THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Nov.  i,  1892, 
3*° 
gentleman  I would  designate  as  an  agricultural  agnos- 
tic. Before  he  accepts  Old  Coffee  Stump’s  statement  he 
wishes  to  know  how  the  “law”  laid  down  by  him 
operates.  As  it  is  unlikely  that  the  Coffee  Stump  will 
break  his  rule  of  speaking  in  enigmas  jand  theu 
keeping  silence,  I will  attempt  to  point  out  how  the 
“ law  ” operates.  The  leaves  of  plants  perform  the 
functions  of  the  lungs  and  stomach.  The  crude  sap 
travels  np  to  the  leaves  (apologising  to  Mr.  Reeves), 
is  elaborated  there  by  the  aid  of  the  chlorophyl  and 
sunlight  and  descends  to  nourish  and  build  up  every 
part  of  the  plant.  These  functions  are  performed  by 
leaves  only  during  a certain  period  of  their  existence, 
after  which  they  harden  and  are  not  of  very  much 
use.  The  tea  bushes  that  are  constantly  picked,  are 
constantly  throwing  out  new  ehoota  or  flashes  to  lessen 
the  injury  done  them  and  to  have  sufficient  foliage 
to  support  them.  If  we  are  not  perverts  to  Mr.  Reeves’ 
theory,  then  we  must  believe  that  the  mineral  matter 
for  the  formation  of  the  flashes  is  drawn  from  the  soil. 
It  may  be  urged  that  this  is  true  of  pluoking  gener- 
ally whether  coarse  or  fine.  Yes  to  a certain  extent  ; 
but  if  fine  pluoking  means  more,  frequent  plucking, 
then  it  follows  that  fine  plucking  draws  more  from 
the  soil  than  coarse.  It  also  impoverishes  the  bushes 
more  than  coarBe  plucking,  because  it  allows  less  time 
for  the  leaves  to  perform  their  all-important  work  of 
assimilation.  Why  tender  leaves  and  twigs  contain  more 
potash  than  those  of  older  growth  becomes  apparent 
from  the  preceding. 
The  reviewer  of  Reeves’  theory  sajs  “ cultivated 
trees  that  are  pruned  and  deprived  of  their  life-giving 
foliage,  decrease  in  strength  and  fall  easier  victims 
to  disease  than  the  heavily  foiiaged  trees  in  their 
natural  state.”  If  this  he  true  of  trees  that  are 
pruned  and  deprived  of  their  foliage  once  a year, 
how  much  more  true  is  this  of  a plant  that,  if  I 
mistake  not,  stands  alone  amongst  cultivated  plants 
for  the  exceptional  treatment  it  receives.  It  is  de- 
prived of  its  foliage  3 or  4 times  a month,  and  when 
nature  is  no  longer  able  to  replace  what  has  been 
removed,  is  cut  down  and  is  called  pruned,  an  opera- 
tion with  no  pretension  to  Science. 
It  stands  to  reason  that  plants  so  exceptionally 
treated  as  regards  the  orop  gathered  from  them, 
require  to  be  more  than  ordii  arily  liberally  treated  as 
regards  manuring  and  aids  to  root  development.  It  is  no 
answer  to  say  that  because  Tea  continues  to  flush 
freely  on  certain  situations  without  the  aid  of  manure, 
therefore  the  preceding  conclusions  are  falsified. 
These  experiences  only  prove  that  Tea  is  a more  than 
ordinary  hardy  plant  and  is  able  to  adapt  itself  to 
very  adverse  circumstanoes.  The  length  of  time  it 
will  be  able  to  do  this  will  be  dependent  on  circum- 
stances, chiefly  of  soil  and  climate  ; but  the  day  of 
reckoning  must  surely  come.  Mr.  Shand,  to  whose 
interest  it  cannot  surely  be  said  it  is  to  decry  Tea, 
found  the  bushes  enfeebled  when  visiting  the  Island 
after  an  absence  of  a few  years.  Mr.  Hawes  said, 
and  said  truly,  that  the  quality  of  Ceylon  Tea  de- 
teriorates as  estates  age.  It  may  be  to  the  interests 
of  planters  to  combat  this  and  as  chivalrously  as 
Mr.  John  Ferguson  has.  But  the  conclusions  of  au 
outsider  like  myself  who  has  not  the  slightest  in- 
terest in  Tea,  but  who  carefully  watches  events, 
were  precisely  those  of  Mr.  Owen.  In  private  con- 
versation I always  instanced  in  support  of  this  belief 
those  estates  whose  averages  dazzled  Tea  Planters 
and  promoted  emulation  a few  years  ago,  but  have 
now  subsided  to  the  level  of  the  multitude.  These 
are  facts  and  not  opinions.  How  oan  these  be  ac- 
counted for  ? Can  it  be  that  the  makers  of  all  the 
leading  brands  of  a few  years  ago  have  entered  into 
a conspiracy  never  to  make  good  Tea  hereafter?*' 
Since  the  above  was  written  I have  seen  the  state- 
ment credited  to  Mr.  Jackson,  that  Assam  keeps 
up  its  quality  of  Tea  by  abandoning  old  estates  and 
opening  new  ones.  We  have  not  the  land  nor  the 
necessity  to  do  that ; but  I submit  we  can  maintain 
the  quality  of  our  Tea  by  judicious  manuring  after 
consultation  with  experts.  B. 
* Many  who  plucked  very  fine  found  the  system 
did  not  pay  and  abandoned  it. — Ed.  T.A, 
THE  BRAZIL  COFFEE  CROP. 
The  receipts  of  coffee  in  Rio  and  Santos,  for  the 
trade  year  ending  June  30.  compare  with  preceding 
years,  as  follows: 
Rio 
Santos 
Total 
1891-92  . . 
bags. 
bags. 
bags. 
. . 3,722,000 
3,675,000 
7,397,000 
1890-91 
. . 2,413,000 
2,945,000 
5,358,000 
1889-90 
. . 2,389,000 
1,871,000 
4,260.000 
1888-89 
. . 4,189,000 
2.638.000 
1.121.000 
6,827,000 
1887-88 
. . 1,912,000 
3,033,000 
1886-87 
. . 3,497,000 
2,581,000 
6,078,000 
The  exports  from  Rio  and  Santos  for  the  year 
ending  June  30  and  the  preceding  five  years  were  as 
follows : 
To 
To 
U.  S. 
Europe. 
1891-92— Rio 
2,556,000 
1,148,000  1 
Santos  . . 
997,000 
2,556,000  j 
1890-91— Rio 
1,556,000 
750,000  I 
Santos  . . 
798,000 
2,253,000  j 
1889-90— Rio 
1,767,000 
724,000  1 
Santos  . . 
512,000 
1,567,000  j 
1888-89— Rio 
2,332,000 
1,542,000  [ 
Santos  . . 
533,000 
2,024,000  J 
1887-88— Rio 
1,337,298 
541,876  | 
Santos  . . 
427,750 
822,459  j 
1886-87 — Rio 
2,121,000 
1,835,353  1 
Santos  . . 
554,954 
1,938,274  / 
Total 
Exports. 
7.267.000 
5.537.000 
4.570.000 
6.431.000 
3,189,383 
5,949,581 
The  arrivals  of  Brazil  coffee  in  the  United  States 
in  1891-92,  were  3,451,689  bags  of  Rio  and  Santos ; 
1,165,330  bags  of  other  kinds,  making  a total  of 
4,617,019  bags.  In  eight  principal  ports  of  Europe, 
6,715,935  bags ; a grand  total  for  the  United  States 
and  Europe  of  11,432,954  bags.  The  total  visible  sup- 
£in  both  countries  July  1st,  1892,  was  2,955,023 
js,  against  1,909,120  bags,  July  1st,  1891. 
The  exports  from  Rio  and  Santos  for  the  year 
ending  June  30th,  1892,  were  larger  than  any  previous 
year  on  record.  During  the  six  years  ending  June 
30th,  1892,  the  exports  from  the  two  ports  to  the 
United  States  and  Europe,  aggregated  32,763,964 
bags,  or  an  average  annual  export  of  5,460,661  bags, 
or  321,215  tons.  The  exports  for  the  past  year  were 
427,470  tons,  being  127,506  tons  above  the  annual 
average  of  five  preceding  years,  and  106,255  tons  as 
the  average  for  the  last  six  years. 
Prices  have  been  remunerative  to  the  planter, 
making  the  industry  one  of  the  most  profitable  on 
the  globe. 
The  total  sales  for  future  delivery  on  the  New 
York  Coffee  Exchang  amounted  to  6,949,000  bags  for 
the  year  ended  June  30,  1892,  compared  with  7,700,750 
bags  in  1890-91  and  13,014,500  bags  in  1889-90.  The 
largest  transactions  for  any  one  month  were  in  Sep- 
tember, when  they  reached  1,057,000  bags,  and  for 
the  quarter  ending  November  30,  3,595,250  bags. 
More  than  one-half  of  the  year’s  business  was  done 
at  this  time.  The  highest  price  paid  was  17’25  cents 
for  July  delivery  in  July  1891,  and  the  lowest  was 
10'35  cents  for  January  and  February  delivery  in 
October  last. — American  Grocer , July  20. 
CINCHONA  IN  JAVA. 
The  report  for  the  second  quarter  of  1892  by 
the  acting  director  of  the  Government  cinohona 
enterprise  in  Java  says  : — 
The  weather  during  the  quarter  was  not  unfavour- 
able for  the  growth  of  the  plants,  owing  to  an 
alternation  of  dry  weather  and  rain.  In  the  first  half 
of  the  quarter  there  was  an  exceptionally  heavy 
fall  of  rain,  whilst  the  latter  half  was  pretty  dry, 
intermitted  by  a few  showers.  No  commencement 
was  yet  made  with  the  working  of  the  soil  in  the  old 
plantations;  in  the  younger  fields,  on  the  other  hand) 
the  upkeep  cost  a good  deal  of  manual  labour,  owing 
to  the  vigorous  growth  of  the  weeds.  Of  the  crop  of 
this  year  already  some  150,000  half-kilograms  of  barb 
have  been  obtained,  of  which  by  the  end  of  the 
quarter  about  100,000  half-kilograms  had  been  des- 
patched to  Tandjong  Priak,  This  product  was  oh- 
