768 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. fMAy i, 1894. 
cultivating direct trade as far as poeeible. The 
comparative merits of the two Bchcmcs can only 
b3 properly understood after both have been fully 
tried. There can, we tbiuk, be no doubt tb.at tbo 
Indian plan should yield quicker resulto, but it is 
far from certain that Ceylon will not get ahead in 
the long run, if ehe has the necessary "staying" 
power as well as continued energy and "push,'' 
The sohetne adopted by the Indian Association 
practically ameutits to the cstabliKhmcnt in the 
United Sates of an unpaid agency wholly devoted 
to the furtherance of Indian interests. An appral 
is now being made fcr funds to oriablo the A^f;oci 
ation to carry out Ub project ; and it is expected 
that Mr. Blechynden will leave Calcutta for New 
York by the end of this month. 
" UNION FOR ADVANCING THE SUCCESS 
OF QUININE CULTIVATION." 
Such is the name of a Society recently founded 
in Amsterdam. In return for a yearly conlri- 
bution of 10 florins, it undertakes fo ispue quarterly 
papers with recent information that shall ho 
helpful not only to the planters, but also to the 
European purchasers or consumers of cinchona 
bark and quinine. 
The prime object cf the Society ia to further 
the Quinine (Bark) Cultivation in Neiherlands 
East-India. 
VALUE OF TEA PLANTATIONS. 
It is a curious fact that notwithsland- 
if)g the fall in prioes of Ceylon tea and ihe 
drop in exchange which the last ten years 
have shown, the sterling value of tra plan- 
tations Ecems to be as high as, if not higher than 
over before. A DimbuU planting corresi onde nt to 
a contemporary offers the following compariFoo : — 
Snpp S! that in 1885 " A " beiog anxious to iuvest 
in tea properly hal ou estate vulued, and bought, say, 
200 acrss yielding 400 lb. per acre ; London average 
1, peril). £ s d 
Value cf crop, 80,000 ll\ Tea .51fifi l.S 4 
Cost ol producing 60,000 ib. 
'!"< a 5-62d eqaivalent of 
SOc. at Ex. of Is ejd £1873 6 6 
The freight and London 
chargi s 10 percent oti a»!f 
value .. 516 13 4 2390 0 0 
Profit.. £2776 13 4 
at 7 years' purchase £19,436 13 4, at e.xchaiigu of 
Is 63d equal to K248,719. 
In 1893 "A" being desirous of soUirg, the property 
would be valued, 2C0 acres yie'iling 400 lb. per acre. 
Loadon average 9d. £ b d 
Value of produce 80,000 lb. 3000 0 0 
Cost of producing 80,000 lb. 
at 4 5d equivalent of 30 c. 
at exchange of Is 3d equal to £1500 0 0 
Freight and London charges 
10 per cent on sale value 300 0 0 1800 0 0 
Profit £1200 0 0 
Seven years' purchase £8100 0 0 
at exohauge of Is 3d R134,40,\ 
For Low long can th'a go on? Talk alouk the 
shrinkage of bank capital employed in tbo East, ii 
surely cannot beat the above! Couiiiai ics and indi- 
viduals with " reserve funds " laid by are to be 
congratuljled. 
But, we Bupi-'ose it is a fact that neither Nith?dale 
nor Holbrook estate WdUld have sobt for £9,000 
sterling or over, in 1885, aa tU(y did the other 
day? This i'B due no doubt, in a gnat extent, to 
the increased confidence felt in tea cultivation 
especially in the higher dielriots of Ceylon 
and to the prospcot of still more economical as 
well as iinprovt^d means of working plantations and 
making tea. 
TEA AND SCANDAL. 
1 l.ave picked up a curious lidlij book called **A 
Natuial History: (oul»iiitiiK Many not Com/hon Ob- 
e>:iv<liona: Extrncted ont of Ihe Bent Modern Wrilem," 
by Bir Th< rnae I'ope Ulount, li ronet. Itit's : and I 
jiurp CO, with your approvkl, giving yuu bome ex* 
ract<i from it. I bej^iu with h^s ' ObiervationK oon- 
cerning Tbee, or Tea :' 
Taee is a shrub growiui; in moat paita ol China 
and Japan : it ariseg ceuetally to the height aud 
bignesH of our Ganhn llose and Currant -iree»; ibe 
Uoota arc Fibrouc, and spread iu<o luauy lilii'^ Fda- 
ment=, near the surface of the Eirtb; the FJoRurs 
are like those of Jiosa Hi/h'tstris : the seeds round, %u(i 
black : which being (ow'd come to ptrfection in tbree 
ytarn time, and llicu jield yearly a crop; bot iLese 
arc li'tle valued ; thc-griatand i idy Virtuo ol ihii 
Plant being supposed co ooisist cnly in the Leaves : of 
wbicb there are five sorts both aa to bignrsy and 
value; for the largest at bottom are aold for abeut 
one Peuuy-half-Penny tbe Pound ; bat the Muillest at 
the top fur Fifty, nay (omutimes one Huudre 1 and 
Fifty Orowna the Ptunl; Joh. Sich. redilin. itr 
potus ThtcR. 
This Plant (saitb (be learnel PeelUin) abound* with 
a l)rifk V. lallle Salt, wbicbli judgis very agreeable 
to our Nurtlieru CouEtilutious, whose Blood ia latu- 
rally v<rry beuvy, acd slutff'irh ; it tarries also uiib it 
a fine thinner sort of Oyf ; but so admirably well 
temper'd, that aa lliin bin 'era tiie Spiiit from Era- 
poratin;, sc coi rivets the Infl imu.ability olthis; 
trotu wbe ice reauits the \ cry iigreeable bilter Astrin- 
gent ; All whiob together, as they rt;ctifietbe Fermmt 
of the B!ooi\ and at the sure time ittrerglbeu, and 
conbrm the toco cf tbo Partr, contiiliate so much to 
the ussisting of aiurc in h< r Op^irations, ae to prevent, 
it not to cute, iloiI Chronical Distempern. 
Becau.sc ibe discreet choice of a proper Vehicle iot 
this great Panacea, msy he very material, the It-arLeJ 
Atdhor therottre tbiukd good to stiow bis dialihe of 
Milic, in that it very much ol)structs its more livel-y 
"Ud quicker Parts: as always b-aviug bebind it much 
aridity, which how prejnd cial to Hi/pochondriacal 
Persons, is sufficiently obvious. Ho dislikes the Cu^tom 
they use in Japan, of di inking the Leaves powder'it, 
Bujiposing that it m»y dry the Body too rriacb. In 
sliort, he concludes warm Water to te the must 
Natural and effectual T'ehicle, as being pure, and void 
of .all Saline or other ways pernicious Particlcfi, and 
beiug more ready to be impregnated with the Virtue 
hereof ; which when Armed with this powerful 
vegetable, Nature easily aclmits iuto its obscure Chan- 
nel.', and dark Recesses. 
He approves well enough cf the use ofSugar; as it 
serves not only to qualifie the bitter Taste, by iti 
Sweetness ,wbich nt the same time is corrected b.\ the 
Heat; but as beirg good also for the Kidnies, and 
Lungs. He thinks the diflfcrence of Oonttitatioi.s too 
ereat to be insisted tn, and tberefere only says this, 
viz, That tliose of a dryer Habit may take it more 
diluted, beortuse their ib'a^^s may more easily be carried 
eff: And f )r the Moisture and Hydropical Temper, He 
supi.'oses this Water, if more s'rcugly iuipr. gna'.td 
may make way lor the Ev.acualion to the other. 
As to the Times of lading it, lie says, the mere 
enijity the Stomac ■, ihs pissage will be the more 
easy, and therefore iu sncli the more effectuil: He 
oonceinus the use of it art< r Meala becaute tlie 
Volatile pait flies off, before the Meat is any ways 
iligcs'ed : alter which the Concoction is with ditiiculty 
perlornied : because the FcrmiKt, aa well as the ViJa- 
tilitfi of the (lii/le, is fuppiessed by the AstringtJtt 
Qiiiiiit} ; wh'ch in those circiiujstauces oU proves a 
tiling of very pernici^ius con-iiqaenoe. 
