676 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [April 2. 1894, 
Bad ol oourse this faoility will soon be extended." 
I asked Sir George bow the 
BBITISH COLUMBIA SCHEME 
about wbiob I lately wrote to you as one in wbiob 
he bad an interest waa progresaicg, and he telle 
me be fears it must be for the preeent abandoned, 
owing to the difficulty ot raising capital. He 
said that the best offer received for underwriting 
the capital of £250,000 for this was £50,000, a, 
tax that the promoters did not feel justified in 
assenting to. He further told me tbat inqairy 
made as to the Highland Crofters whom it had 
been proposed to establibh oa the new lands had 
revealed their uniilness for emigration. As I bad 
before learned of these people, the inquiry 
demonstrated that they are tbritiless and lazy in a 
most exceptional degree, and that they are unwil- 
ling at all times to do anything to improve their 
position, preferring any form of loafing to steady 
industry to earn a livelihool. Any ideas of transfer- 
ring them to British Columbia bad therefore been 
wholly abandoned. 
THE FINEST TEA EV^IR GROWN, 
A small consignment of tea from the Mount 
Vernon Kstate, Oeyloo, was sold on 13ih inet, by 
public auction at the Oommercial Sale Rooms, 
Mincing Lane at £3 IDs per lb. It was pro- 
nounced to be the finest ever grown.— L. and C, 
Express, Feb. 16. 
♦ 
TEA AT i'8-103, PER ft. 
" Actually the very finest tea ever grown" must 
needs be a costly article. The proportion of living 
mortals who can detect shades ot superiority among 
wines of the first class is very small. It is sad to 
think, perhaps, how many of our fellow-creatures 
who boast a cellar have never tasted a really great 
wine; though they have paid for oue often enough. 
As for cigars, there are so many princes and 
millionaiies about that undistingaished persons cau 
never hope to enjoy the experience necessary for 
cultivating a finisiied taste. But tea is everybody's 
drinli — that is, almost. A hundred thousaud in- 
habitants of this island are connoisseurs, probablj'. 
And, besides, there is a market for the best in 
Kussia, America and Australia, to name only the 
principal tea-driuking countries. Therefore, ''actually 
the very finest ever grown " must be subject to 
world-wide competition. But when all allowances 
are made eight pounds ten shillings per pound 
Bounds impossible. Do the Emperor of China pay 
60 much ? Perhaps he does, but his Majesty is not 
supplied direct Irom the auction room. Such, 
however, was the price which business men paid for 
a lot of Ceylon tea on Tuesday at the Commercial 
Bale liooms. Mincing-lane. It must be preaiuned 
that they were not less sane than other people. 
'Ihey expected to make a profit too, no douot. It 
would be really interesting to know who buys and 
who drinks tnat superlative decoction. — Ecening 
standard. 
^ 
THE OUTLOOK FOR COFFEE. 
A prominent firm in the coffee trade has issued' 
BB is lis habit, a lengthy circular reviewing the 
position of coffee. 
Evidently the authors of this circular believe in 
big crops in 1894-96 and afterwards, for they 
estimite the crops of the world at 13,500,000 bags, of 
Which Rio, Santos, Victoria, Bahia and Oerea are 
to futnish 8,500,000 bags. 
Who will carry the sui plug coffee? is the ques- 
tion asked, ana answered only suggestively, but 
viib tba intimation that pdoes mast yield, as 
|iipitftl WiH not iayest ioi HseK at estrems figutee, 
being content to " carry surplas eopplies for 
Hcoount of others." It is claimed that the Uoil«d 
States does not need to carry aa large stocks as 
formerly, owing to the ouutom of large dealers 
buying in primary markets. In conclusion the 
circular says : 
The csntinaance of high prices has not only 
stimulated increased production in all regular 
coffee-growing countries, bat has been the m«aos 
of opening up other Isnds to the cultivation of 
the bean, where planters have been attracted by 
the lucrative returns elsewhere to make the venture, 
even to the extent of abandoning other lines. lo 
this respect we may mention the Uandwioh Islands, 
New Z:3aland* and the Iransvaal*, and in a short 
time we shall not be surprised to learn that 
these places will raise suQiotent coffee to admit 
of exports. We ooaseqaentty incline to the opinion 
tbat the period of high values (or coffee — say from 
18b7 to l»'Jl— will be followed t>> a eeasou of a 
lower range, in the sam« way that the high 
prices from 187<i to 1U79 were followed by a range 
of very low values, and il present prices should 
undergo a reduction of 50 per cent they would 
then be oon.iderably higher than those which ixidted 
from 1892 to 1886. In the foregoing we present 
our ideas based upon the question of probable 
supplies, without considering other elements, lik« 
speculation and sentimest. 
Let us firist note the siatistioal position of oofles, 
based upon the officini report of the New Tork 
coffee exchange- From that we oompile the fol- 
lowing statement : — 
Visible supply of / Jan. 1, 1893 8,106,271 
the world, ( Jan. 1, 1C91 8,43S,-^46 
Blocks in Earope. Jan. 1833... ... 1,208,030 
Stocks in United Staten, Jdo. 1 1893 419 211 
Kece pta in Europe, 1893 .. ... 6,473,801 
Kecipis in Uoitei States, 1893 ... 4,0jT,5l6 
Total Bupplv, Europe and U. S., 1893,.. 12,159,588 
Less stacks, Jan. 1, 1894 .. .. 1,54U,'243 
Deliveries f 1893... .. .. 10,6l«,3W 
for I laya.. .. .. io,ab7,i62 
The above shows decreased receipts and a 
reduction in the world's visible supply of 673,023 
bags, indicating light crops in 1893-4, and oon- 
sumption below the previous year, but not as 
marktd as tbe decrease in receiptp. 
It is apparent that 11,0 0,000 bags measure tbe 
world's requirements, with coffee at high pricea. 
The question as to the future i)one of supply and 
demand. If the former reaches, as is estimated, 
13,500,000 bags, then prices muct recede if the 
consumption is to increase. Low prices stimulate 
consumption, and large crops means lower prices. 
The opinion expressed in the quotatijn given 
above from tbe trade circular is well taken. 
For several years there has been a large extension 
of the arejt devoted to coffee in Brazil, Mexico, 
Central America, United States of Colombia, 
Venezuela, Liberia, on the Malabar coast, and 
other points. It is about time that the product 
of new plantations should have a direct influence 
upon supply. 
The Java crop of 1894-95 is now estimated at 
1,250,000 piouls. The 1893-94 crop in the East 
Indies was uausually light, some aistricts in Java 
not yielding one-tenth of ths previous season's 
crop, or about 71,000 piculs, against an estimated 
out' turn of government coffee in 1894-95 ot 750,001) 
piculs, besides 600,000 for private account. Brazil 
has furnished for ths past fev? years about 55 per 
* Quite new to us to hear of New Zealand and 
Tcausvaa 1 as coffee producers : we d9 tt9( t^Ulk tbfl 
