2^0 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Oct. 1, 1900. 
Indian tea as a much more satisfactory article than 
Ceylon tea and appreciate it accordingly, iis you 
can see from the iiifjher price which they have to 
pay for it. I think a gieat deal of nonsense is 
beinfr talUed and written about produein'.;- green 
teas and about the lack of nussionr>ries to open up 
foreign markets. Tiie onlinary trader is a mncli 
better missionary than any special commissioner, 
and I do not think tlie latter have ever achieved 
much wherever tii(;y iiave gone. They liave simply 
upset the ordinary distributive metliods, which to 
niy mind work in almos*-! an automatic manner, 
blenders" making use as they go along of the tea 
from which they can get the best value. This is 
how Indian and Ueylon teas have made progress 
i^radually in all black-tea-drinking countries, 
merely displacing China tea, but it is a totally 
different thing to displace green. 
Please note that I have not written this for 
publication over my own name, but you can make 
what use you like of the statements i give you, 
and I will accept responsibility for any of them. 
TEA IN TFJPOLf. 
Tripolitania. — Tea is now supplied liy England 
in very large quantities, most of which are re- 
exported to the interior of Africa. Formerly 
several Hamnurg lirms used to sell tea here also, 
but for some years past they have l\ad to with- 
draw from the market as they could not com- 
pete with English prices and conditions. The 
most current qualities are green teas ringing in 
price from 1.9U frs. to 2.20 frs, per kilo, c.a.f. 
Tripoli.— il/. Ernest Lnbi. Belrjiaii Consul at 
Iripoli.— British Trade Journal, Sept. 1st. 
PLANTING NOTES. 
Manganese Mining in Central India.— A 
Syndicate, with extensive Manganese ore rights, 
has, it is stated, approached the Bengal Nagpur 
Kail'.vay Company with a proposal for the con- 
nection of their workings by a 2ft. 6in. gauge 
mineral sluing to the Tharsa station, a distance of 
ten miles. In addition to the ore traffic, the pro- 
posed branch would serve the large pilgrim trallic 
toKanitek in the Central Provinces.— Pioner/', 
iSept. 15. 
The Passion Eruit.— A London horticultural 
journal states that shipments of passion fruit 
packed in the shredded bark of the lea tree have 
arrived in London in an excellent state of preser- 
vation. The same organ refeis to the great possi- 
bilities there are in shipping dried fruits from 
Australia, not only to England, but to other parts 
of the world. The dried fruits of Mildura have 
made a good impression, and demonstrated the 
possibility of a profitable trade being carried on, 
provided all the primary conditions of careful 
curing and packing are scrupulously and undevia- 
tingly fulfilled. — Indian Gardening andPhmting, 
Sept. 6. 
Gas Limb.— The usefulness of gas lime for land 
is becomiDg better known e^'ery year, and the pro- 
per time to apply it is directly the com crops are 
carted home. But it must not, says a contempcrary, 
be put on " seed " fields, because if applied fresh 
and in quantity, it kills all vegetable ^ life. Albeit 
when it has lost its sulphur which it does in _ a 
few months, it is no longer injurious to plant life, 
but succors it, and acts as a poteut fertiliser. _ It acts 
most usefully when fresh in killing all kinds of 
creature pests in the soil, which are very destruc- 
tive to crops in many fields. Tipnla grubs, slugs, 
and wiro-wornis are the worst pests, but gas lime 
kills them when applied properly— that is, in suffi. 
pient cjiuantity and ijuitefresh,— /ournai o/jHorttcw^^Mrf, 
Egg Presf.RVINg in Westkalia.— The Depart- 
ment of Agriculture intends to have a tliorongh 
test made of the various modes of preserv- 
ing eggs, and for this purpose a large stock of 
eggs will be obtained anil treated with diflorent 
preparations at the Uovern men t refrigerating works. 
The eggs will not be tested until the next Pro- 
ducers' iloniQxence. — Westvalian paper, Sept. 5. 
Flower Fahmi.ng in ihe United States.— There 
were in the United States last year no fewer than 
9,000 farms on which flowers for cutting were grown 
unOer glass for sale, the total areas actually under 
glass aggregating 22,500,000 square feet. The De- 
partment of Agriculture at Washington estimates 
that the retail value of the cut flowers sold from 
these flower farms annually is no less than £2,500,000 
apportioned as follows :-- 
Number of 
Value 
Total 
cut 
per 
value 
flowers 
100 
£ 
Rosea 
100,000,000 
24s 
1,200,000 
Carnations . . 
100,000,000 
16s 
800,000 
Violets 
75,0(10,000 
•Is 
]ro,coo 
Chrysanthemums 
100,000 
Miscellaneous flowers, 
Lilies, &c. 
250,000 
Total 
£2,500,000 
lu addition to this it is further estimated that 
the retail value of the plants sold from these flower 
farms is £2,000,000, and the number about 100,000,000, 
The total retail valoe of the annual output is thus 
£4,500,000 or just 43 for each square foot of glass. 
On the average one man is required for every 1,500 
feet of glasF, making 1^,000 employed in the in- 
dustry in all. The State of New York comes first 
in connection with this industry, having 4,5C0,iiOO 
square feet of glass ; Illinois is .second with 4,250-0 0 
square feet ; and Pennsylvania third, with 4,000,0ii0 
square feet. The amount of capital invested in the 
industry over the entire country is over £2, 25'), 000 
and it is estimated that this sum is actually re- 
ceived by the growers each year for the plants 
and flowers sold.— /oMrreaZ 0/ fforticnltwe. 
The Consolidated Tea and Lands Coy., 
Ld., has a good deal of tea and coconuts 
in Ceylon, and in every sense the pro- 
ceedings at the annual meeting is of 
local interest. Sir John Muir's speech 
deserves attention : he strongly condemns 
the Indian Goverumetit for its " rupee" policy 
and rightly enough shows the advantage 
gained by China and Japan ; but to be 
ciuite frank Sir John should have added that 
the higher rupee put an end to his own 
policy of further large planting extensions, 
and that this stoppage was greatly 
to the benefit of the tea industry, generally. 
It appears that the Directors and Agents are 
to always make up any balance required for 
a 7 per cent dividend out of their fees and 
commissions. This time they give tip half, 
showing that the total fixed for Directors 
and Agents in Calcutta, Colombo and Lon- 
don is under £7,000 per annum or the 
equivalent of about 5s per planted acre. Sir 
John rightly takes credit for the Company's 
holding anci further planting of cinchona 
in Southern India— and why not in Ceylon, 
as well as coconuts ? Altogether this Com- 
pany is a very large and important one and 
it will be seen that it tries to push Indian 
and Ceylou teas ui Amexica on its oyvfl 
account, 
