6ulf.. 2 542,514 812 ¥79 
Sundry Ports ... (itf4.8U w'.-UH 
U7,awi,U); 
NOTES ON PRODUCE AND 11 NANCE. 
The Indian Tka Makkf.t Lisr Yeab.— In a review 
of the tea market last year fioni the dealers' point 
of view, the (J/wyrsays of Indian Tea: "Taking the 
year through, this branch of the trade has not been 
a profitable one for the dealers ; in fact, the spring 
and summer months ended with heavy loss a. owiof 
to the bulk of supplies consisting of medium gradei!— 
they looked cheap against tbe high tates rulii g for 
common tea, but buyers could find no market for 
them, consequently they had to resell at heavy dis- 
counts. It will be remembered that the 1892-93 crop 
was a very fine one, and consequently the supply of 
common tea was very short. Prices opened high 
in January, and continued so nntil the end of the 
season, with one or two reactions on account of 
the strong buying powers of several large blenders 
and packet people; in fact, the retailers of low- 
priced packets, Ac, could have liiade nothing out 
of their turnover for the first half of the year. 
The crop of 1892-93 turned out exactly as we put it 
in our last annual reports, viz., 108,000,000 airaiDst 
111,000,000 in 1891-92, while this seaeoH is expected 
t-1 weieh out 115 or 116 million lb., including Travan- 
oo-e Teas, which are not inclnded in the Calcutta 
figures. The present crop is a fair and useful one for 
trade purposes, being strong, but does not, of course, 
hear compurison with that in 1892. We have already 
had five million lb., more of the new crop than in the 
year before to same date, so that we only ought to 
have two million lb. extra to deal with to the end of 
the season. Such a state of things ought to icdtjce 
confidence, considering that it is likely that present 
very low rates will materially increass the con- 
sumption. Deliveries for the first five months of 
the 3 ear fe'l off 4 million lb , but now we are picking 
up lost ground, and the total deliveries for the 
past year are about 109 J million lb., or. say, IJ 
millions less than in 1892, which is very good, 
considering that 1892 showed a gain ot 10 million lb! 
over 1891. Supplies of common and medium teas 
have been heavy this season. Nevertheless the run 
on low-priced teas has been so strong that prices 
have kept fairly steady. Medium teas, however, have 
suffered, and in the autumn good pekoes ruling about 
lOd dropped to 8d, and finer teas were quoted in many 
oases 4d and 6d per lb. easier, the value offering in 
pekoes between 6id to Is 2d being wonderful. 
'Spotty,' &o., and finest teas, however, realise fnli 
rates, and are eajerly competed for. -Broken p:koei 
