AprIl i, 1895.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
695 
pletely damaged character, and dealt with under 
par. 1 of this order. 
London Port Order 26, 1891, is cancelled by this 
order. 
General Order 127, 1892, paragraph 76, line 4, is 
to be noted as to the withdrawal of "exportation" 
from the ways in which damaged tea may be dis- 
posed of.— By Order, (Signed) R. T. Pkowse. 
Custom House, March 4, 1895. 
—H. & C. Mail, March 8. 
PLANTING AND PRODUCE. 
The Inspection of Teas in the United States. 
— It is a point in favour of Indian and Ceylon tea 
that a movement is on foot in the United States to 
bring about a more uniform official inspection of 
tea imported into American maikets. Some of the 
low class teas of China and Japan clearly need in- 
spection, and when they receive due attention the 
fact that rubbish is permitted to masquerade as 
tea will redound to the advantage of the pure 
teas of India and Ceylon. Inspector Dunn of 
New York, who, with some appraisers in Chicago, 
has been devoting some attention to the matter | 
of tea imports and their quality, gives in the 1 
columns of an American contemporary some parti- 
culars of his investigation. According to Mr. 
Dunn by virtue of the provisions in the statute, 
certain consignments are allowed to pass exterior 
ports and are examined at the port of destina- 
tion. This, many cases, is radically wrong, because 
interior points, as a rule, do not employ inspectors 
expert enough to examine teas. Some consignments 
of recent date are far too low to pass, and must 1 
necessarily be rejected. The law prohibits the im- 
portation of any teas for sale adulterated with spuri- 
ous leaf, or with exhausted leaves, or which contain 
an admixture of chemical or other deleterious subs- 
tance, so as to make them unfit for use. 
From every lot of tea imported a sample is 
taken by the examiner and tested. If it 
does not come up to the standard, merchants 
are notified, and they can then have the con- 
signment re-examined by three experts, one for them- 
selves, one for the Government, and another that 
both may select. Their decision is final, and if they 
find the tea to be below the standard, it must be 
exported. Such teas were formerly shipped to 
Canada and then smuggled back into the United 
States ; but restrictive laws have recently been 
passed by Canada similar to those in vogue in 
European countries and the States. During the fiscal 
year ending June 30th 1894, about 34,000 cases, or 
more than 1,000,000 pounds of tea, were rejected 
at this port. This spurious tea must be 
faked to some purpose, for according to Mr. 
Dunn no one can tell from the looks of 
the tea whether it is good or bad. Two samples 
that look alike are entirely different. For instance, 
one may result in a light amber colour, perfectly 
clear, with a delicious aiomn, the grounds being com- I 
posed of leaves clean ana green. The other sample 
probably would result in a darker liquor with a muddy 
(sediment, with the grounds filled with black leaves 
and a smell like a decoction of dried herbs. The latter 
are exhausted tea leaves and leaves Irom other plants, 
filled with dirt and coloured with a mixture of soap- 
stone, Prussian blue, and rice water paste. The only 
way to stop importations of spurious tea is to outlaw 
them, says Mr. Dunn. With ibis we quite agree. 
Educatino the Public. — The Echo has set about 
educating the British public on the subject of tea. 
Our contemporary is evidently of opinion that, 
notwithstanding the rapid strides in the knowledge 
of tea recently made, there is yet much to be 
loarnt at home about tea, and we are glad to find 
that the Echo can impart the right kina of inform- 
ation. It says: ' The majority of British tea- 
driukers arc under the impression that tea-leaves sold 
by our grocers in boxes ornamented with Chinese 
characters, and in porcelains embellished with Chinese 
pictures, have actually been imported from China. This 
is a great mistake. Ileal Chinese tea does not 
form pue-teuth of (Uo total amount annually 
consumed in the British Isles. In 1864 the quan- 
tity imported into England was 88,000,000 lb. 
Since that year the quantity has been con- 
tinuously increasing, up to and including last year, 
when it reached the unprecedented amount of 
214,000,000 lb. In 1864 India supplied 2,000,000 lb 
of the total consumption, and in 1894 it supplied as 
much as 114,000,000 lb. Tha>, however, is not all. 
The island of Ceylon, encouraged by the prosperity 
of this commerce, began to cultivate tea, and in 1884 
furnished the English market with some 2,000,000 lb., 
and in 1894 with 71,000,000 lb of tea It is therefore, 
clear that out of the total 214,000,000 lb. con- 
sumed during last year in England, China contri- 
buted only 20,000,000 lb. The quantity imported from 
China has been steadily diminishing, whilst the total 
amount consumed has more than trebled. The mar- 
ket has been shifted from China to India and Cey- 
lon, to which we can also add Natal and Mauritius. 
It is just possible in a few years' time that, instead of 
being exported from, tea will be imported to China. 
Tea and the Lottery System. — The work of en- 
deavouring to suppress the tea lottery system goes 
on. On Tuesday, 111 the Birmingham Police Court, 
several firms of tea dealers were summoned by order 
of the Watch Committee for keeping lotteries by 
means of the bond system of tea dealing. The first 
case was that of Erasmus Jensen, now residing in 
Madeira, who is the owner of a shop in the Gothic 
Arcade, Birmingham. According to the bills issued 
by Jensen, the bond business was started in May, 
1893, and during the first week 7 lb. were sold, whereas, 
according to more recent returns, the weekly sale 
was now 33,000 lb. After purchasing tea customers 
were given a bond for £10, which was to be ex- 
changed for a Bank of England draft when a certain 
number of boxes had been disposed of. Each week, 
however, the numbers of the bends were put into a 
box and certain of them were withdrawn, and the 
holders of the bonds bearing these numbers were 
paid £5 each. The prosecution maintained that that 
constituted a lottery. Jensen now alleged that he 
had dropped the ballot and apportioned the £5 
notes amongst his customers on a plan of his own. 
The prosecution said that under the existing plan 
the lottery was still illegal. Evidence having been 
given, the defendant was fined £25 and costs, or in 
default three month's imprisonment. The de- 
fendant's manager was also fined £5 and costs. The 
other defendants having promised to discontinue the 
system, the summonses against them were withdrawn. 
H. and C. Mail, March 1. 
MEXICO AND ITS AGRICULTURAL 
PRODUCTS. 
The principal agricultural products are Indian 
corn, beans, wheat, tobacco, sugar, fibres, and fruit, 
which I have named in the order of their im- 
portance. 
The lands of the torrid district near the coast are 
of wonderful fertility, thanks to the abundant mois- 
ture of the soil, kept by the permanent dew and 
copious rains. Tobacco and sugar-cane, and all the 
plants and fruits of tropical climates are produced 
in this region, and even to the height of 1,500 
metres, the banana bears fruit. Perpetual spring 
reigns on the slopes of the mountains, and in the 
temperate and colder regions there is found a rich 
prolusion of trees and plants ; thus, in great variety, 
within a very limited area, grow the natural pro- 
ducts of most of the countries of the earth. I will 
glance at a few of the most important. 
Tobacco. — From the excellent quality of Mexican 
tobacco, the value of its exportation ' has steadily 
increased, until in 1891 it amounted to $1,107,34(5. 
Tobacco growing, under the climatic conditions of 
the coast land requires nothing but capital to make 
it prosperous. The first cost of the land and the 
labour is very slight, and the returns upon the 
capital invested are enormous. 
Sugar. — As all the coast lands nre favourahle for 
the cultivation of the sugar-cane, so like tobacco, 
sugar planting requires only capital to main -the 
industry a profitable one, A New Qtleata gentle. 
