Dec. i, 1894.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
one or another of the hundred thiBgs there are to do 
rather than invite certain death in his original busi- 
ness. Few rnen would, we imagine, " persist " in 
tea tasting if they were net compelled to do so by 
the exigencey of the sitnation, •rid we have never 
yet heard of a case where a duke or a very wealthy 
man pursued tea tasting as a recreation from the 
pure love of it, although in the annals of the 
" Lane " there may be such a record. We have known 
a few stout tea tasters, however, especially cf the 
o'd China school, also eeveral who were not 
consumptive, and quite a number also even of jovial 
moed. These perflated in ten tasting for years and 
suffered no grievous hurt, all hough their palate* 
were frequently jaded. As a rule they were not given 
to drinking tea round the domestic hearth, bot we 
ba«e known Rome hardened sinners who actually 
drank tea at home after taaing it all day, just out 
cf what onr American fri nds would call "pure 
cussedness." The paragraph we quote should have 
an appreciable effect on sa aries, and it may also 
prompt someone to compile' some tablea of ftatistics 
on the subject. To pera ist in tea tasting after 
becoming acqnainted with the consequence is suiely 
an indictable offence. 
Tea Ai;n Coffee tk Bavaria. — An official report on 
♦ be trade of Bavaria last year has the following: — 
" Ooffee dealers and import»rs suffered losses from 
repressed prices, which showed gre»t variations. 
Th ere was an increasing demand for cotf>-e sur'ogetes. 
A arge fi>m in Oberheyern dealiDg in malt coffee pro- 
ductions reports a brisk trade. Tra is increasing in 
favour, the principal cause, perhaps, being the dearth 
o' a good quality of coffee at a reasonable price." 
The Trade in Bananas. — The harana (rarJe ; s rapidly 
increasing. Tboae coming to the London market are 
chiefly from Canary and Madeira, as being the 
nearest places in which the frn't prows. 
WeBt India bananas go cbieflv to the United 
States and CBB&da. Twenty-five years ago 
4.000 bunches were lauded in New York and 
to'ktendaya to fell. Ten yeara later 10,000 bunches 
took four days to re'.l. Fiveyears ago fourteen stf am- 
irs unloaded within a week, each lai ding from 10,000 
to 16,000 buDches. Last jeartbe trade done by the 
Went Indies in bananas amounted to £4,000 000 for the 
United States alone. British Honduras began to ship 
in 1880 to the value of £700. Now the ai nual sbip- 
m< nts amount <o at least £40,000. In Jamaica fruit is 
now a more important article of commerce than sugar. 
A correspondent, writing to a leading horticul 1 ural 
Journal, inveitibs against the banana as sold in England, 
t ia gathered quite green, and when it comes here is 
hung up in dark cellars and subjected to artificial beat 
to ripen it. Fermentation sets in, and the fruit be- 
comes tough and indigestible. The writer advocates 
the tanana grown and ripened in English hot-houses ; 
the comparison between tuch fruit and the fruit that is 
imported is that between light and darki ess.—H. and 
C. Mail, Oot. 5. 

FUTURE TEA SUPPLIES. 
Queatioi 3 have been often asked by those interested 
in tta as to the prol able fu'nre supplies likely to 
be received in tbia country from both India and 
Ceylon. 
In tbia connection it is of interest to learn the 
total acreage of tea planted in India, hew much 
«• not yet mature, and what land is taken up for 
tea, so as to form an estimate of the acreage likely 
to be planted annually in coming years. 
By comparing the aoreage of the land under tea 
ten yeara back with fiyuree for the present year 
some forecast may be made of fu'nre production as 
bearing on tbe necessity for Dew markets. 
On inquiry at the office of the Indian Tea Associa- 
tion (London), we learn that the latest returns show 
a? total planted area nnder tea in Indi» t j n round 
Lumbers of 352,000 acres, of whkb. 3C0 0J0 are nia'.uro 
*Od 32,000 uo immature. 
Tie total area of grants taken op for lea but not 
ye* plan'ed i* 1,153,000 acres. 
Siatis' os of the land p'anted with if a shi NV that 
there sue in the province of As.'ara in : — 
1885. 1890. 
Matnro 160 000 acres Mature 201.000 acres 
Imma'me 37,000 „ Immature 30,000 „ 
107,0( 0 anr< a 231,000 aores 
For the who'e of India there were in : — 
1890. 1893. 
acres. acres. 
Ma' ere .. 287,0(0 Mature .. 300.COO 
Immature .. 43,000 Immature .. 52 000 
330,000 352 000 
It Is difficult to form any e=t'mate of the annual 
extension likely to be made in 1 1 e future, as there are 
nia 'v circumstances to lie considered, such as the 
profitable < r unprofitable working of the existing area, 
the supply of labour. &c, &c. 
The annual crops < f t'a from India si- ce 1881 have, 
we learn, been a> follows: — 
million lb. 
million lb. 
1881 
.. 48 
1888 
.. 96 
18>2 
.. .59 
18*9 
.. 103 
1883 
.. 60 
1890 
... 105 
1884 
63 
1891 
.. 119 
1885 
... 69 
1892 
.. 114 
1886 
79 
1893 
.. 125 
1687 
87 
There can, it seems, be no questiou t) at rew 
markets will be urgently neeuf d for all the tea British 
India is able to produce (if a margin of profi s is to 
remain), when it is recognised that C»ylcn will very 
shortly contribute almost, if not quite, as much as 
I' di» to the world's consumption, coDsiderine that 
there are already 280,0f0 acres plantel up with tea 
in 'hat Island — a quite plienomernil a - ea when it is 
n membered th t 20 years ago there weie altogether 
onlv 350 a"res cf tea in t'eylon. 
At tte »am' time it must be home in mind that 
the world's consumption of tea is at present more 
'han double the total output of India and Ceylon, 
and is likely to increase with tr>e growth of popu- 
lation and spread of civilisation.— H. $ C. Mail, Oct. 5. 
INDIAN TEA PALES. 
(From Watson, Silthorp $ Co.'s Tea Report.) 
Calcutta, Oct. 17th, 1894. 
A quiet tone prevailed in the sales held on the 
3rd instant. Fine and finest were in good demand 
and sold well, but other kinds, in sympathy with 
London, went off irregularly with a general down- 
ward tendency. The demand for the Colonies and 
Bombay was not so strong as in the previous sale 
and prices for suitable teas were rather lower. 23,781 
packages changed bands, of which probably about 
7,000 go to outside markets. 
Since the season opened on the 17th May last, 
19 series of sales have been held at which 314,111 
pac9ages sold at an average of As. 9-2 or about 
9jd per lb. as compared with 283,432 packages sold 
in 21 sales before the holidays last year at As. 7-4 or 
about 8| per lb. and 232,071 packages sold in IS 
sales in 1S92 at As. 8-4 or about 9| per lb. Details 
annexed. 
The average price of the 23.7S1 packages sold is 
8-5 or nearly 8Jd per lb. as compared with 19,488 
packages sold on the 5th October 1893 at As. 7-3 
or about 83d per lb. and 24.239 packages sold on 
the 7th October 1S92 at As. 8-6 or nearly lOd 
per lb. 
The exports from 1st May to 13th October from 
here to Great Britain are 69,503.240 lb. as com- 
pared with 64,496,412 lb. at the corresponding period 
last season and 59,758,586 lb. in 1892. 
Note.— Last sale's average was As. 8-10 or about 
9Jd per lb. 
Exchange.— Document Bills, 6 months' si"ht, la 
l-5-10d. 
^Freight.— Steamer £'1-7-6 to i'1-17-0 per ton of 
50 c. feet. 
