686 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [April 1, 1901 
our rivals ; and the great bulk of our tea is 
now produced within the limits of the Empire. 
The following fif,'ures are j'regnant with supjges- 
tion for the Chancellor of the Exchequer. They 
represent our iinports in cwis. of tea and .sugar 
in 1899 :— 
From British Prom foreign 
Importations of Empire coiintrie.s. 
Cwt. Cwt, 
Tea .. .. 2,188,000 .. 391,102 
Sugar .. .. 1,582,337 .. 29,348,553 
In other words, while 84 per cent, of our tea 
is produced by fellow subjects beyond the seas, 94 
per cent, of our sugar is sent us by commercial 
rivals aided by State bounties. 
With apologies for trespassing on your space, We 
are, Sir, your obedient servants, 
D Ckuickshank, a Bryans, Vice-Chairmen, 
the Indian Tea Association, London. Ernest Tye, 
Secretary. 
Indian Tea Association, 
14, St. Mary Axe, London, February 21- 
RESTKICTION OF OUTPUT. 
(To the Editor of the Home and Colonial Mail.) 
Dear Sir, — The telegrams, of which copies are 
enclosed, may be of interest to your readers. 
The planters' resolution referred to, passed at the 
annual meeting of the Planters' Association on 
the 16th inst,, was in favour ot restricting the 
output of black tea by reducing the plucking 
area by 10 per cent., and by the manufacture of 
green tea, — Yours faithfully, 
Wm. Martin Leake, 
Secretary, Ceylon Association in London. 
The following telegrams have been received from 
Ceylon by the Ceylon Association in London : — 
Kandy, February 18th. Ceylon taking steps to 
reduce 10 per cent, acreage." "Colombo, Feb- 
ruary 20Lh, Kosling (Chairman Planters' Associa- 
tion) is very anxious to have the planters' reso- 
lution carried out. Colombo agents are waiting 
instructions from principals. Steps must be taken 
immediately. A=;certain at once and telegraph." 
—H and C Mail, Feb. 22. 
THE DEADLY MOSQUITO. 
CHILDREN DIE WHOLESALE IN LAGOS. 
Lagos, Jan. 28. — The arrival in Lagos of 
the Governor, Sir William MacGregor, who 
was originally a doctor in Fiji, has been fol- 
lowed by a noticeable impetus in medical 
affairs, jiist as the rule of Governor McCallum, 
an engineer, did much for the public works. 
The present Governor is credited with the 
determination to wage ceaseless war on 
the dreaded mosquito, convicted of being a 
malaria propagandist. Au excellent hospital 
has been maintained here, and it has been 
said with grim hutnour that a man in Lagos 
dies luxuriously in comparison with some 
ports less advanced. The advice to a new- 
comer of the old coaster at one port : " Keep 
fi'iendly with the Wesleyans, they have a 
hearse," is quite unnecessary here ; and cer- 
tainly the death-rate during the last year 
or two shows signs of marked improvement 
— as regards the white comnnmity. The 
children, however, are not so fortunate. 
Nearly half the negro children born here die 
before reachhig twelve months. According 
to the latest returns available— those for 1899— 
out of 1,929 births registered 864 children 
died within their first year, a death-rate of 
447 "9 per thousand, or nearly one half. 
It is supposed that this dreadful mortality 
is caused by malaria. Every child born has 
to pass through the ordeal of acclimatisation — 
at least, the blood of those examined has 
revealed the presence m large numbers of the 
malarial parasites. To thoroughly sift a 
question so vital to the population of the 
Colony, a Commission has been formed, 
consisting of one European doctor, one native 
doctor, and a lay member, to inquire into 
the probable causes and cure of this mortal- 
ity. If the inquiry shows this to be due to 
malaria, then it is probable that the com- 
pulsory administration of quinine among the 
native children, in conjunction with other 
measures in view for the destruction of the 
breeding places ot the anopheles mosquito, 
may do much to save many infant lives. — 
Daily Express, Feb. 19. 
Talue of Bees.— a scientist estimates that 
bees in an ordinary colony will visit 2,000,000 
flowers in a day or 200,000,000 in a season. If 
fchey fertilize one-tenth this number, and the fer- 
tilization of 20,000 workers is 'worth Ic, then a 
single colony is worth $10 a year tor this pur- 
pose alone. — American Agriculturist. 
Coconut Oil.— We are much obliged to 
the mercantile correspondent who throws so 
much light on the trade in, and distribution 
of, one of our most important staples, in the 
letter we give elsewhere. The fact that 
America has been buying coconut oil in the 
London market last year, shows how difficult 
it is to arrive at exact conclusions as to distri- 
bution. 
Cocoa. — The consumption of cocoa is steadily going 
ahead. Germany heads the list of cDnsumers, taking 
391 million lb. in only eleven months, whilst the 
United States come next with an estimated con- 
sumption in twelve months of 39 million lb., and 
the United Kingdom is third with 38 million lb. ; 
then comes Prance (34§ millions), Holland (24 mil- 
lions)j Belgium, Spain, and Austria. Russia, who, 
with its 94 millions of population in Europe alone, 
her cold climate, and large army, might be looked 
on as a likely customer for cocoa and chocolate, 
eTidently is not so, for her name does not appear 
in a recently published list at all. The total 
quantity consumed by the countries mentioned 
amounted to 194 million lb. last year, against 107 
millions in 1894. — Home & Colonial Mail, Feb. 22nd. 
Coffee. — There is no doubt the cost of produc- 
tion [of coffee] is constantly changing in all 
countries. What the real cost of production is, 
and what will check increase of production 
of coffee, nobody has so far been able to de- 
termine in a satisfactory way, and as produc- 
tion is still increasing, not decreasing, all talk 
from coffee-growing countries everywhere in re- 
ference to the haraships of present prices may be 
dismissed from the minds ot coffee people. It is 
apparent that the coffee world at large continues 
very nervous, and at the slighest improvement, 
due to any cause, no matter how slight, specu- 
lators are for ever claiming or clamouring for 
higher values under the misconception that minor 
causes can materially alter conditions. — W, H. 
Grossman & Bros\ Circular. 
