658 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST.  [April  i,  1893. 
paid  on  them.  This  is  a direct  discouragement  to 
the  development  of  the  trade  of  Colombo.  The 
duty  is  absolutely  indefensible.  Let  any  member 
of  Parliament  put  a question  to  the  Secretary  of 
State  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  an  order  to 
rescind  the  duty  would  be  sent  out  at  once.  Ceylon 
puts  a 6d.  duty  on  Indian  tea,  and  India  allows 
600,000  lb.  of  Ceylon  tea  yearly  to  find  its  way 
into  consumption  in  India  yearly  free  of  duty  ! 
The  anomaly  is  monstrous.” 
The  anomaly  certainly  does  seem  absurd,  and 
we  hope  that,  in  the  interest  both  of  the  Travancore 
planters  and  the  port  and  trade  of  Colombo,  steps 
will  soon  be  taken  either  to  abolish  the  import  duty 
—which  course  the  Observer  considers  the  Ceylon 
Government  will  certainly  adopt  when  memorialised 
by  the  planters  of  Travancore— or  to  allow  foreign 
teas  to  be  imported  and  taken  out  of  bond  for  pur- 
poses of  re-firiDg,  etc.,  under  the  conditions  men- 
tioned above.  The  Island  Government  is  not  acting 
with  that  generosity  towards  the  Travancore  planters 
which  the  nature  of  the  case  demands.  It  realises 
next  to  nothing  out  of  the  import  duty,  and  surely 
it  is  not  too  much  to  expect  that  some  provision 
might  be  made  against  the  adulteration,  in  the  island, 
of  Ceylon  teas.  We  hope,  therefore,  that  the  Tra- 
vancore planters  will  strongly  urge  upon  the  Ceylon 
Government  the  hardships  which  they  now  suffer 
owing  to  the  embargo  laid  upon  their  teas,  pointing 
out  the  vital  importance  to  Ceylon  of  the  cheap 
Indian  labour  supply  and  suggesting  the  need  for 
reciprocity  of  treatment  where  both  parties  may 
reap  so  much  advantage,  and  where  the  interests  of 
Cevlon  planters  are  not  likely  to  be  interfered  with. 
THE  INDIAN  TEA  TRADE. 
The  good  quality  of  the  crop,  says  n Oaloutta  Ex. 
change,  was  a characteristic  feature  of  the  season 
now  brought  to  a close.  Depressed  by  a low  range 
of  prices  obtained  for  a large  portion  of  the  orop  of 
the  previous  year,  growers  relinquished  their  original 
estimate  of  129  million  lb,  for  the  season,  and,  instead, 
set  themselves  to  produce  a crop  of  high-class  quality, 
which  was  Becured  with  a probable  out-turn  of  113 
million  lb.  tea.  This  is  6 million  lb.  less  than  the 
quantity  packed  during  the  previous  year,  and  marks 
a falling-off  in  the  production  of  Indian  tea  that  had 
not  ocourred  in  any  previous  year.  The  system  of 
pluoking  pursued  did  not  wholly  account  for  the  de. 
ficiency,  as  the  weather  both  in  Assam  and  Oachar 
and  the  Dooars  districts  waB  unseasonably  wet  dur- 
ing a portion  of  the  year,  growth  beiDg  thereby 
checked,  the  early  arrival  of  thecold  weather  abruptly 
termined  manufacture.  In  Upper  Assam  and  Cachar 
the  rainfall  was  about  40  per  cent,  greater  than  the 
previous  year,  with  a low  temperature,  and  floods 
occurred  in  the  Dooars.  Customs  returns  do  not  dis- 
close  any  deficiency  in  the  export  of  tea  from  this 
port  either  during  the  twelve  months  ended  31st  ultimo 
of  from  the  beginning  of  the  seascn  dating  from  1st 
Mav.  In  the  one  case  the  export  approaches  111  million 
lb  against  109  million  lb.  oleared  during  the  year  1891 
and  in  the  other  case  the  two  periods  correspond  with  an 
export  of  about  96  million  lb.  This  season’s  crop,  it  is 
believed,  has  come  more  quickly  to  market 
and  the  reduction  iD  supplies  will  become 
apparent  in  the  balance  of  the  crop  to  be  re- 
ceived duriog  the  first  quarter  of  the  new  year.  The 
imports  by  rail  during  the  past  three  months  show 
4 million  lb.  of  tea  in  excess  of  the  traffic  for  the  cor- 
responding months  a year  ago,  aDd  if  the  total  crop 
is  to  be  measured  by  113  million  lb.  the  balance  ob- 
tainable from  all  sources  after  31st  December  will  be 
only  12  million  lb.  compared  with  16  million  lb.  received 
last  year  Of  this  quantity  10G  million  lb.  may  be  avail- 
able for  export  to  the  United  Kingdom,  and  will  he  4 
million  lb.  short  of  the  export  of  season  1891.  A 
remarkable  falling  off  in  the  export  of  tea  to  Bombay 
has  taken  place,  amounting  to  no  less  than  3J  million 
lb  since  May  last.  The  offtake  for  Austialia  has 
been  reduced  by  t million  lb.  while  exports  to  America 
have  made  no  progress,  and  but  for  this  reduced  off- 
take by  Other  markets  the  quautity  available  for  export 
to  London  would  have  been  still  further  reduced. 
Ceylon  growth  has  entered  the  Bombay  market  to  the 
diisplacemtnt  of  the  Indian  product  at  very  low  prices 
and  it  is  fully  believed  that  the  experiment  has  not 
been  attended  with  financial  success  to  the  producer.1 
It  is  doubtful  if  the  demand  for  America  will  increase 
until  the  method  of  distribution  is  perfected,  and 
this  the  efforts  of  private  individuals,  following  the 
introduction  through  the  Chicago  Exhibition,  it  is  to  be 
hoped,  may  forward.  The  value  of  the  orop  of  1892 
disposed  of  at  public  auotion  in  this  market  approaches 
an  average  of  As.  8-9  per  lb.  for  upwards  of  426,000 
chests.  This  is  As.  2 per  lb  above  the  price  realised 
for  the  crops  of  the  two  preceding  seeeons  disposed 
of  iD  this  market  during  the  same  period.  On  the  whole 
the  trade  has  very  fairly  recognised  the  improvement  in 
the  quality  of  the  crop  through  the  better  prioes  paid. 
— Money  and  Trade. 
THE  SUPPLY  OF  IVORY. 
The  recent  investigations  into  the  probable  supply 
of  ivory  to  the  European  markets  do  not  support  the 
generally  supposed  fact  that  it  is  ODly  a question  of  an 
early  date  before  ivory  becomes  an  object  of  great 
cost.  In  the  Congo  district  these  investigations  show 
that  there  is  probably  enough  ivory  stored  amoDg  the 
native  chiefs,  within  reach  of  the  High  CoDgo,  to 
supply  the  whole  world  for  a century  to  come.  It 
is  further  estimated  that  in  Central  Africa  there  exists 
at  least  200,000  elephants.  The  stock  in  hand,  how- 
ever, does  not  depend  on  these  living  elephants;  for 
these  petty  kings  have  had  handed  down  from  their 
ancestors  large  piles  of  e'ephant  tusks,  which  have 
hern  6tored  for  trading  purposes.  This  is  known  as 
“ dead  ivory,”  aDd  is  carried  now  to  the  Congo  trade 
centres  on  the  shoulders  of  natives  for  long  distances, 
snob  as  250  miles.  The  average  tUBk  is  about  65  lb- 
weight,  and  forms  the  load  for  one  man  ; but  it  is 
not  unprecedented  for  single  tusks  to  weigh  as  mnoh 
as  200  lb.,  when  they  a*e  carried  by  four  men.  It  is 
interesting  toeee  them  coming  into  Matadi,  often  to  the 
uurnber  of  500  carriers  on  a day,  each  with  his  load 
of  ivory.  Some  of  this  ‘‘dead  ivory  ” was  grown  on 
elephans  killed  so  long  as  a hundred  years  ago,  and 
bas  lain  in  heaps  ever  since.  The  ohief  receives  and 
places  on  the  top  of  the  pile  each  tusk  of  “ live 
ivory  ” as  it  come6  in  to  him,  only  sendmg  for  trade 
the  bottom  tusks  of  the  heap,  although  “ live  ivory  ” 
realises  a better  price  than  the  “dead”  or  old  tusks. 
It  is  said  that  a few  months  ago  a State  officer  of  the 
Congo  visited,  with  an  expedition,  a native  king  in 
the  interior,  to  whom  on  leavitg  he  presented  a 
uniform  coat,  cocked  hat,  and  sword.  The  king  in 
return  presented  to  the  officer  150  tusks  of  ivory, 
averaging  220  lb.  each,  and  provided  carriers  to  take 
them  to  the  river.  So  familiar  are  the  natives  in 
these  regions  with  the  piles  of  ivory,  which  until 
recently  has  been  unmarketable  among  them,  that  they 
laugh  at  the  modern  European  who  desire  to  buy  tusks 
from  them.  Some  of  the  kings  have  had  stoobades 
of  ivory  tusks  built  round  their  dwellings.— Field, 
Jan.  28. 
The  Boom  in  Eucalyptus  Oil. — Tlie  Mel- 
bourne Argus,  describing  a reo6nt  visit  of  a party 
of  Victorian  legislators,  to  Mr.  Bosisto’s  distillery, 
states  that  the  season  is  a remarkably  favourable 
one  for  eucalyptus  oil.  During  the  previous  week 
142  gallons  had  been  distilled,  whioh  is  the  largest 
yield  yet  reaohed,  the  weekly  average  being  about 
10  gallons.  There-  are  about  6,000  aores  of  land 
on  which  the  mallee  is  oultivated,  by  rolling  down 
the  larger  growth  and  allowing  the  shoots  to  grow 
for  about  eighteen  months;  when  they  are  in  the 
best  oil-producing  condition.  The  produce  of  about 
1,000  aores  is  distilled  every  year.  About  fifty  men 
are  on  the  place  at  present,  but  twenty  are  about 
the  Regular  number, 
