March 1, 1901.1 THE TKOPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
629 
Tea Lead. — Severe complaiuts reached the Com- 
mittee last October with regard to the inferior tea 
lead being largely used in pacisages offered for local 
Bale. The interests of trade were finally protected 
by a new Eule passed at a Special General IM^eetiug 
held on the 16th November last, pcoviding that all 
teas iu packages weighing gross over 28 lb. and 
packed in lead under 4 oz. shall ba so declared by the 
Selling Broker before selling. This rule came into 
force on the 1st January. 
Tea Sales. — Some confusion having arisen on one 
occasion through the sale having taken place at 
10- 30 a m. instead of 11-30, without apparently the 
knowledge of the entire trade, your Committee re- 
commended that iu future it bhall be understood 
that tea sales tire held on each Wednesday at 
11- 30 a.m. except the first sale after a Tea Trade 
Holiday, when the time shall be 10-30 a.m. This 
is now recognized as a custom of the Trade. 
Australian Freight. — Much dissatisfaction has 
been felt for a long time amongst Buyers at the 
scarcity of tea freight to Australian Ports, and this 
was intensified by the subsequent raising of freights 
by all mail steamship lines from B,40 to BoO per 
shipping ton. A Special Sub-Committee was ap- 
pointed to report upon the subject, and its recom- 
mendations were forwarded to the local Agents of 
the mail steamship lines. Your Commitaee regret 
to^ state that no relief has so far been afforded to 
shippers, though the arrival of a few outside 
steamers quoting R40 per shipping ton is a satis- 
factory feature. 
Green Teas. — The unsatisfactory state of the black 
tea market together with the bonus offered to 
makers of Green teas has caused a very consider- 
able growth in the offerings of these kinds. In order 
to prevent ^the bonus fostering the making of in- 
ferior teas, a Special Committee was appointed by 
the "Thirty Committee" under the auspices of 
your Association to arrange a standard of quality 
below which no tea would be entitled to receive the 
special bonus. A standard was agreed to and the 
grant is to paid ont any teas uot;passed. 
Inferior Teas. — Several complaiuts of shipments 
of inferior tea both to London and Australia have re- 
ached your Committee during the past year, and 
attempts have been made to trace them to their 
original shippers, and through them to the estates, 
the chief offenders, but so far without success. 
The total exports for the year were, as per Chamber 
of Commerce Returns : — 
1900. 1899. 
United Kingdom . . 113,760,193 103,948,124 
Australia .. 17,606,912 15,606,833 
Eussia .. 8,917,185 3,949.740 
America .. 3,980,680 3,080,002 
Other Countries . . 4,166,669 3,309,457 
The number of members belonging to the Asso- 
ciation is 42, against 43 in the previous year. 
The accounts for the past year made up to 3l8 
December, 1900, and submitted to you shew a credi 
balance oi Kl,387-61 
Totals 
148,431,639 129,894,166 
Totals for 1898 and 1897 :— 
1898 . . 119,769,071 
1897 . . 116,054,567 
The following figures show the quantity offered 
locally in public sale for the last four years, with 
the average price obtained for complete invoices sold: — 
lb. Average 
1897 .. 33,886,809 37' 
1898 .. 35,958,819 35 
1899 ... 38,377,318 38 
1900 .. 47,681,826 34 
The following is the Committee for 1900 :— 
THE CHAIRMAN OP THE CHAMBEB OF COMMERCE. 
Buyers. — Messrs. Tarrant, Henderson and Company, 
Messrs. Finlay Muir and Company. Mr. F F Street, 
S J Tokmakoff. 
Sellers. — Messrs, Whittall and Company, Bosan- 
quet and Company, J M Eobertaou and Company. 
Qqo. Steuart and Company. 
PLANTING NOTES. 
RuBBKB-PLANTiNG lias goiie ahead in the 
Kalutara district during the past year, and 
much of certain tea plantations has been 
covered with it. Enemies abound, however, 
in cattle and especially porcupines, for which 
as much reward as R5 a head is offered. 
Introduction of Trout into Kashmir. 
— A very interesting account of the one 
experiment made so far, to introduce trout 
into Kaslivnir, is given in. a recent issue of 
the Pioneer. The preparations were wonder- 
fully elaborate and complete ; but as 
usual the fault lay at the other end, 
and the recent attempt failed. 
British Central Africa.—" H.B." sends 
us another useful and chatty letter on the 
subject of life and prospects in British 
Central]Africa, He is certainly able to present 
us with several names and residential terms 
which stand to the credit of the white popu- 
lation there, but in contrast with this we 
have a comparatively large obituarj'- list, 
for a brief period, in a paragraph quoted else- 
where from a Central African paper. Never- 
thelers it is plain that the country has a 
future before it and that as the land 
becomes opened up — we hope by the way, 
to see a B.C. A. railway sanctioned before long 
— the life of the white man in this fertile 
territory will be rendered more popular for 
intending colonists by increased comfort and 
safety in its conditions. 
Coffee without Caffeine.— At the la^* 
meeting of the Paris Academy of Sciences an inter- 
eating paper was read by M. Duclauxon" The 
Chemical Composition of a Coffee of tlie Grande 
Coniore," the results of experin:ents by M. Gabriel 
Bertrand, of the Pasteur Institute. It appears 
that this coffee grows in a wild state in an island 
off the coast of Africa, where it was found by the 
explorer Humboldt, and is signalised on account of 
of tiie peauliar fact that it does not contain the 
slighcest trace of caffeine, to which ordinaiy coffee 
owes its excitant properties. One quality of thia 
coffee is, therefore, that it can be taken as an after- 
dinner beverage at night without any fear of ia 
insomnia. Referring to it from a scientic point 
of view, Mr, Bertrand drew attention to tbe fact 
that well-known Botanists, such as Professor 
Frojhner of Berlin, and Professor Baillon of Paris, 
have not been able to agree as to the specific 
nature of this coffee. The French Botanist holds 
that it belongs simply to the same species as ordi- 
nary coffee, Cojfea Arabica, while his German 
colleague treats it as a new sjjccies, and gives it 
the name of Coffee Humboldtiana. As a matter of 
fact, the botanical characteristics are practically 
identical with ordinary coffee, but there is a dis- 
tinct difference in the chemical composition. Thia 
is not apparently due to any difference of soil or 
climate, as an analysis of Coffee Arabica culti- 
vated on the Island shows it to contain 13 gram- 
mes of caffeine per kilo. M. Bertrand is of opinion 
that the subject opens a new field of study to bip« 
iogists,— Chemist and Druggist, Feb. 2. 
