176 
The tropical agriculturist. 
[Sept. i, 1894. 
recent low \ rices of cur Cej Icn teas— eo Ihtt bad 
luck in cne way is l.kdy to beer good fruit (or 
us in another ! 
(From Our Own Correspondent.) 
London, July 21 
Seeking this week to eee 
MB. GEORGE WHITE 
on the subject of the cause which bave produced 
the preeeot low selling p'ic-s of tee, that 
gentleman kicd y favoured mo with an iuic-r\icw. 
In reply to my que t:on as to bow far ha coull 
endorse the cpinion g'fven me by sno'her g'litle- 
man that the knowledge of the ccst at which 
tea can be produced greet'y it liuen.ed ihe market, 
Mr. Whito expressed his view that he cold not 
conceive that it could have anything to dj with 
it. He felt sure, he said— end his opinion was 
backed up by other brokers in the tea \i\d> present 
— that the market was tolely ruled by bupply and 
demand, wholly irrespective of profit or loss by 
planters. "But," he went on to s^y, "have ytu 
oonsidered how great an influence the item of 
quality may bavo upon the question? It is un- 
doubtedly the fact that until recently there has 
been an exoeeding dearth of rally fine qual ty 
Oeylcn tea put up ta euciion. 
QUALITY AND QUANTITY. 
I am not blaming your planttrs for sending heme 
quantity instead of quality. Naturally ibey will pluck 
in the proportion tfut may pay the m beat, and of 
late, and until very no ntly, buyers did not eeem 
disposed to pay enhanced piices for teas of good 
quality. In this rcsj.ect there has just been a 
change for the better, and rea'ly geol tsas are 
fetching much better prioes ; qualities tl at up to the 
last few weeks we were compelled to part with 
for a maximum of 10£i. now selling readily at 
Is 2d. to Is 2Jd. This will, of course, affect the 
average, ihougu there is shown no disposition to 
bid higher for the commoner classes of tea, of 
which the great mass of the imports from Ceylon 
consists." 
CHINA TEA. 
My next question put to Mr. White was as 
to the probable furthtr displacement of China 
tea, which, I told him, I had undeistood to 
have been almost altogether checked during the 
last two years. He replied that he believed 
me to have been mistaken as to this, and re- 
ferring to figures just compiled by bis firm (which 
are forwarded to you with a copy of its annual 
report on the tea trade) pointed out to me that 
from the 1st July 1892 to the 30th June 1893, the 
deliveries of China and Japan tea for home 
consumption had been 33,104,000 lb. or at the 
rate of 2,758,0001b. per month, fiecontiasled 
these figures with those for the corresponding 
period from 1893 to 1894, wherein the total had 
diminished to 25,948,000 lb. or an average of 
2,162,000 lb. per month. ". These statistics, Mr. 
White went on to say, "have only just now 
become available for our compilation, and 
you will certainly find them interesting. They 
demonstrate very completely that the dis- 
placement still continues, and from all we can 
0 e or forecast it ia likely to further continue ; — 
while the io> reased consumption of Indian and 
Ceylon fully keeps paoe witn it. There would, 
therefore, seem little ground for the assumption 
that our home market is overstocked with tea, 
or that we cannot provide a market for all that 
we are likely to receive. Yon have always to 
take into account the annual increase of our 
population and, independently of that, the effect 
low prises ere having in stimulating the increase 
of individual consumption. As to exchange rates 
I am Lot prepared to speak with ar<y ce:tiinty. 
We have been nesur-d that the lowest depth bas 
been reached tud that an improvcrscLt ia sure to 
toon become apparent. But 1 confess to pe-roaaly 
doubting this, lLojyh I feel that I nil no 
authority on the sutject and should not care to 
tjve an cpin on that might be quoted cne way 
or iha other. If Ceylon a: d India are likely 
Lrgcly to ircreate the quantity if tea they ex- 
port, it will certainly be neccstary for thern to 
serk fresh outlets; but at the present rate of pro- 
duction I think tbat the dii-phc merit of hiua tea 
and the increase of osr popu'auon can alwats 
as ure cur dispojal of it. At the same t me 1 
should be glad to sec a larger | ropunion of fii st- 
elae? teas sent home. We want it, and tin 
last sales show tha*. a good price can now be 
got for such t< as. It is ita\ oriole, however, tu 
say to what limit of import it would ba safe to 
rely on a contiauaooc of tbl recent injproierieot. 
the MiotPEcrr. 
But the prospect I r tea generally has tf lite 
cerUinly improved, and is lik<-ly to further im- 
prove if the exports from India aid C.-ylon re- 
main ctaticuary, or nearly stationary, for a little 
time." 1 hrk-d Mr. White wbaj. Le thought about 
lie dare (• r green teas, tuch as the late Mr. 
Whitlall told mi be was endeavouring t > intrc- 
duc . « t.i this point the answer was given me tbat 
there was little t \ u ng for such teas in this 
cjuct y. Tbat a few chests bad teen received 
from Ceylon by way of a specimen of what it 
could do in this way, but the trade wou'd not buy 
it for Lome consumption, and that the demand 
for it for America was extremely limited. The 
conclusion form d by me fiom all that Mr. White 
obligingly told me was tbat be, like all the other 
experts consult! d, was ucable to state with ary 
drfioitencss any actual cause to which the rtceot 
depression can bo fairly assigned. It appears to 
me tint s.vral causes are conjointly operative, 
but that the prime factor must be Lund in the 
general depression attending all business operations 
.i the present time, and the diminished profi'H 
making by all classes of the community. 
DRUG REPORT. 
(From Chemist and Druggist.) 
London. Jnly 19. b. 
Cardamoms.— Fairly steady, but the supply was rather 
6niall today, viz.: a";out HO Lex--, two-thirds cf which 
was bought in. Sa'es were ma-'eat the following prices : — 
Telichcrry, medium to boll dark to brown slightly 
mouldy is 7d to *8 Oylou-Mysare, medium to bold full 
pale 2s 9d ; medium ditto is 4d to 2s 5d ; small to me- 
dium fairly good pale Is lid to 2s; very small pale to 
medium pal sa partly split Is 6d to la ?d ; dull small 
yellow and browu from is 6d down to Is Id per lb. Seel 
is Id to jb (51 per lb. 
Cikchona.— Forty-one rates of Guayaquil tarir, the 
first arrival of that variety fir nearly two yean, ■were 
offered at auction today and realised exceedingly high 
prices. Good to fine bright grey and rrKS-y quill brought 
fern Is to Is 3d per lb.; long thin rusty aud ordinary, 
partly damaged, from 9d down to Jd rer lb. Fcr a 
parcel of nine bales cultivated flat yellvW Calisaya (da- 
maged) Is 8a per lb is required. 
Locaine. — On Monday tbe price cf cocaine salts was 
advanced by the makers as suddenly as it w»s rtduced 
some time ago. In Hydrochlorate ihe rite :8 9d per oz. 
the present quotations being— fc r 100 oz. lots los 3d per 
oz. for parcels from 25 to 1<>9 oz )5s 6d per oz. and 
fc-r smaner quantities ISi Sd per oz. These quotations 
are fur bulk, to be talen within three months from date 
of order. One-uunce bottles are charged 3d extra. 
Quinine. — The stcck of quinine iu Loudon on the first 
of the month was 19 ',722 lo., or 2,19s lb. less than at 
the end of May. No quiuine was landed during the 
munth of June. The aemand this week has shown a 
very considerable improvement ; about 100,000 oz. having 
been sold, all second-hand German bulk, at from lOfd, 
rising to ujd on the spot, 11 ^1 for August and Septem- 
ber delivery, and 1I§1 for October delivery, ' Ttte market 
closes firm and advancing. 
