April  i,  1893.]  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
as  no  allowance  whatever  is  made  to  the  company, 
the  sum  of  £13,140  has  been  saved  to  the  Treasury. 
In  the  same  number  of  years,  taking  their  maximum 
average  results,  the  naval  cruisers  would  have  re- 
leased 360  slaves.  This  Bhows  the  advantages  of 
operations  on  land  over  thorn  at  6ea  for  the  suppres- 
sion of  slavery.  In  addition  to  this  work  there  is  the 
benefit  of  the  law  for  self-re  lemption  of  slaves  which 
the  company  put  in  operation,  and  which  is  working 
satisfactorily. — Times  Weekly  Edition. 
THIBET  AND  TEA. 
Among  the  many  excuses  put  forward  by  the  Chinese 
Government  for  preventing  importation  of  India  tea 
into. Thibet,  the  mo3t  comical  is  the  pretence  that 
the  Thibetans  and  Bhuties  dislike  the  article.  Their 
iiffectious  are,  it  is  declared,  irremovably  fixed  on 
the  brick  tea  which  the  ic  ancestors,  from  time 
immemorial,  consumed,  and  they  will  not  be  beholden 
to  Hindostan  iu  that  connection.  That  would  be  a 
fair  argument  enough  if  it  were  proposed  to  compel 
these  mountaineers  to  patronise  the  Indian  variety. 
But  there  is  no  compulsion  in  the  matter  at  all; 
all  that  the  Indian  planter  acks  is  to  be  allowed  to 
place  his  produce  on  the  Thibetan  market  without 
governmental  hindrance.  He  feels  satisfied  that  its 
superior  merits  would  very  soon  drive  out  brick  tea, 
if  the  two  were  placed  on  the  same  footing.  At 
all  events  he  is  quite  willing  to  risk  the  chance  of 
loss,  and  feels  very  lit'le  gratitude  to  the  mandarins 
and  bonzes  for  protecting  his  interests  against  his 
own  desire.  Nor  would  the  Thibetans  themselves  be 
Borry  to  be  allowed  to  choose  between  the  two  sorts. 
Brick  tea  is  a convenience  for  travellers,  but  it  makes 
a wretched  brew,  being,  as  a rule,  mu.ty,  flavour- 
less, and  scentless.  But  it  comes  from  China,  and 
the  Pekin  Government  consequently  has  an  interest 
in  promotjug  its  consumption  by  securing  for  it  a 
monopoly  throughout  the  Celestial  Empire.  Indian 
ter,  on  the  oountry,  has  no  friend  at  court  of  that 
kind.  Hedged  in  on  the  north  by  Afghan  and  Russian 
duties,  and  shut  off  from  Thibet  by  the  Chinese 
blookade,  the  Indian  planter  views  with  increasing 
apprehension  the  portentous  growth  of  the  industry 
in  which  his  fortunes  are  embarked.  The  out-tnrn 
increases  largely  every  year,  and  in  default  of  uew 
markets  beiog  found,  price  will  be  bound  to  fall  to 
an  extent  leaving  next  to  no  profit,  It  iH  no  wonder, 
therefore,  that  the  Indian  planter  chafes  sorely  at 
his  exclusion  from  such  a tea-consuming  country  as 
Thibet,  and  would  almost  relish  war  with  China  on 
that  account. — Globe,  Jan.  31. 

THE  BRITISH  INDIA  TEA  COMPANY, 
LIMITED. 
The  following  is  from  the  half-yearly  report, ‘Jan., 
1893: — The  directors  now  beg  to  submit  to  the  share- 
holders the  usual  half-yearly  report  of  the  company’s 
working  duriug  the  past  season,  together  with  the 
statement  of  the  quantity  of  tea  sold  to  date. 
The  aotual  out-turn  was  short  of  the  original  esti- 
mate of  692,000  lb.  by  92,033  lb.  The  decrease  of 
tea  made,  a3  compared  with  that  of  the  previous 
year,  amounts  to  85,657  lb.  or  1,070  mds.,  and  was 
caused  by  most  unfavourable  weather  throughout 
nearly  the  whole  year,  with  even  an  earlier  close 
of  the  plucking  season  than  was  experienced  in 
1891.  All  the  tea  districts  in  India  suffered  alike 
in  this  respect. 
392,384  lb,  of  tea  have  been  sold  to  date  at  an 
average  of  9'08d  p6r  lb.  gross,  against  7'76d  for  the 
same  quantity  disposed  of  last  year.  This  better  price 
is  chiefly  owiDg  to  the  short  crop  producing  a prospect 
of  scarcity  in  the  market.  Owing  to  the  low  rates 
of  freight  in  1892  the  margin  of  profit  works  out  id 
per  lb.  better  than  in  1891,  making  the  increated 
difference  about  l£d  per  lb. 
The  directors  being  very  disappointed  and  conoerned 
at  the  great  falling  off  iu  quantity  and  also  in 
quality  of  the  teas  of  the  Assam  division,  considered 
631 
it  was  necessary  to  make  a change  in  the  manage- 
ment, and  a new  manager  has  been  appointed,  who, 
they  have  every  reason  to  believe,  will  make  a suooess 
of  his  charge. 
The  rate  of  exchange  with  India  will  be  as  nearly 
as  possible  Is  4Jd  per  rupee,  as  estimated.  Owing  to 
the  diminished  out-turn  the  oust  per  lb.  will  be  in- 
creased by  about  a half-penny  on  the  figure  estimated, 
and  will  amount  to  nearly  7§d. 
The  total  Indiun  tea  crop  for  1892  is  now  said  to 
be  about  three  million  lb.  less  than  that  of  1891, 
while  the  consumption  has  been  rather  larger,  and  the 
quantity  of  Ceylon  tea  has  no:  been  inorensiug  at  the 
rate  that  was  predicted. — R.  and  C.  Mail,  Feb,  3. 

CEYLON  TEA  IN  EGYPT. 
The  Egyptian  Gazette  of  Feb.  13th  says:  — 
Messrs.  Edgar  Kirby  & Co.,  have  just  received 
from  the  Ceylon  Tea  Growers  Association,  Colombo, 
a fresh  shipment  of  Ceylon  tea  and,  owing  to  the 
increased  demand,  they  have  arranged  to  supply 
from  this  date  their  numerous  clients  both  in  town 
and  the  interior  with  one  pound  of  pekoe  souchong 
and  a half  pound  packet  of  orange  pekoe  for  P.  T.  17, 
both  of  which,  mixed  together,  make  an  excellent 
blend  which  will  be  appreciated  by  all  who  are  loud 
of  an  exquisite  aroma.  This  blend  is  strongly  re- 
commended  in  eases  of  headache  or  lassitude. 

NOTES  ON  PRODUCE  AND  FINANCE, 
Bogus  Tea  in  Russia.— They  have  an  original  method 
of  manufacturing  tea  in  some  parts  of  Russia,  and 
M.  Guleshambaroff,  a Russian  scientist,  has  been 
throwing  some  light  on  the  matter.  In  some  districts 
where  there  are  certainly  no  tea  plantations,  the 
supply  of  tea  sent  to  ther  railway  station  for  delivery 
was  considerably  in  excess  of  that  received,  and  this 
occasioned  some  inquiry  as  to  the  origin  and 
manufacture  of  bogus  stuff  known  as  “ Caucasian 
tea.”  One  enterprising  merchant  of  Kutais  had 
applied  to  the  “ Caucasian  Society  of  Rural  Economy” 
to  give  him  their  enlightened  assistance  in  order  to 
procure  special  privileges  for  the  manufacture  of 
“Caucasian  tea,”  of  which  he  furnished  them  with 
samples.  The  chemical  analyst  of  the  society 
discovered,  however,  that  the  so-called  tea  was 
Boiling  more  than  the  leaves  of  the  wild  plant 
called  “brussnik”  (Vaccinium  acrostaphylos),  which 
grows  in  profusion  in  the  forests  round  Kutais,  and, 
in  fact,  over  the  greater  part  of  Russia.  The 
secret  of  the  preparation  of  the  leaves  proved 
to  be  very  simple,  consisting  merely  in  crumpl- 
ing them  in  the  hand,  or  treading  them  under 
the  naked  foot  into  a lump  of  “dirty  green 
material,”  which  was  afterwards  dried  in  the  sun, 
under  whose  heat  the  leaves  curled  and  shrivelled 
into  a resemblance  to  ordinary  tea.  An  infusion  was 
made,  but  the  taste  was  so  bitter  aDd  abominable 
that  nobody  could  be  found  to  drink  off  a cup. 
Consequently  the  society  refused  its  oountenanoo 
decisively  to  the  manufacture  of  Caucasion  tea — a 
step  which  did  not  prevent  the  inventor  from  pursu- 
ing his  happy  idea,  which  soon  found  imitators.  The 
extent  to  which  this  trade  has  grown  may  be  guessed 
(says  the  correspondent  of  the  Standard)  from  the 
fact  that  horn  one  property,  near  Kutais,  three 
thousand  poods  were  exported,  at  an  average  price 
of  six  roubles  a pood.  Considering  that  the  cheapest 
tea  on  ordinary  price  lists  is  one  rouble  fifty  copecks 
a pound,  or  fifty-six  roubles  a pood,  the  damage 
done  to  honest  dealers  by  those  who  by  the  “ Cauca- 
sian tea”  to  mix  with  their  stock  can  easily  be 
imagined.  The  beat  tea  in  St.  Petersburg  is  quoted 
at  four  roubles,  or  eight  shillings,  the  pound,  and 
that  generally  drunk  by  the  middle  classes  at  about 
five  shillings,  and  the  consumption  is  enormous. 
Tea  and  the  Bailway  Tariffs. — The  new  ideas 
of  the  railway  companies  on  the  suhjeot  of  freight 
generally,  or  tea  in  particular,  and  those  of  the  London 
Wholesale  Tea  , Dealers’  Association  on  the  same 
subject,  do  not  harmonise  at  all.  At  a meeting  of 
