March i, 1895. 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
635 
Apparently, the Committee of management, recog- J 
nising Mr. Corson's experience, and having full con- , 
fidence in his integrity of purpose, has given him a | 
free hand in the conduct of the culture of the plant 
and the preparation of the leaf. As matters stand, j 
the Government, the Committee, the manager and 
the people of Mauritius have reason not only to be 
satisfied' with but to be proud of the results ; for a 
more conclusive exponent of what can be done in the 
cultivation of tea could not be found, than are the few 
acres in the experimental garden at Curepipc. The 
garden itself with its symmetrically lined tea bushes, 
carefully traced roads and drains, is a little picture. 
The curing house, replete with the most approved 
machinery, though not pretentious in appearance, 
with slight additions, will suffice for the requirements 
of the area r.ow under cultivation when all is in full 
bearing. — Mauritius Planters' Gazette, Feb. 11. 
chart which did great harm last year. It is absolutely 
necessary that we should at once foresee events and 
develop a secondary industry, which would be likely to 
replace our staple industry, in case the latter should 
fail us. 
We may add that all the tea which may be produced 
here will at once find a ready market. 
MAURITIUS TEA. 
CULTIVATION EXTENDING: TEA TO SAVE THE 
SUGAR COLONY ! 
The following is an extract from the Mauritius 
Planters' Gazette of the 11th ult. which shows 
how full the depressed Mauritians are of the pro- 
posal to find their advantage if not prosperity 
in adding "tea" to "sugar.' 1 We, repeat our 
doubt as to the practical result from the labour 
point of view, unless, indeed, the rich soil there 
gives extraordinary yields of tea-leaf : — 
A cablegram, received this morning, announces that 
at a meeting of the Assets Company, the Chairman 
said that experts had declared that the Mauritius tea 
recently imported into England was of the very highest 
quality, and that the cultivation of this plant would 
possibly be the salvation of Mauritius. 
This news has caused great satisfaction here, for 
although we know, already, that our colonial tea 
was of a superior quality, yet it is nevertheless agree- 
able to hear the fact proclaimed publicly by experts in 
London. This appreciation by competent persons 
will have the effect of giving a fresh impetus to the 
cultivation of tea in Mauritius. 
The consumption of tea is daily making rapid pro- 
gress not only in England, but on the Continent as 
well ; in America it is also increasing, and the 
produce of Ceylon and China barely suffices. Under 
these circumstance s, colonial tea will always find 
good markets. If it is considered superior to what 
is produced elsewhere, it will be preferred to the 
latter and prices will go up as the demand for it 
increases. 
We therefore strongly urge upon our compa- 
triots to undertake the cultivation of tea on a 
large scale. Already owing to the impulse 
given by several intelligent planters, such as M. 
A. Daruty de Grandpre and Mr. Hay, the Manager 
of the " Mauritius Assets and Estates Company 
Limited " tiiis cultivation has been extended. M. 
Dai nty's plantations at " Nouvelle France " and fchoGe 
of Mr. Hay at Chamarel are very tine ones, and 
cover several hundreds of acres of land, but there 
are still uncultivated lands which might, in the 
space of a few years, be converted into luxuriant 
plantations of tea. 
This plant requires hardly any care. Once it has 
been planted.it only needs to be watched now and 
then, and that is all. It resiBts cyclones, which are so 
frequent in these latitudes; and the In ban women 
whd are generally employed in our agricultural 
tijlds, get acquainted, in the sp ice of a few months, 
with Che .cultivation of this plant and the gathering of 
the Leaves. 
Mr. Corson,.at the head of tha Experimental Plan- 
tation Form, soon initiated the first planters in the 
knowledge of preparing tea, and this process is now 
envied on very easily. 
Limls which arc not suitable for the sugar cane 
should therefore be planted with tea. This industry, 
it must be remembered, replaced tint of coffje when 
disease attacked the coffee trees at Ceylon. The Sugar 
Industry is now passing through a critical stage owing 
to the fall in prices and to the Ti-idtoxpliaci-ia sac- 
THE OFFICIAL TEA SHIPMENT 
TELEGRAMS. 
It is a curious story that our London Letter 
tells us by this mail. It is more than 
insinuated, it is practically asserted, that the 
endeavour to give a reliable character to tele- 
grams from this side of estimates of the monthly 
shipments of tea, has been largely responsible 
for the disturbance of tea prices in Mincing 
Lane ! We wonder if there can be any justifi- 
eation for this assertion. We can understand 
of course,— for it is an old story— that telegrams 
from the producing countries as to fluctuating 
prospects must and do largely control London 
prices. At all events they cause these to constantly 
vary. But the story we have referred to lias a parti- 
cularly curious side to it. So long, it says as 
the telegrams were not of an official character 
that arrived from Ceylon, people nave them 
but a limited amount of attention. They dis- 
counted, in fact, thepossibleincorrectnessof the infor- 
mation they conveyed, and for this reason the tele- 
grams did not have the disturbing effect on prices 
that those now forwarded by the official Committee 
are said to have had. If this can really he the 
case, we may have to consider whether the 
course upon winch we have but recently entered 
is one that should be persisted in or not 
On the oilier hand, it is fully admitted that 
telegrams, however much they may tend to dis- 
turb the comfort of brokers and dealers at home 
arc a necessity of the time. The question that is 
now mooted is as to whether we are earners 
or losers by an official guarantee of correctness 
being given to them. The telegrams now sent are 
alleged to contribute more towards the dis 
turbanee we have referred to than those before 
emanating from private parties or firms The 
latter it is alleged were to a great 'extent 
ignored ; the former are received with all the 
consideration due to their official character On 
the whole we must think that, if tclcrains are 
to be sent at all, it must surely be better that 
they should be from the best source available 
The introduction of the electric telegraph b is 
undoubtedly imparted a disturbing element 
into home trading that did not before attend it 
But although this must be conceded it by no 
means lollows that on the whole the advantages 
secured do not outweigh the disadvantages ad 
mitted. \\ e believe that they must do so and 
that it would be highly inexpedient to revert 
to the former system, one which must in many 
cases have led to serious misapprehension. 
Mr. Arthur Sinclair's New Book—" Travels 
in Tropical Lands "—profusely illustrated, will 
be lound fully noticed in a long review 
which we take into our columns from the 
Aberdeen Free Press, and which will well repay 
perusal. A complete copy of the work has no*t 
yet reached us ; but from specimen Bheets sent 
out, we can testify to the very interestiii" 
character of the contents ; and it L) of special 
value to have descriptions of the West Indies 
Centra! America, ami IViu, from the Ceylon 
planters point of view. Few happier writers 
within his own limits, than .Mr. Sinclair have 
ever put pen to paper, 
