Dec,  r,  1892.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
377 
NOTES  FROM  OUR  LONDON  LETTER. 
London,  Oct.  21st. 
Good  Prices  for  Ceylon  Tea. 
The  week  has  seen  the  continuation  of  the  re- 
cently established  good  pricc-s  for  Ceylon  tea,  and 
there  has  even  been  an  improvement  upon  tho.e 
of  late  quoted.  It  is  rather  difficult  to  aESign 
this  improvement  altogether  to  the  restricted  ship- 
ments from  Ceylon,  because  there  has  lately  arisen, 
side  by  side  with  the  higher  rates  for  your  own  teas, 
a very  active  dtmand  for  those  of  China,  and  the 
position  of  importers  of  those  growths  is  described 
in  the  Times  market  report  as  a strong  one,  the  prices 
for  China  “ruling  very  firm.”  Possibly  this  is  be- 
cause buyers  of  Ceylon  have  not  been  able  to  get  all 
their  want3  supplied  ; and  I should  think  this  to 
be  the  case,  because  the  same  report  states  that 
while  Indian  teas  advanced  2 to  3 points  those  of 
China  only  advanced  by  a single  point.  Theie 
Eeems  to  be  every  prospect  that,  certainly  until 
after  Christmas,  the  existing  streng  demand  for 
all  sor'.s  cf  teas  will  be  maintained. 
THE  CEYLON  TEA  PLANTATIONS  COMPANY. 
The  Direotors  of  the  Ceylon  Tea  Plantations  Com- 
pany have  declared  an  interim  dividend  of  7 per 
cent  on  the  ordiuary  shares  payable  on  the  ‘27th 
instant. 
A but  little-known  paper,  called  Siftings,  has 
taken  up  the  cudgels  this  week  on  behalf  of 
CHINA  TEA. 
The  article  appearing  in  it  says  the  recent  letters 
appearing  in  the  Standard  claiming  superiority  over 
China  for  Indian  and  Ceylon  teas  are  a “ lot  of 
nonsense,”  and  it  asseits  that  the  advance  of  the 
two  latter  sorts  over  that  first-mentioned  has  only 
been  due  to  their  superior  strength,  which  Sift- 
ings declare  to  be  due  only  to  the  larger  amount 
of  tannin  that  they  oontain.  We  don’t  suppose 
a paper  of  the  kind  will  have  much  influence, 
or  that  its  partisanship  will  go  any  great  way 
towards  disturbing  the  public  taste  now  so  fully 
in  favour  of  British-grown  teas. 
SIR  CHARLES  DILKE  AS  “ AN  AUTHORITY  ON  TEA.” 
The  IFcsf  Middlesex  Advertiser  declares  Sir 
Charles  Dilke  to  be  “ an  authoiity  on  tea,”  but 
seems  to  regard  his  advocacy  of  certain  blends  for 
workhouses  are  to  be  somewhat  mistaken  Referring 
to  some  recent  supplies  obtained,  this  paper 
writes  ; — “ Aooording  to  the  Chairman,  the  tea 
now  supplied  to  the  house  is  the  acme  of  per- 
fection. If  this  is  eo,  it  cannot  surely  be  the  same 
as  that  given  to  the  guardian  in  the  afternoon  of 
the  Board  meeting.  That  tea  is  extraordinary.  It 
must  be  a blend  fortunately  little  known  and  less 
used.  It  resembles  tea  in  one  thing  and  that  only, 
viz.,  the  colour  j but  here  it  sometimfs  misses  it, 
and  has  a beautifully  pinky  hue.  It  would  be 
satisfactory  if  the  Chaiiman  would  explain  if  he 
“ enthuses”  on  the  tea  supplied  to  the  guardion 
or  to  the  inmates.” 
THE  DUTCH  MARKET. 
Amsterdam,  Oot.  13. — The  cinchona  auctions  to  be 
held  in  Amsterdam  on  Novembtr3rd  will  coDBist  of 
177  oases  and  4,809  baler,  about  414  tons,  divided  as 
follows  : — From  Government  plantaions,  61  cses  and 
36‘6  bales,  about  37  tons  ; from  private  plantations,  116 
cases  and  4,443  bales,  alout  377  tons.  This  quantity 
contains,  ol  Druggists’  bark:  Succirubra — quills,  95 
cases  ; broken  quills  and  chips,  32  bales,  40  cates  ; root 
14  bales;  Officii. alis  qu.lls,  42  cases  ; and  of  Manufac- 
turing bark:  Ledgeriana—  broken  quills  and  chips, 
48 
3,714  bales  ; root,  775  bales  ; Officinilis — broken  quills 
and  clips,  36  bales  ; root,  13  bales  ; Hybrid — broken 
quills  and  cLips,  213  hairs;  root,  12  bales.  The 
n anufaclurir  g bark  conlains  about  18  tons  sulphate 
cf  quiniue,  or  4 52  percent,  on  tire  average.  About 
4 tons  contain  1-2  per  cent.,  36  tons  2-3  per  cent., 
128  tens  3-4  per  cent.,  116  tons  4 5 per  cent.,  53 
tons  5-6  percent..  34  tons  6-7  per  cent.,  16  tons  7-8 
per  cent.  7 tens  8-9  per  cent  , 6 tons  10-11  per  cent, 
tuipbate  of  quinine.' — Chemist  and  Druggist. 
WHITE  PEPPER  VS.  BLACK  PEPPER. 
Under  the  title  “Grind  your  own  Pepper,’’ 
Gorgantuas  Gastronomies  discusses  learnedly  of  the 
benefits  to  be  derived  from  using  the  little  “ Moulin 
a Poivre  ’’  or  table  pepper-mill,  which  is  used  ex- 
tensively in  France,  and  which  enables  an  epicure 
to  have  his  pepper  freshly  ground,  either  fine  or 
coarse,  as  he  prefers,  for  different  dishes.  The  writer 
of  the  article  noted  above  makes  a great  mistake  in 
saying,  “above  all,  use  white  pepper  for  a table 
condiment.” 
White  pepper  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  black 
pepper  bleached  with  acids  which  destroy  the  finer 
aromatic  properties,  and  no  real  connoisseur  will 
ever  use  white  pepper. 
The  pepper  grains  form  on  stems  not  unlike  cur- 
rants. The  berries  are  red  when  ripe.  The  reddish 
pulp  which  surrounds  the  kernel  is  deliciously 
aromatic  and  when  dried  turns  black. 
In  the  preparation  of  the  berries  for  market,  if 
white  pepper  is  to  be  made,  this  pulp  is  soaked  off 
and  the  kernels  bleached  to  make  them  sightly  to 
the  eye  without  any  regard  whatever  for  the  pulp. 
It  is  one  of  the  most  striking  vagaries  of  fashion. 
Owing  to  the  expense  of  the  manipulation,  white 
pepper  costs  about  twice  as  much  as  black  pepper, 
and  yet  is  not  as  good  or  as  intrinsically  valuable 
— American  Grocer, 
^ 
NOTES  ON  PRODUCE  AND  FINANCE. 
Plain  Views  on  the  Currency  Problem.— The 
views  expressed  by  the  Darjeeling  and  Terai 
Planters’  Association  on  the  silver  question  find  an 
echo  among  the  planters  on  this  side.  The  Dar- 
jeeling planters  declare,  in  a memorial  to  the 
Viceroy,  that  the  closing  of  the  Indian  mints  to  the 
free  coinage  of  silver  would  result  in  the  collapse  of 
the  Indian  tea  industry.  The  Association  claims 
to  represent  not  only  European  but  Indian  capital 
which  during  the  past  thirty  years  has  been  in- 
vested in  the  tea  plantations  of  the  hill  districts  of 
Dajeeling  and  Kurseong  and  in  the  district  of  the 
Terai.  To  that  capital  and  to  the  resident  com- 
munity of  skilled  Europeans  engaged  in  the  indus- 
try, it  is  urged,  the  undeniable  prosperity  of  the 
region  in  question  is  due  ; and  the  memorialists 
pray  that  “ until  such  time  as  an  international 
agreement  is  entered  into  by  all  countries  having  a 
silver  standard,  the  Government  of  India,  even  if 
empowered  by  Her  Majesty’s  Government  in  the 
way  prayed  for  in  the  petition  of  the  Indian  Curr- 
ency Af sedation,  will  stay  its  bard  and  not  inter- 
fere with  the  present  condition  of  the  currency  system.” 
They  frankly  confess  that  they  are  not  convinced  that 
a fall  in  exchange  briDgs  no  advantage  to  the  Indian 
exporter,  and  they  declare  that  their  own  experience 
has  taught  them  them  that  the  fall  in  the  gold  prices 
of  tea  has  been  the  consequence  of  the  “ overpro- 
duction ” of  that  commodity,  and  not  of  the  decline 
in  exchange.  The  adoption  of  the  gold  standard  in 
India,  with  the  issue  of  silver  rupees  limited,  wonld, 
it  is  stated,  “ inevitably  cause  the  prioe  of  the  Indian 
rupee  either  to  be  station nry  or  to  rise  gradually  or  sud- 
denly, wbi'e  at  the  same  time  the  price  of  the  Chinese 
tael  would  be  falling.”  The  Chinese  tea-growers  would 
thus  be  enabled  to  undersell  the  Indian  growers,  and 
the  memorialists  are  apprehensive  that  China  would  “re- 
gain the  ascendancy  that  has  been  wrested  from  her.” 
This  is  plain,  and  may  be  taken  as  a set-off  to  the 
