35° 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Nov.  i 1892. 
Land  in  Fiji. — I should  say  that  there  are 
fewer  small  planters,  the  backbone  of  every 
new  colony,  than  formerly .e  Fiji,  I think,  re- 
quires to  be  properly  advertised  before  it  has 
a chance  of  getting  the  men  I refer  to.  Ex- 
perienced tropical  planters  in  all  parts  of  the 
world  ought  to  be  informed  that,  if  they  like  to  try 
Fiji,  they  can  get  land  readily,  and  in  any  part  of 
the  group  they  may  fix  on  to  try  the  cultivation 
they  wish  to  go  in  for.  This  land  ought,  at  first, 
till  something  proves  successful,  be  given  them  for 
nothing  or  a mere  nothing.  By  this  I mean 
if  anyone  is  willing  to  come  out  here  and  try 
any  kind  of  cultivation,  he  should  be  able  to  get  up 
to  300  or  400  acres  free,  provided  he  only  paid 
survey  fees  and  agreed  to  have  a small  portion  of 
the  laud  granted  to  him  cleared  and  planted  up  in 
three  years’  time.  No  delay  ought  to  take  place ; when 
onoe  a man  has  chosen  a piece  of  land  that  he  thinks 
suitable,  of  course  by  land  I mean  land  that  is  not 
in  the  occupation  of  or  likely  to  be  used  by  Fijians, 
of  which  there  are  hundreds  of  thousands  of  acrei 
available.  Likely  settlers  ought  also  to  be  fully  in- 
formed of  tne  cost  of  and  how  labour  is  recruited  and 
the  kind  of  ordinances  the  men  oan  he  worked  under. 
Until  something  of  this  kind  is  done  I really  do  not 
see  what  inducements  there  are  for  small  planters  to 
come  out  hete  to  try  their  luck  and  spend  their 
money.  Wishing  Ceyloa  a prosperous  season, — 
Yours  faithfully.  A.  J.  S. 
THE  AMSTERDAM  CINCHONA  AUCTIONS. 
Amsterdam,  Thursday  evening. 
At  today’s  bark  ano  10ns  ouly  3,130  packages  Java 
bark  out  of  a total  of  5,567  were  told,  over  40  per 
oent  of  the  supply  beiDg  held  at  limits  over  the 
market  value.  The  average  sale-unit  was  6Jc,  or 
per  lb.  (the  same  as  at  the  last  sales),  an  1 the  prin- 
cipal buyers  were  the  Auerbach  factory,  Mr.  Gustav 
Briegleb  (of  Amsterdam),  the  Frankfort  factory,  and 
the  Brunswick  factory.  The  following  prices  were 
paid: — Manufacturing  barks  in  quilis,  broken  quills 
and  chips,  9o.  to  69c  (—  ljd  to  12£d  per  lb.);  ditto 
root,  lie.  to  49c.  (=2 d to  8f d per  lb.);  druggists' 
barks,  in  quils,  broken  quills  and  chips,  9c.  to  17c. 
(=1  to  J22<7  per  lb  );  ditto  root,  lOo.  ot  16o  (=1J<7 
to  3 (l  per  lb.) — Chemist  and  Druggist,  Sept.  29. 
— - 
NOTES  ON  PRODUCE  AND  FINANCE. 
A Correspondence  Debate  about  Tea. — A casual 
remark  made  by  Sir  Charles  Dilke  at  a meeting  of  the 
Chelsea  Board  of  Guardians  to  the  effect  that  the 
consumption  of  China  tea  was  on  the  way  to  extinc- 
tion in  this  country,  not  only  drew  from  Messrs. 
Lloyd,  Matheson  and  Carritt  the  letter  which  we 
published  last  week,  but  it  has  led  to  further  corres- 
pondence in  the  Standard  upon  what  one  writer  calls 
“ this  universally  interesting  topic,”  tea.  * * * * 
A Tea-Taster’s  Opinion. — A tea-taster,  writing  on 
the  same  subject,  says : — “It  has  become  too  much 
the  rule  of  late  for  householders  to  vie  with  each  other 
in  buying  tea  at  the  lowest  price,  rather  than  to  take 
a pride  in  having  the  best.  Retail  dealers  have  taken 
advantage  of  this  craze  for  cheapness,  and  some  pro- 
fess to  sell  the  finest  tea  at  one  shilling  and  seven- 
pence  per  pound.  This  is  manifestly  impossible,  as 
large  quantities  are  sold  weekly,  at  the  Commercial 
Sale  Rooms,  at  and  above  two  shillings  per  pound,  to 
which  has  to  be  added  the  duty  and  all  expenses. 
Many  of  the  public  believe  these  and  similar  state- 
ments, the  result  being  that  in  many  houses  where 
nothing  but  flue  wine  is  drunk  really  fine  tea  is  un- 
known. There  is  no  reason  whatever  that  as  great 
pride  and  pleasure  should  not  be  taken  in  having  the 
finest  tea  carefully  prepared  as  in  putting  a bottle  of 
old  port  on  the  table.  A cup  of  fine  Ceylon  or  Dar- 
jeeling tea  can  be  quite  as  well  appreciated  by  a trained 
palate.” 
A Sneer  at  Indian  and  Ceylon  Teas. — This  re- 
minds another  correspondent  that  there  is  a good 
opening  here  for  a sneer  at  Indian  and  Ceylon 
and  an  opportunity  to  deliver  himself  in  praise  of 
China  teas.  Cha  Sze  accordingly  writes  : “ Your 
correspondent,  “ Tea  Taster,”  is  quite  right  as  to 
the  inferior  quality  of  tea  consumed  in  most 
houses  where  it  is  the  usual  thing  to  offer  you  a 
cup  of  tea  which,  to  a cultivated  taste,  is 
simply  undrinkable,  and  this  when  the  preceding 
glass  of  wine  has  been  carefully  selected,  and  is 
of  the  choicest  kind.  If  it  comes  to  quality — real 
quahty— we  must  go  to  China  for  the  true  tea 
flavoured  kinds,  with  the  delicious  pekoe  flavour 
only  to  be  found  in  China  teas,  such  as  are  used 
and  appreciated  in  Russia.  The  Indian  and 
Ceylon  teas  have  nothing  more  than  strength  and 
pungency  to  commend  them,  and,  from  the  different 
manner  in  which  they  are  prepared,  must  necessarily 
contain  a much  larger  quantity  of  tannin  than  the 
China  leaf.  To  those  who  prefer  this  pungency  and 
more  or  less  rankness,,  the  Indian  and  Ceylon  teas 
will  undoubtedly  be  most  appreciated ; but  for  choice 
richness  of  tea,  flavour,  and  bouquet,  let  them  pro- 
cure Russian  China  tea,  and  they  will  at  once  re- 
cognise the  difference.  Such  tea  cannot  be  bought 
under  half-a-crown  per  pound,  and  the  difficulty  is 
to  get  it  in  these  days,  when  the  popular  and — may 
I add — degraded  taste  runs  on  nothing  but  strength 
and  pungency.  Nevertheless,  it  is  to  be  had,  and  I 
would  recommend  those  who  appreciate  a really 
choice  cup  of  tea,  free  from  injurious  properties,  to 
try  this  Russian  tea,  and  if  they  get  the  right 
thing,  the  difference  in  flavour  and  smell  compared 
with  Indian  and  Ceylon  teas  will  be  a revelation  to 
them.” 
He  Does  not  Have  It  All  His  Own  Way. — The 
importer  of  tea  from  China  is  evidently  tired  of  the 
waiting  game,  and  is  determined  to  make  things 
“hum”  on  his  own  account,  if  possible.  He  is  not 
having  it  all  his  own  way  in  the  correspondence 
debate,  for  “Inquirer''  asks,  with  a touch  of  irony, 
“ ‘Cha  Sze’  would  confer  a great  benefit  on  myself, 
as  doubtless  on  very  many  of  your  readers,  if  he  would 
kindly  state  where  the  Russian  China  tea  which  he 
so  strongly  recommends,  and  the  difficulty  of  procur- 
ing which  he  admits,  can  be  obtained.”  And 
“Cingalese”  says: — “It is  rather  staggering  to  read 
the  assertion  of  your  correspondent,  'Cha  Sze,’  that 
for  ‘real  quality’  iu  tea  we  must  go  to  China.  It  is 
true  that  the  first  steamer  or  two  from  Hankow  bring 
every  season  a few  parcels  of  more  or  less  ‘fine’  tea, 
which  fetch,  say,  from  Is  8d  to  2s  4d  per  lb.  for  the 
Russian  market,  but  the  quantity  of  fine  tea  we  get 
from  China  is  a bagatelle  to  the  amount  of  rubbish  the 
Celestial  Empire  sends  us.  For  pure  rich  flavour 
ana  bouqnet  high-grown  OeyloD,  Darjeeling,  aDd 
Kangra  Vailey  teas  are  not  to  be  beateD.and  if  people 
would  only  take  the  trouble  to  pour  off  their  East 
Indian  teas,  after  infusing  for  three  to  five  minutes, 
into  another  teapot,  they  would  not  have  to  complain 
of  too  much  pungency  or  tannin.  But  after  all,  ‘ the 
proof  of  the  tea  is  in  the  drinking.’  In  18S1  the 
home  consumption  of  China  tea  was  112,000,000  lb., 
in  1891  it  was  59,000,000  lb. ; in  1881  the  home  con- 
sumption of  Iuaiui  and  Ceylon  together  was  only 
49,000,0001b.,  in  1891  it  was  nearly  150,000,000  lb., 
and  np  to  date  this  year  the  home  consumption  of 
Coylou  lea  has  almost  doubled  that  of  China,  and, 
wfiat  is  more,  fastidious  Russia  is  even  buying  Ceylon 
tea  now.” 
Tea  and  the  Complexion. — Now  we  now  exactly 
why  tea  has  gained  so  much  in  popular  estimatioa  cf 
late.  It  is  used  for  th-  complexion.  “ It  is  well 
known,”  says  the  Daily  Telegraph,  “ that  physioians 
have  often  to  urge  upon  iauits  equipped  with  weak 
nerves  restraint  from  over-indulgence  in  strong  de- 
coctions of  the  precious  prjducts  imported  from 
China,  Assam,  and  Ceylon.  But  still  quits  recently 
the  medical  ban  has  not  been  evoked  by  consump- 
tion of  the  tea  leaf  in  a dry  state.  Nevertheless,  it 
appears,  on  undoubted  authority,  that  cause  for  pro- 
hibition in  this  respect  has  arisen.  It  seems  that 
there  is  a spreading  idea  among  joung  women,  and 
especially  among  domestic  servants,  that  a pinch 
of  unwatered  tea-leaves  is  an  infallible  aid  to  the 
acquisition  of  a good  complexion.  In  many  instances 
