Nov.  i,  1892.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
315 
inferior  quality,  and  we  trust  that  a large,  and  valu- 
able  industry  m»y  be  established  in  Southern  India. — 
M.  Mail,  Sept.  22. 
CALIFORNIA  COFFEE. 
A coffee  planter  from  Guatemala  has  recently  been 
investigating  the  climate  and  soil  cf  the  Al’essandro 
Valley,  Saa  Bernardino  county,  with  a view  to  the 
introduction  of  coffee  growing  in  that  section. 
The  conditions  there,  it  is  stated,  he  regards 
as  favorable,  and  he  has  offered  to  invest  capital 
in  a company  to  be  organized  to  carry  on  the 
business.  It  is  proposed  to  put  two  acres  in 
nursery  which  would  yield  80,000  sprouts  per 
year,  worth  25  cents  eoch,  and  to  set  thirty-eight 
acres  to  coffee  trees.  This  would  require  30,400  trees, 
and  the  estimated  yield  on  the  third  year  is  91,200 
pounds,  valued  at  20  cents  per  pound,  or  a total  of 
?18,240.  The  fourth  year  after  planting  the  yield, 
it  is  estimated,  would  be  $34,340,  figuring  four  pounds 
to  the  tree.  This  is  a good  exhibit,  but  like  fcthers 
in  regard  to  the  profits  to  be  derived  from  the 
introduction  of  tropical  or  remi-tropical  products 
in  this  State,  it  should  be  carefully  considered 
before  capital,  is  invested.  In  regard  to  the 
the  cultivation  of  coffee,  even  if  the  climate  and 
soil  are  found  favorable  here,  the  fact  should  not  be 
lost  sight  of  that  in  countries  where  this  staple  is 
largely  grown,  labor  an  important  element  in  its  cost, 
is  to  be  had  at  a very  low  rate.  On  this  coast,  con- 
ditions are  quite  the  contrary,  a fact  that  precludes 
the  introduction  of  many  new  industries  which  other- 
wise might  prove  remunerative  and  successful. — S.F. 
Grocer. 
RkmaBEs.— The  estimate  given  above  for  the  yield 
of  coffee  is  a long  way  off.  An  average  of  one  pound 
per  tree  is  a fair  yield  at  three  years  old.  ADd  one 
and  a half  to  two  pounds  per  tree,  when  five  years 
old  ; and  if  this  average  is  maintained  in  future  years, 
the  plantatioa  will  do  well.  In  Ceylon,  a crop  in  full 
healthy  bearing  formerly  averaged  about  700  pounds  of 
c'eaned  coffee  per  aore,  though  exceptional  yields  may 
have  reaohed  2,000  or  even  3,000  pounds  per  acre. 
—Editor  Planter. — Planters’  Monthly. 
THE  TEA  PLANTERS  AND  THE 
CURRENCY  QUESTION. 
The  following  is  the  memorial  of  the  Darjiling  and 
Terai  Planters’  Association  to  the  Viceroy  upon  the 
Currency  Question : — That  your  memorialists  are  an 
association  representative  not  only  of  the  European 
and  Indian  capital  which  for  the  last  thirty  years 
has  been  so  largely  invested  in  the  development  of 
the  staple  industry,  viz.,  the  tea  industry,  carried  on 
in  the  hill  districts  of  Darjiling  and  Kurseong  and  in 
the  district  of  the  Terai,  but  also  of  the  important 
resident  community  of  skilled  Europeans  who  for  a 
like  period  have  been  similarly  engaged.  To  that 
capital  and  to  the  efforts  of  that  community  is  almost 
entirely  attributable  the  degree  of  prosperity  at 
present  enjoyed  by  the  districts  mamed.  Your 
memorialists  have  read  with  concern  the  peti- 
tion of  the  Indian  Currency  Association  addressed 
to  the  Honourable  the  House  of  Commons, 
praying  that  the  Government  of  India  be  fully 
empowered  to  take  such  immediate  measures  as 
to  it  may  seem  fit  for  the  purpose  of  remedying 
the  evils  attending  on  the  present  condition  of  the 
Indian  currency  system  ; for  instance,  by  the  prohi- 
bition of  the  free  coinage  of  silver  and  by  the  adoption 
of  gold  as  the  monetary  standard  of  value. 
Your  memorialists  submit  that  if  that  prayer  be 
granted  and  acted  upon  there  is  every  probability 
that  the  Indian  tea  industry  will  collapse.  In  clause 
20  of  the  petition  above  referred  to  it  is  stated  that, 
under  the  present  conditions  of  the  currency  system 
“ the  exporter  is  no  gainer,  for  each  fall  in  exchange 
is  followed  by  an  equivalent  fall  in  the  gold  price  of 
the  commodities  he  exports.”  Your  memorialists 
Submit  Ijhat  this  statement,  besides  being  an  insuffi- 
cient representation  of  the  facts,  is  one  which  it  is 
extremely  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  verify.  On 
the  other  hand  it  is  a fact  well  within  the  ex- 
perience of  your  memorialists  that  the  fall  in  gold 
prices  at  home,  which  has  been  going  on  steadily 
for  the  last  twenty  years,  is  attributable  to  over 
; production  of  tea.  That  it  has  nothing  to  do  with 
the  fluctuations  of  exchange  is  obvious  from  the  fact 
that  within  recent  years,  whenever  the  gold  value 
of  the  silver  rupee  has  risen  in  England,  that  rise 
has  not  been  followed  by  an  equivalent  rise  in  gold 
prices.  In  clause  22  of  the  same  petition  it  is  stated 
that  “ the  investment  of  English  capital  in  the  deve- 
lopment of  the  material  resources  of  the  Empire  is 
discouraged,  for  both  as  regards  the  remittance  of 
interest  and  the  final  transfer  of  invested  profits  and 
economies  the  continuous  fall  in  exchange  imparts  to 
the  investment  of  capital  in  this  country  a speculative 
character  and  a risk  which  the  capitalist  is  unwilling 
to  face.”  Your  memorialists  submit  that,  apart  from 
the  fact  that1  many  of  the  capitalists  engaged  in  the 
development  of  the  Indian  tea  industry  are  resident 
in  India,  thus  eliminating  to  a great  extent  the 
question  of  remitting  interest  home,  and  also  apart 
from  the  fact  that  the  idea  of  finality  is  a very  in- 
determinate one  to  attach  to  the  operations  of  the 
English  capitalist,  which  are  continuous  operations, 
and  therefore  postulate  the  return  to  India,  under 
advantageous  conditions  of  exchange,  and  in  the 
shape  of  further  capital,  of  the  interest  previously 
remitted  home;  it  is  within  the  experience  of  your 
memorialists  that  whatever  difficulties  they  meet 
with  in  procuring  financial  assistance  from  capitalists 
resident  in  England,  are  also,  like  the  fall  in  gold 
prices  at  home,  attributable  to  over  production  of  tea. 
and  not  to  any  deterrent  effects  produced  upon  English 
capitalists  by  the  fluduations  in  exchange. 
Those  countries  which  still  retain  silver  as  their 
monetary  standard  of  va  ue  have  hitherto  entered 
into  no  international  agreement  under  which 
they  shall  all  combine  (1)  to  check  the  present 
continuous  fall  in  the  value  of  silver,  or  (2) 
to  impart  a character  of  stability  to  any  rate  of 
exchange  upon  which  they  may  fix  for  the 
rupee  or  dollar,  or  (3)  to  adopt  gold  as  the  common 
monetary  standard  of  value.  China  is  a country  with 
a silver  standard,  and  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  price 
of  her  silver  tael  is  regulated  by  the  same  conditions 
that  govern  the  fluctuations  in  the  price  of  India’s 
silver  inpte.  She  is  also  a tea  producing  country  and 
thus  enters  into  competition  with  the  community  who 
are  engazed  in  developing  the  tea  industry  of  this 
country.  In  days  gone  by,  China  exported  as  much  as 
170  millions  of  pounds  of  tea  to  the  London  market. 
Since  then,  however,  the  superior  quality  of  the  tea 
exported  to  the  6ame  market  from  India  has  precluded 
China  from  exporting  more  than  50  million*  of  pounds, 
and  thus  the  ascendancy  in  this  respect  once  belonging 
to  China  has  been  transferred  to  and  now  rests 
with  Iudia.  Your  memorialists  submit  that  any  in- 
terference, such  as  that  prated  for  in  the  petition 
of  the  Indian  Currency  Association,  with  the  natural 
course  of  exohange  between  India  and  the  country 
where  both  she  and  China  find  a market  for  their 
teas,  would  inevitably  cause  the  price  of  the  Indian 
rupee  either  to  be  stationary  or  to  rise  gradually  or 
suddenly,  whilst  at  the  same  time  the  price  of  the 
Chinese  tad  would  be  falling;  and  your  memorialists 
are  therefore  apprehensive  not  only  lest  China  should, 
in  consequence  of  that  interference,  regain  the  as- 
cendancy which  has  been  wrested  from  her,  but  even 
lest  the  tea  industry  of  India  sh  uld  be  entirely  and 
irretrievably  ruined. 
Your  memorialists,  therefore,  pray  that,  until  snob 
time  as  an  international  agreement  ise.Aered  into  by  all 
countries  having  a silver  standard,  the  Government 
cf  India,  even  if  empowered  by  Her  Majesty’s 
Government  in  the  way  prayed  for  in  the  petition 
of  tbe  Indian  Currency  Association,  will  stay  its  hand 
end  not  interrere  with  the  present  condition  of  the 
currency  system;  for  under  it  those  engaged  in  the 
Indian  tea  industry  enjoy  a considerable  degree  of 
prosperity,  and  this  to  the  best  of  their  ability  they 
ludeuvom  to  share  with  all  with  whom  they  are  con* 
