194 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
[Sept. 1, 1900. 
The worst feature has been the increasing tendency of 
prices downwariie, with juat this plain fact that we 
have at times more work for a less turnover, with of 
course diminished margins becoming beauiifi.Uy less, 
until in many cases they almost entirely disappear. 
The public are certainly getting the best of it, for 
neither the grocers' nor the wholesalers' profits on tea 
are what they were some years ago. Naturally we ex- 
pect to do a shade better out of medium and flue goods, 
bnt with dwindling proportions of this kind the posi- 
tion becomes more difficult from a profit-making point 
of view. To show how fine our trade is cut I may state 
that a single eiglith of a penny more per lb all round 
would go a long way towards paying a handsome 
dividend on our sharSs. As an example take the teas 
we are selling today at Is, Is Id, and Is 2J, duty and 
carriage paid. It often happens that there is barely a 
half-penny per pound between the cost at the docks, to 
which duty has to be added, and the price at which the 
stuff is sold duty and carriage paid to all parts. When 
you remember that rent, rates, wages, &c., have to be 
paid, and when a large and increasing proportion of 
the output is in stuff on which a gross margin of about 
per lb- only is obtainable, with a decreasing pro- 
portion of such grades as might yield us a gross profit, 
say, of id to Id per lb, you may realise why our 
margin for division today is so much smaller than 
hitherto," 
Vekezhelan Cocoa. — The British Consul at Caracas 
states that as the prices of cocoa are at present very 
good it has caused agriculturists to continue extending 
their plantations, and it is thought that in a short time 
cocoa will take an equal place with coffee in importance 
as an article of export. A proof of this is that, not- 
withstanding the many drawbacks to agriculture, the 
amount of cocoa exported in 1899 showed an increase. 
—Home <C Colonial Mail, August 17th. 
THE TEA PLANTERS OF ASSAM .AND 
THEIR AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTS : 
THE GREAT QUESTION :— HOAT TO MAKE 
TEA PAY ! 
The Indian Planters' Gazette, of August 
18th, tells us that,— 
Mr. H Mann, b.sc, f.i.c, Agricultural Chemist, 
who has been appointed Scientific Officer for the 
tea districts, has made a short preliminary trip 
to Assam, Cachar, and Sylhet, in order to get 
some idea of the districts and of his line of 
work. He is now touring through Darjeeling, 
the Terai, and the Dooars. As the result of his 
visit to the tea districts in the Assam Valley, 
Mr. Mann has suggested to the Calcutta Com- 
mittee that he should devote attention in the 
near future to an extended investigation of 
typical soils from each of the Assam districts, 
to a study of " Blister Blight," of " Thread 
Blight," and possibly also of " Bed Rust," and 
to an attempt to discover methods for placing 
the so-called "fermentation" of a tea under 
better control. 
The study of blights and of soils is of im- 
portance and of scientific interest, but what 
planters and all interested in non -paying gardens 
want to know is, — How can tea be made to pay ? 
Why cannot tea of tgood quality be made the 
season through ? It is an established fact that 
at certain periods teas of excellent quality are 
manufactured, which, do what we will, we can- 
not turn out at any other times d\iring the season. 
Why is this ? There must be some reason for 
this phenomenon. What we want to know is 
how to make good quality teas, the season 
through from start to finish. A knowledge of the 
life history, etc., of blights will not help us. A 
study of the chemical process of oxidation, or so- 
called fermentation, would lead to nioi'e valua- 
ble infoiniation in the direction indicated. If Mr. 
^ann will cliBcover the reasons for our ngt uni- 
formly obtaining the, so much to be desired and 
coveted, bright, new copper colour to our rolled 
leaf, he will indeed have performed a signal 
service to planters. We want to know to what 
this colour is due, and how we can always obtain 
it throughout the season. Tea with infused leaf 
of this colour is bound to be good. Why cannot 
we always obtain it ? There must be reasons, — 
what are they ? 

REMOTENESS OF THE RUBBER COUNTRY. 
Writing of a trip up the Amazon, by steamer, 
to Manaos, Frank Leslie Rockwood, in the Lewis- 
ton (Me.) Journal, mentions meetina' another 
steamer which " had been away from Para for 
one year, up one of these unexplored rivers, and 
had not been heard from. There ^^ ere rumors 
that the Indians had got her, but here she was, 
loaded with rubber, and full of w ild, half naked 
passengers, just returning from a successful trip. 
'They could tell experiences that would seem im- 
probable in the present day, but this great Amazon 
river and its branches will not be explored for 
fifty years yet, as some fighting has to be done 
to see it all." It is not strange, in view of the 
assertions made by this correspondent, that the 
English sliareholders in Amazon shipping lines 
do not get larger dividends. He mentions a pro- 
fitable local trade along the river, all the profits 
of which are pocketed by the officers of the 
steamers, " who get rich out of it." It is such 
conditions as are here suggested that have the 
most important bearing upon making rubber an 
expensive commodity.— 'The iJirZfVt Rubber World, 
August 1st. 
PLANTING NOTES. 
A Camphor Tip.— The Evening News is advis- 
ing its readers who aie putting away their 
clothes to boy what camphor they ncetl at once, 
as events in the Far East are likely to lead to 
much higher prices. The information, however, 
is a trifle late, and is only another instance of 
where the irresponsible adviser shows his incor- 
rect knowledge. 
Protecting Young Trees. — To protect young trees 
from ants and borers it is recommended to wrap the 
tumps with tarred paper. Dig away the earth so 
that the tarred paper may be put well below the Eur- 
face. Fold the paper about the truck and tie tightly 
round the middle and bottom. This prevents the 
entrance of insects to lay eggs under the bark. When 
the paper is in place put back the earth above it, 
and tie the top of the paper closely to the tree. — Jour- 
nal of the Jamaica Agricultural Society. 
The Value of Nuts.— It is said that the 
Nut trees of the world alone could, if necessity 
arose, provide food all the year round for a total 
populati'^u three times greater than the present. 
It has been pointed out to the Washington De- 
partment of Agriculture that Brazil Nuts around 
Para grow in such profusion that thousands of 
tons of them are wasted every year ; with Coco- 
nuts it is the same in many centres. — Journal 
of Horticulture, August 16th. 
Coffee Crop Situation.— The Brazilians have 
furnished four crops troin July 1, 1S96, to June 
3 ',1900, averaging 9, 200, i 00 baf;s, against the 
four previous crops, averaging 6,000,000 bags. 
Production for four years has so largely over- 
taken consumption and the visible and invisible 
supplies are so heavy everywhere that in order 
to obtain and .'eciue liigber values there must be 
something in the way of a crop failure, and it is 
by no means a question of eight or nine or to 10 
million bags.— So say Mes.«is. AV H CkossmaN ^ 
Bko, of New York, 
