Sept,  i,  1892.]  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST.  217 
FROM  THE  METROPOLIS. 
London,  29th  July  1892. 
TROPICAL  PRODUCTS:  THEIR  CONSUMPTION  AND 
PRODUCTION. 
I am  not  able  to  send  you  a oopy  of  my  paper 
pieparod  for  the  London  Chamber  of  Commeroe, 
because,  unlike  the  Colonial  Institute,  they  do 
not  have  their  papers  printed  beforehand, — p.ll  the 
Secretary  required  was  a resume  to  have  multiplied 
by  type-writer,  for  the  use  of  the  daily  press. 
However,  the  MS.  left  in  charge  of  Mr.  Kenric 
Murray  will  appear  in  the  “ Journal  ” in  due 
course;  while  the  greater  part  is  likely  tc  be  re- 
produced in  some  of  the  weeklies — the  Grocer  for 
instance — from  whom  requests  came  after  the 
meeting  for  the  use  of  the  copy.  Nearly  all 
the  London  dailies  too,  had  summary  reports 
of  more  or  less  fullness,  that  of  the  Times 
being  at  once  the  clearest  and  most  cc  noire, 
while  the  Evening  Standard.  Daily  Chronicle, 
Morning  Advertiser,  Financial  Times,  and  especially 
the  Manchester  Guardian  had  fuller  details. 
I send  you  the  Times'  notice  in  case  your  regular 
correspondent  has  missed  it:  — 
Tropical  Agriculture  in  Ceylon.— Before  a meet- 
ing of  the  London  Chamber  of  Commerce,  held 
yesterday  in  the  Council-room,  Botolph-house,  East- 
cheap,  Mr.  J.  Ferguson  read  a paper  on  “The  Pro- 
duction and  Consumption  of  Tea,  Coffee,  Cacao 
(cocoa),  Cinchona,  Coconuts  and  Oil,  and  Cinnamon, 
with  reference  to  Tropical  Agriculture  in  Ceylon.’’ 
Sir  Arthur  N.  Birch,  late  Lieutenant-Governor  of 
Ceylon,  presided,  and  among  those  present  were  Sir 
A.  Gordon,  Sir  G.  W.  It.  Campbell,  Mr.  D.  Morris, 
(Assistant-Director  of  Kew  Gardens),  Mr.  Epps,  Mr. 
J.  "Whittall,  Mr.  Robert  Wales,  Mr.  W.  J.  Thompson, 
and  Mr.  J.  Chambers.  Mr.  Ferguson  referred  to 
the  position  of  Ceylon,  its  forcing  climate,  its  com- 
mand of  free  cheap  labour,  and  its  immunity  from 
the  hurricanes  which  periodically  devastated  Mauritius 
from  the  cyclones  of  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  and  from 
the  volcanic  disturbances  affecting  Java  and  the 
Eastern  Archipelago.  The  plantations  of  Ceylon 
afforded,  he  said,  the  best  training  in  the  world  for 
young  men  in  the  cultivation  and  preparation  of 
tropical  products,  and  in  the  management  of  free 
coloured  labour.  The  cultivation  of  cane  sugar, 
although  tried  at  considerable  outlay  on  several 
plantations  40  and  50  years  ago,  proved  a failure. 
More  recently  experiments  by  European  planters 
with  tobacco  had  not  been  a success,  notwhhstand- 
ing  that  the  natives  grew  a good  deal  of  a coarse 
quality  for  their  own  use.  Although  cotton  grow- 
ing had  not  been  successful,  the  island  had  proved 
a most  congenial  home  for  many  useful  palms, 
more  particularly  the  coconut  (spelt  without  the 
“a”  to  distinguish  it  and  its  products  from  cocoa— 
the  beans  of  the  shrub  Theobroma  cacao)  and 
palmyra,  as  also  the  areca  and  kitul  or  jaggery 
palms.  Within  the  past  few  years  Ceylon  had  come 
to  the  front  as  one  of  the  three  great  tea  producing 
countries  in  the  world,  India  and  China  being  the 
other  two,  with  Java  at  a respectable  distanoe.  Mr. 
Ferguson  said  one  of  the  chief  objects  of  his  paper 
was  to  demonstrate  which  of  the  products  of  the 
island  it  was  safe  to  recommend  for  extended 
cultivation  in  new  lands  and  which  were.  already  in 
danger  of  being  over-produoed  and  he  had  arrived 
at  the  conclusion  ihat  coffee,  cacao  and  rubber- 
yielding  trees  were  the  products  to  plant,  while  tea, 
cinnamon,  cardamons,  cinchona  bark,  pepper,  and 
even  palms  (for  their  oil)  did  not  offer  encourage- 
ment to  extended  cultivation.  Statistics  relating  to 
the  total  production  and  consumption  were  given  in 
an  appendix, 
The  chief  practical  objeot  I had  in  view  wa,s  to 
show  City  men  and  British  capitalists  generally,  in 
what  direction  the  cultivation  of  tropical  products 
bad  been,  and  might  be,  overdone.  I had  no  d ffi- 
38 
cully,  of  course,  in  demonstrating  that  cinnamon, 
cardamoms,  ami  cinchona  bark  were  products  which 
it  would  be  foolish  to  grow  for  the  European  or 
American  markets  in  any  new  countries,  in  view 
of  what  Ceylon  oould  do  at  prices  scarcely,  if  at 
all,  remunerative  in  some  cases.  Then  there  were 
the  oil  and  fibres  of  the  coconut  palm,  for  whioh 
prices  were  very  low  at  present,  though,  of  course, 
there  would  always  be  a “home  consumption”  in 
new  countries  for  palm  products.  And  there  was 
pepper,  which  I had  put  down  as  a product 
to  be  cultivated  for  a good  demand  beyond 
supply  ; but  fortunately  I ran  round  “ the  Lane” 
before  the  time  of  my  meeting  and  learned 
from  Mr.  Figgis  how  muoh  the  case  was  the 
other  way, — that  pepper  was  coming  in  almost 
superabundant  quantity  from  the  Far  East  and 
the  price  falling  to  2d  a lb.  ! So  I put 
pepper  also  among  preduots  in  danger  of  being 
over-done.  Lastly  and  chiefly,  of  course,  I dwelt 
on  tea  and  showed  that  in  view  of  what  India, 
Orylon,  China,  Japan  and  Java  had  done,  were 
domg,  and  oould  do, — it  would  be  foolish  and 
shortsighted  of  English  capitalists  to  encourage 
tea  growing  in  other  countries,  unless  for  a looal 
market.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  I showed  that 
there  was  enoouragement  to  extend  coffee  cul- 
tivation, that  of  cacao  and  especially  rubber-yielding 
trees.  In  respeot  of  coffee,  I hoped  that  Ceylon 
would  begin  soon  to  do  something  more  with 
“ Liberian, " and  I referred  to  what  Ceylon  planters 
were  doirg  in  other  countries,  notably  in  Perak, 
North  Borneo,  East  Atrioa,  Jamaica,  Orenada,  Brazil 
and  the  reports  on  Eastern  Peru.  I also  expressed 
the  hope  that  cacao  culture  would  be  extended,  es- 
pecially in  Uva  after  the  railway  opened  ; while  a 
great  deal  more  ought  to  be  done  by  us  in  respeot 
of  “ Rubber” — “ a tough  subjeot”  as  Mr.  D.  Morris 
humorously  called  it  in  the  after-discussion,  when 
strongly  recommending  attention  to  the  trees. 
The  paper  whioh  occupied  three-quarters  of  an 
hour  in  reading  seemed  to  give  general  satisfaction, 
and  1 ought  to  have  said  that  so  large  a gathering 
has  seldom  if  ever  taken  place  in  the  Chamber’s 
Hall — an  ante. room  having  to  be  thrown  in  for  the 
accommodation  of  visitors.  This  was  due  not  only 
to  the  considerable  number  of  City  men  interested 
in  the  subject  of  the  paper,  but  also  to  the  many 
Cejlon  friends  who  put  in  an  appearance.  Among 
the  members  of  Council  present,  Mr.  Thompson 
(of  the  well-known  Broking  Firm)  made  a very 
complimentary  speech  in  opening  the  meeting  and 
moving  Sir  A.  N.  Birch  to  the  ohair  ; Mr.  James 
Chambers  of  Fenchurch  Street,  who,  being  Chairman 
at  a lecture  I gave  at  Croydon,  was  the  means  of 
getting  me  to  prepare  the  paper  for  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce;  Mr. Robert  Wales, and  two  or  three  other 
old  merchants  whose  names  I did  not  catoh.  Mr-  D; 
Morris  of  Kew  and  Mr.  Epps,  a member  of  the  firm 
that  waB  the  first  to  introduce  Ceylon  cocoa,  sat 
at  one  end  of  the  table,  and  Sir  Arthur  Gordon, 
Mr.  Grinlinton,  Sir  G,  Campbell,  and  Mr.  Whittall, 
near  the  other,  Right  in  front  were  Mr.  0.  S. 
Hadden,  Reter  Moir.  S.  Butler,  G.  S.  Duff,  Alex. 
Brooke,  P,  C.  Oswald,  W.  M.  Leake,  0.  Shand, 
Alex.  Ross,  John  And.c-rson,  G.  G-  Anderson, 
Norman  Grieve,  Tom  Gray,  T.  J.  Lawrance, 
W.  H.  Andereon,  Geo.  White,  John  Hamilton,  H. 
Walker,  also  Messrs.  R.  S.  Atkinson,  W.  Soorey, 
J.  H.  Barber,  W.  Sproule,  Hon.  C.  Seneviratne, 
T.  J.  a.  Johnson,  John  Hughes,  Arnold  White 
(and  Mrs,  White),  A.  C.  Folkard,  Wm.  Digby,  J. 
M-  Morgan,  J.  Offord,  John  Haddon,  Lloyd, 
Massingham,  and  many  more  whom  I now  forgetj 
I hope  your  regular  London  correspondent  will  be 
able  to  give  a rdaumd  of  the  interesting  discussion 
whiqlr  folLwed,  IRii  was  opened  by  Mr.  Gbindin- 
