Dec. t, 1894.] THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
4*5 
Tak Late De. Thwaites and " Coffee " 
Plantations.— We have just had irrefragable 
evidence tendered to us that whatever the late 
Director of Botanic Gardens may have said to 
Sir Win. Gregory in the "seventies," or whether 
the latter's memory failed to recall the exact 
statement, Dr. Thwaites did not then, or even 
in the "eighties," attempt to withdraw all his 
money from his coffee investments. In one case 
of a well-known Dimbula group of estates, Dr. 
Thwaites had a loan of R60,000 on a primary 
mortgage which remained until almost the other 
day, the plantations in question, whether in coii'ee, 
cinchona or tea, never failing to pay interest 
and more to the proprietory, while they enabled 
the principal to be paid back when required 
long after Dr. Thwaites' death. The great point 
is that, in this instance, all through the time 
of coffee disease and depression, Dr. Thwaites 
never even asked for the return of his money 
— so that the worthy savant cannot have thought 
so badly of our old staple after all. 
The Ubiquitous "Ceylon Handbook and 
Directory" — is the subject of a complimentary 
reference in a letter to the morning journal from 
the well-known lawyer-proprietor who has just 
returned to the Colony. Referring to his overland 
Journey to Blind isi, he writes : — 
About 8 o'clock in the morning I woke to find that 
we were gliding smoothly along at about 40 miles 
an hour through the beaatiful green fields of La 
Belle France. The stately poplars were standing in 
rows in every direction, but the view from the window, 
though charming, could not of course be for a moment, 
compared to the loveliness of similar scenery in 
England — the fine wooded stretches and the true 
green of the English fields were absent. We were 
nearing Paris, which alas ! we were not destined to 
see, and I was amused to hear some "grumbling" 
proceeding from the compartment adjoining mine. 
The speaker, judging from his tone of voice, was 
engaged in making an effort, unpacking his port- 
manteau or something of that sort, in search perhaps 
of raiment to complete his matutinal toilet. " Con- 
found it, there's this Directory again. It is constantly 
turning up." Then as if by way of apology. " Is 
it not a wonderful book ? What a mass of useful 
information it contains. Ferguson must devote a 
geat deal of time and labour to its compilation." 
"Yes" said another voice, one that was not quite 
unfamiliar to my ears. " It tells you all about tea — 
it completely exhausts the subject;" 
Some far more curious experiences could be re- 
lated of encounters with this Ceylon book, as 
well as our monthly periodical, in out-of-the-way 
places on the Continent of Europe, America and 
our Colonies. Irreverently called the "Planters' 
bible" upeountry here, we found the big red 
book freely utilised and appreciated in Vienna, 
Amsterdam and Paris, as well as in Hongkong, 
San Francisco ami New York. That Indian tea 
planters and authorities so fully place their 
dependence on its information is, however, far 
more practical and valuable testimony. 
"Buying Forward." — The discussion which 
took place at the council meeting of the Metro- 
politan Grocers' Association on this subject comes 
-.ays the London Grocer of October 19th — at an 
opportune moment : — 
Never since the custom known as "buying; forward" 
has been in rogue in the retail trade have those who 
practised it been so hardly hit as during the past few 
months, Manj of those who made sugar contracts early 
in the preseni ysar for iiixvirj during the l-.tt-i ni nths 
of the year, have now the chagrin of seeing their less 
speculative neighbours getting similar sugar to that which 
they are buying from 10 to 15 per cent less in price, 
Whilst the quaiibj they are receiving is scarcely up to 
that which they expected when they made the contract. 
There is a legitimate and prudent speculation in produce 
under certain conditions, although in these days of tele 
graphic communication, steamers, and railways, the pro- 
duce of the world is brought to our markets in a much 
more rapid way than was the case when sailing; vessels 
were the only means of transport. These improved means of 
intercommunication enable us to supply onr wants more 
promptly, hence we can now do our business in a hand- 
to-mouth manner never dreamed of by our forefathers. 
The practice of buying for forward delivery, though for- 
merly a proper, legitimate, and necessary system of anti- 
cipating the requirements of trade, has now grown to be 
a form of speculation on the rise and fall of the markets, 
between which and mere gambling there is little difference. 
The forward buying system perpetuates that old scandal 
from which the trade has suffered too long, which is 
known as " refiners' weights," and against which there 
has been such strong complaints from time to time. How, 
then, are these evils to be remedied. '* We believe by a 
cessation of the speculative system, and the adoption of 
the hand-to-mouth buying, which can, in these modern 
days, be easily adopted. Some of the most successful 
grocers in the trade assure us that the result of many years' 
experience has proved to them that he who buys' only 
for his immediate requirements in the sugar mrket is the 
most likely to make money. One of the best-known grocers 
in the kingdom told us sometime ago that he never bought 
more than a week's supply of sugar at a time, and though 
he had often been chided for his short-sightedness, he found 
that in the long run he was better off than his more 
speculative neighbours. 
CEYLON EXPORTS AND DISTRIBUTION 1894. 
» 
SO 
JS 
1894 
cwt. 
CC- CO CO «HH O © O -* 
3r-j c; 0 cm h^ic 
I~ M CM rH <M Ol if: O 
CO CI rH CO 
N Ci H 
O Ol iff liO 
r-> W t*~ 
CO CO CO 
|Coconut Oil 
rH 
82363 
12491 
6444 
10387 
483 
1531 
6046 
90478 
1012 
94482 
69 
1105 
35429 
ic 0 oi a 
O W N ^1 
OWCQ 
?> & 
187243 
31393; 
10412 
483 
26522 
8360 
3006 
22095 
3155 
111458 
mo 
4109 
41 
34 
51 
36 
c 
0 
S 
S3 
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n 
a . 
~ — 
140450 
9128 
67200 
8460 
193166 
12000 
104720 
560 
10528 
22400 
■» iff z> 
HOiOH 
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'JO10-* 
ifl iO uO O 
Bales 
lb. 
812650 
3102 
68500 
39333 
408748 
87680 
211700 
4200 
172400 
30000 
1838313 
1838313 
1823417 
1858838 
C'inoms. 
ja 
174127 
1000 
35367 
22514 
18029 
1020 
340 
18357 252403 
27570 386547 
10200 349806 
17876 364429 
Coeoaj 
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CO CO rH IT} rH CO CO CO Ol OS 
CO • 1- Ol - rH • - • rH Ol • CN CO • • 
• .... . . . 
rH 
Tea | 
1894 
lb. 
69236943 
89611 
18360 
149830 
000 
4780 
34708 
45253 
500 
9155 
835440 
6951SS2 
192717 
71741 
154682 
19691 
103055 
45315 
77887728 
77008344 
08075315 
04480734 
Coffee cwt. |Cinchona.| 
§i 
pq 2 
0 CO -* CO CO 
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co cm co cn 0 
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Total. 
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652 
2451 
2350 
4897 
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tation, 
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OH Ol • ■ Ol rH O- ■ 1- 1- 1- O 
r^__i ts- • 1 I Ol J - CO 
H Ol CO 1^ 
COUNTRIES. 
To United Kingdom 
Australia 
Belgium 
„ France 
„ Ciermany 
„ Holland 
„ Italy 
„ Russia 
„ Spain 
„ Sweeden 
„ Turkey 
„ India 
Australia . . . . 
„ America 
„ Africa 
„ China 
Singapore 
* Mauritius 
„ Malta 
0 - - r. - 
C» CO CO CO x> 
b rtr,Hrt 
X 
= ZJ.J.S 
r - - - - 
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0 
