THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Dec.  i,  18^2. 
378 
argument  used  in  Lancashire  to  ihe  effect  thai,  under 
existing  conditions,  every  fall  in  the  gold  price  of 
silver  giv.s  the  Bombay  millowners  an  advantage 
over  their  Lancashire  competitors.  The  Times  corre- 
spondent cables  that  the  Government,  in  acknowledging 
the  Darjeeling  planters’  memorial  expressing  views 
contrary  to  those  of  the  Currency  Association,  delivers 
itself  of  a long  economic  essay  and  concludes  by 
stating  thot  the  adoption  of  tie  same  standard  of 
value  by  England  and  India— always  assnmiDg  that 
standard  to  be  good — would  facilitate  international 
trade,  stimulate  production  in  both  countries,  and 
place  China  at  a disadvantage  as  compared  with  India 
in  the  production  of  tev  and  other  commodities. 
The  correspondent  alto  adds  that  the  mercantile 
community  are  dissatisfied  with  the  attitude  of  the 
Government. 
The  Changes  in  ihr  Tea  Thadk — Among  the 
manifold  changes  brought  ab.ut  duiing  recent  years 
by  the  increased  competition  manifest  in  all  trades 
and  professions,  there  is  110  department  of  the  grocer’s 
business  which  has  undergone  a greater  change  or 
has  been  more  fiercely  assailed  tha  t the  tea  trade, 
says  the  Grocer.  Compared  with  tho  grocer,  the  tea 
merchant  has  doubtless  been  the  greater  sufferer  of 
the  two.  “The  good  old  times  ” of  twenty  years  ago, 
aye,  aud  less, — when  merchants  in  selling,  and  our  I 
readers  in  buying  tea,  reaped  profits  on  their  sales 
and  purchases  iu  proportion  to  tte’r  knowledge, 
sagacity,  aud  experience,  are  gone,  never  to  return. 
At  that  time  the  leading  Oily  firms  reamed  fo  do 
buBioess  with  any  grocer  who  could  not  buy  ten 
cheats  at  once.  Today,  it  may  with  truth  bo  said, 
the  same  firms  will  gladly  book  an  oid^r  for  two  chests 
from  any  safe  man.  This  is  mainly  owing  to  the 
rapid  extension  of  suburban  districts,  and  the  propor- 
tionate— disproportionate,  perhaps,  we  th  uld  say- 
increase  of  grocers’  shops,  Blended  and  packet  teas 
have  obviously  proved  a desideratum  to  a large  number 
of  grocers  throughout  the  couutry,  as  evidenced  by  the 
increasing  sales  of  that  class  of  tea  by  those  firms  who 
have  laid  themselves  out  for  that  trade  and  are  vigo- 
rously pushing  their  “ famous  blends.’’  That  blended 
and  p.  cket  teas  of  reliable  quality,  now  obtainable 
from  merchants  of  good  repute,  have  been  a boon 
to  many  of  our  readers,  no  one  will  attempt  to 
deny.  Much  anxiety  and  expenditure  of  time  have 
always  been  entailed  by  retailors  in  tasting  tea",  espe- 
cially by  those  anxious  to  cultivate  that  branch  of 
theit  business.  They  arc  now  freed  from  this  trouble, 
and  ate  in  a position  to  compete  with  their  more 
formidable  opponents.  They  are  If  ss  liable  to  buy  badly 
as  tho  saying  is,  and  ran  generally  depend  upon  the 
mixtures  being  regular  in  quality  aud  character,  dhese 
are  certainly  advantages  to  ths  modern  grocer,  whose 
etock-in-'rade  is  multiplying  year  by  year,  and  whose 
tea  business  forms  only  a very  small  portion  of  his 
weekly  turnover. 
The  Art  of  Tea  Blending. — There  is,  however,  another 
aspect  of  the  revolution,  says  the  authority  we  have 
quoted.  Grocers  of  tha  old  school,  whose  careers  in 
that  capacity  date  baok  into  the  sixties  and  early 
seventies  contemplate  the  change  with  le3S  satis- 
faction. At  the  time  referred  to,  and  before  the 
prices  of  Indian  te  s were  within  the  reach  of 
the  two-shilling  canister,  a trader  who  had  spent 
some  years  in  studying  ar.d  tasting  teas  coukl 
almost  always  offer  better  value  to  bis  customers 
than  oculd  his  more  inexperienced  rivals.  It  was 
only  iu  the  fitness  of  things,  therefore,  that  he 
should  leap  the  advantages  of  his  knowledge  and 
experience  Many  of  his  opponents  frequently  knew 
little  or  nothing  about  tea,  and  had  never  thought  it 
worth  their  while  to  take  the  matter  up  as  a study. 
This  state  of  things  continued  down  to  1880  or  there- 
abouts, when  one  or  two  enterprising  tea  agents  con- 
ceived the  idea  that  by  a free  course  of  instruction 
in  the  art  of  blending  to  the  more  ignorant  grocers 
who  were  doing  a fairly  good  tea  trade  they  would 
ultimately  monopolise  the  bulk  of  the  business  in  the 
respective  districts  which  they  represented.  How 
cgregiously  deceived  they  have  been  time  has  since 
proved.  They  little  suspected  that  they  were  making  rods 
for  their  own  backs.  They  captured  fresh  customers  it 
is  true,  but  overlooked  the  fact  that  ingratitude  is 
the  reward  frequently  received  by  thoBe  who  seek  to 
become  benefactors  of  mankind.  Toe  new  customers 
did  not  refuse  to  be  taught  the  arts  and  mysteries 
of  blending  teas,  but  after  picking  the  brains  of  their 
instructors  they  gradually  returned  to  the  firms  with 
whom  they  had  previously  dealt,  and  who,  it  is  need- 
less to  say,  had  been  obliged  to  make  up  and  offer 
blends. 
Gone  aee  the  Goon  olo  Times. — Now,  what  has 
been  the  result?  'ihe  “kings"  and  “princes"  of 
MiuoiDg  Lane  have  hod  to  “ climb  down  ” to  small 
orders  and  smaller  profits.  The  experienced  grocer,  to 
whom  we  have  just  referred,  finds  himself  on  a level 
with  joungcr  and  comparatively  ignorant  members 
of  the  trade,  who  can  scarcely  distinguish  China  from 
Indian  teis.  The  time  he  has  devoted,  the  know- 
ledge he  has  acquirid,  aud  the  capital  ho  has 
accumulated,  are  now  of  little  or  no  avail  ; 
while  tho  would-bt-monop'  list  agents  have  dis- 
cover'd,  to  their  chagrin,  that  they  have  become 
the  first  victims  of  their  owufully.  All  tbirgs  must  have 
an  end,  and  the  change  is  doubtless  in  keeping  with 
tho  spirit  of  the  times  in  which  we  live.  Tho 
enormous  su,  plies  from  India  and  Ceylon  have  put 
an  < nd  to  the  scenes  of  animation  formerly  witnessed 
in  and  about  the  salerooms  cf  Minciug  Lane,  when 
Monings  and  Kaisows  held  the  sway.  Speculative 
purchases,  then  so  rife,  are  now  remembered  us  be- 
longing to  a past  age.  The  then  great  event  of  the 
year— the  first  arrival  ot  ;ew  season’s  tea — excites 
little  attention  nowadays.  Agouts  from  the  provinces 
do  not  now  rush  off  to  London  to  meet  the  ship  before 
she  docks.  It  is  no  longer  a coveted  distinction  to  be 
the  first  purchaser  of  utw  tea.  Ttere  are  now  only 
remini-ce nces  of  whit  some  few  chooso  to  lermt  he 
“ good  old  times.”  But,  in  our  opinion,  Ihe  tran- 
quility which  characterises  the  produce  market®  cf  tl.e 
present  day  is  more  calculated  to  promote  a healthy 
tone  than  the  conditions  which  prevailed  in  the 
speculative  times  to  whioh  we  have  referred. — H.und 
C.  Mail,  Oct-  21. 

SOME  INDIAN  COMMERCIAL  PRODUCTS. 
The  first  five  of  the  Handbooks  which  the  Go- 
vernment of  India  has  arranged  to  provide  to  the 
Imperial  Institute  for  the  illustration  of  the  eco- 
nomic products  of  India  treat  respectively  of  Padauk 
wood;  Ipecacuanha;  Sida  fibre,  jute  and  Podophyllum 
emodi.  The  object  of  the  first  of  these  tomelets  is 
to  bring  to  promiment  notice  a timber  which  is 
abundant  in  the  forests  of  Burma  and  the  Andaman 
Islands,  and  has  recently  been  introduced  into  the 
English  market  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Ribben- 
trop,  c.i.e.,  the  Inspector-General  of  the  Indian  Forest 
Department.  The  wood  is  reported  to  be  about  as 
hard  as  teak,  is  capable  of  taking  a high  polish, 
and  is  considered  to  be  admirably  adapted  for  fur- 
niture, panel  work,  parquetrie,  windows,  doors,  etc., 
in  fact,  as  a substitute  for  teak.  It  is  also  well 
suited  for  gun  carriages,  and  it  has  been  annually 
exported  from  Burma  to  Madras  for  this  purpose 
since  1873.  The  Andaman  red-wood  or  padauk  tree 
(Fterocarpus  indicus)  is  described  by  Dr.  Mason  as 
“ a majestic  evergreen,  whose  yellow  papilionaceous 
flowers  scent  the  air,  iike  the  magnolias,  for  several 
hundred  yards  around.  It  is  propagated  by  simply 
planting  large  branches  in  the  ground  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  rains.  There  are  two  species, 
the  red  and  the  white,  as  distinguished  by  the 
Burmese,  the  red  producing  the  finest  timber,  but 
the  white  padauk  is  by  far  the  finest  ornamental 
tree.”  When  the  wood  is  thoroughly  seasoned,  it 
is  said  to  be  almost  unaffected  by  alternate  dryness 
and  moisture  of  -the  atmosphere,  and  it  is  not  at- 
tacked by  white  ants.  The  all  round  price  of  the  wood 
in  London  last  year  was  about  £7-10  per  ton,  and  RG7 
per  ton  for  squares  and  R76  for  planks  was  realised 
in  Calcutta.  The  introduction  of  this  wood— which 
has  been  favourably  reported  on  by  cabinet  makers 
and  carriage  builders  in  England — into  the  London 
market  dates  from  the  Indo-Colonial  Exhibition ; but 
