May i. 1895.] 
rin<: i ROiMCAi. a(ji< ictu:ruR'rsi 
733 
tain by natural growth, will be manufactured direct from 
their constituent elements, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen 
and nitrogen. The .professor anticipates a time when 
the laboratory will do all kinds of things for food 
products ; sugar will be made on a commercial scale 
by all kinds of processes now only imagined, and 
tea and coffee will be made artificially by means 
of mechanical inventions. Thus synthetic chemistry 
will furnish the principal noniicoholic beverages 
from its laboratories. For all that, tea and coffee 
planters need not be discouraged, as these miracles 
of science will not be accomplished just yet. 
Machinery for Paddy Cultivation. — Writing on 
paddy cultivation in the Akyab district of Burmah, 
we notice that a correspondent of ihe Hdni/oon Tillies 
urges that the introduction of machinery and im- 
plements such as are used on the American rice 
fields is necessary if this important indllsty, on 
which the wealth of Bum.ih depends, is to be saved 
from decline. Akvab port alone gives to the expert 
trade about 160,000 tons in each year. Of the l4.;V2o 
square miles, the cultivated portion of the Arakan 
province is about 720,000 acres, with a population 
of (i72,000, and the rest is cultivable waste and im- 
penetrable mountain tracts where a few Chin tribes 
and various descriptions of wild 1 easts mostly live. 
The staple food of the inhabitants is rice, and the 
area of the paddy land is 596,000 acres, and totingya 
land 29,000. Were the Government or the exten- 
sive paddy traders to introdce suitable machines 
foe ploughing and reaping purposes much help to- 
wards improvement in cultivation would be given, 
and the cost of production would be reduced. At 
presont cultivators have to depend entirely upon 
their cattle, and the cattle disease is the greatest 
enemy they have to control against. Besides, Gov- 
ernment has to reserve much culturable land for 
grazing cattle. It is generally agreed among the 
merchants that the deterioration in Akyab rice is 
mostly due to the fault of the cultivators for selling 
out the crop before it has been properly dried up. 
Commercial Fibres. — A series of Cantor Lectures on 
"Com ercial Fibres" will be delivered before the 
Society of Arts, John Street, Adelphi, W.C , by Dr. D. 
Morris, M.A., C.M.G., on Monday next, at S p.m. The 
subsequent lectmes will be on March 25 and April 1. 
—II. ,t- C. Mail, March 15. 
" TETLEY'S TEAS" IN AMERICA. 
These seem to be making' their way. We 
quote from a neatly-got-up hand card, sent lis 
by Mr. Bierach : — 
"We can suit you to a T;" you are cordially invited to 
try a cup of Tetley's India and Ceylon tea. now being 
served in our Grocery Department. 
Tetley's Ceylon Packets. — Pure Ceylon Tea — A 
very choice and careful selection of distinctively Ceylon 
growths. 60c; per pound. 
Fines t Ceylon Tea — The early pickings of the tea 
plant from this Island where tea culture is a Ine art. 
ftl ,011 per pound. 

Tea Sale Conditions. — On page 734 we 
quote a letter addressed to ths Honic and Colo- 
nial Mail by Mesns. Hfliwes & Co. which we 
are sure will be read with interest by all en- 
gaged in the tea trade. The point dealt with is 
the rapid deterioration of Ceylon tea on exposure 
and the necessity therefore of having the packages 
properly coopered and ready for delivery on day 
of sale. A test ease was referred to arbiters who 
disagreed, and the umpire lias decided thai under 
clause 4 of t he public sale conditions a buyer is en 
titled to throw up his contract on findingtfial the 
parcel Was not actually ready for deli \ cry at the 
time of sale but was open and with lids oil. The 
remedy suggested is the insertion of a clause in I he 
conditions that no merchant should printtcd as for 
wale until they had been properly inspeect and 
THE MANURING OF TEA. 
A home critic writes respecting the con- 
sideration he thinks due to the above subject, 
consequent upon a statement lately made to us 
by a planter that he bail been forced to dis- 
continue manuring owing to the depth to 
which the tap roots of his tea plants pene- 
trated. .No doubt such a case, when it occurs, 
is one rather difficult to deal with. At the 
same time, our friend writes that, in his opi- 
nion, it should not operate towards dissuading 
tea planters from the practice of manuring. 
He points out that the depth of soil instanced 
in the particular case cited, must be most ex- 
ceptional upon tea estates, at all events upi 11 
those in the high country. So exceptional dots 
he regard it to be that he thinks it shou'd 
be known whether the depth reported, occurred 
upon a high or low country estate. He has, he 
tells us, had many opportunities of sounding 
men connected with our tea planting enterprise 
on the advantage or disadvantage of manuring. 
One and all of them with whom he has con- 
sulted are in favour of the practice. All report 
to him that they have found the results 
beneficial and pecuniarily remunerative ; and 
most of them doubt very much if in one 
case out of a hundred, the depth of soil 
upon high level estates can ever be 
so great as to render useless the application 
of fertilizers on the Surface ; and it could scarcely 
be said that means would fail to convey these-^- 
otall events if liquid — to even considerable depths. 
In instances where the soil did not extend 
more than six to seven feet, it is thought 
surface digging would be ample. For extreme 
depths our critic suggests that an iron tube, 
furnished w ith a rudimentary screw at the bottom, 
could be made to penetrate the soil with ease 
and afford passage for liquids poured down it ; 
but this is the sort of theoretical suggestion 
likely to be laughed at by practical men. 
W T e think it would be dangerous to abandon 
the use of manure on estates that have been 
impoverished by long prior cultivation under 
coffee, and we believe that the instances would 
be rare in which resort need be had to any 
special plan for reaching very deep roots. The 
question of hi) porting disease through the medium 
6i fertilizing stimulants which was also referred to in 
the correspondence commented upon by our friend, 
is one apart from the subject immediately under 
treatment. We know what Mr. John Hughes 
thinks as to this, namely that sufficient care is 
not exercised is testing manures of an artificial 
character when shipped. It would he wise, no 
doubt, always to engage the services of an expeit, 
both to advise as to the description of manure 
lo be ordered, and to ascertain that they were 
shipped pure as iiideptcd for. Willi these pic. 
cautions taken, we should greatly doubt the in- 
currence of any risk of the importation of disease 
germs. We believe the present season in Ceylon 
is to set? a great extension of manuring on the 
tea plantations, ami we should like' to hear from 
Mr. Hughes as to any other special precautions 
which planter- in low, medium and high districts 
ought to adopt. 
Curious Tenders.— SJaysthe Loudon correspon- 
dent of Tlir India)) Eni/inccr : — We have only 
two curious sets of tenders to note this week. 
(1). For electric lighl at the Guildhall, Rrintnl : 
highest £b,J20i lowest (aeccptedl t'KfNIS «. .& HV 
supply of ."<7o lineal yards of W.l. iinc'liliiltahlo 
fencing for the Corporation of Folkestone : 
E323-15, lowest £141-16-8. 
