248 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Oct. 1, 1902. 
If the species had been abundant, many more of 
the fresh arrivals would surely have been infected 
with the malarial parasite, with such a large num- 
ber of malarious cases open to the attacks of the 
mosquito. ♦ 
The native population is remarkably free from 
disease ; the Colonial surgeon informs me that 
malarial fever is not endemic in the villages round 
Diyatalawa camp, but it is frequently intioduced 
by the villas;ers who go on pilgrimages lo such 
malarious places as Tissamaharama and Wella- 
waya. He also states that the last quarter is the 
most unhealthy time of the year. Cholera is 
occasionally imported from the low country, and 
veneral diseases are not uncommon. 
A final word as regards supplies. The camp is 
about half a mile from the railway, from which 
supplies are sent into the camp by means of an 
aerial train. Wood in abundance is obtained from 
the neighbouring Government forests ; the water 
is good, and can be obtained in reasonable quan- 
tity even in the dry weather. Slaughter cattle 
and vegetables can be obtained to a certain extent 
locally. The country is suitable for mounted in- 
fantry, but fodder is scarce, even the grass which 
springs up after the periodical burning is very 
coarse and lacks nourishment ; it could be used for 
bedding, bat some method would have to be found 
to rid it of the ticks of which there are a great 
number. To buy up the paddyjfields and cultivate 
them with guinea grass (P. maxmium) or Manri- 
tius.grass (P. miiticum) would be a serious ques- 
tion. But a trial on an extensive scale on the hill 
sides should be made of Paspalum dilatatum, 
which grows well at Ootacamund and is a 
valuable grass for cattle. It is supposed by many 
to be of Ceylon origin and flourishes on any poor 
soil, provided it has plenty of water, and at a 
suitable elevation it will stand the extremes of 
heat and cold. It is thought very highly of by the 
farmers of Victoria and ISew South Wales. 
Ceylon, Aug. 31, 1901. 
• 1^ . 
PRODUCE AND PLANTING. 
The news received by cable from Simla that the 
Indian Government intend levying a cess on exported 
tea at the rate of one-fourth of a pie per pound 
should stimulate the work of pushing Indian tea iu 
foreign countries. The proceeds are estimated at 
three lakhs of rupees. Legislation will probably be 
undertaken in the winter. 
The Times has the following on the Indian tea cess : 
"The decision of the Government of India to levy 
a cess on exported tea at the rate of one-fourth of 
a pie per pound has been taken in response to a 
memorial presented to the Viceroy in the spring of the 
present year by planters representing no less than 78-28 
percent of the capital invested in the industry, and 
owing 409,000 of the 520,000 acres devoted thereto. 
The memorial asked that the cess might be limited 
to five years, and that the proceeds should bo devoted 
to promoting the consumption of Indian tea in India 
as well as in countries outside the United Kingdom, 
and otherwise in such manner as might bs determined 
by a committee of planters to be approved by 
Government. The estimated proceeds of the cess, 
three lakhs of rupees, are about equal to the receipts 
from a similar charge levied iu Ceylon on all ex- 
* In the month of August, with an average strength 
of 862, the average number of sick was twenty-seven, 
one-third of which v/ere venerial cases. These figures 
tend to shqw that the sickness in the regiment waa 
not duetto local conditions. 
ported tea* Owing to the excessive production in 
both countries in recent years, the supply to the 
United Kingdom has much exceeded the demand, 
and pi'ices have continued to fall. Hence th"? memo- 
rialists urged that tea growiog in India could only 
be continued on a remunerative basis by compre- 
hensive measures being taken to open new markets. 
A voluntary cess has been in operation for some time, 
but has only yielded about half the amount that will 
be obtained when statutory authority for the impost 
has been given. The memorial pointed out thi»t the 
proposal affected the tea industry alone, and ita 
adoption could have no adverse influence upon any 
other trade or industry or on the community in 
general." 
We reported in our issue of the 25th ult. Mr. Con- 
sul Playfairs' views on the decline of the Chinese 
tea trade, and Mr. J Scott, Acting Consul General at 
CANTON, 
writing about the methods of the Chinese, says :— 
" The once important and lucrative tea industry haa 
been almost ruined by Chinese apathy and neglect. 
The growers in the interior pay little or no attention 
to their plants, and do not trouble to renew the old 
bushes as thev become decayed. The leaf is picked 
anyhow and at any time as prices appear favourable, 
with the result that, carelessly handled and fired, the 
tea, on reaching the London market, ia frequently 
found affected or deficient in strength, body, and 
colour. It does not, therefore, come as a surprise 
to learn that the steady decrease in the tea trade haa 
continued during the past year. Thirty years ago 
Canton exported to Europe some 13,000,00Clb of black 
tea, and nearly 2,000,0001b. of green tea Today 
Canton export is represented by loss than 1,000,000 lb. 
consisting chiefly of Congou. The well-known scented 
capers for which Canton was famous, and of which 
some 7,000,000 lb. were exported in 1872, figure in the 
Castoms returns for 1901 at an export of 5,790 lb, only. 
These figures do not, however, give an accurate re- 
turn of the entire export, as many shipments are 
arranged in Hong Kong, to which port the tea is con- 
veyed by junk, and does not, therefore, pass through 
the hands of the Imperial Maritime Customs. The 
following figures, for which I am indebted to an actual 
dealer, provides a comparison in the trade in scented 
capers during the past three years : 1899, 4,900,000 lb; 
1900, 3,700,000 ; 1901, 3,000,000 lb. A further depressing 
feature is that the monthly returns of deliveries iu Lou- 
don also mark a decline which would lead one to suppose 
that Canton scented capers are rapidly going out of 
consumption. The season now under review cannot be 
said to have been a favourable one a.? regards quality ,nor 
was it remuner'ative either to foreign buyers or native 
sellers. Taken all round, the various crops during the 
season were of a fair average quality, but there was a 
considerable quantity of leaf left on the hands of 
natives from the previous season. This they had to 
work off by mixing it with the new season's leaf, • 
practice that doubt had a detrimental effect, and 
which would have been accentuated had not scent- 
ing flower been abnormally cheap and abundant, 
whereby it waa possible for the teas to ba scented 
above the average." 
The Japanese seem greatly interested in the 
American tea-growing experiments. Sinko Hatto, a 
Wealthy Japanese now residing in New York, haa 
been appointed by his Government to make a thorough 
study of tea growing conditions in South Carolina, 
Mr, ilatto says that his Government had been greatly 
interested in the published reports from the 
plantations in South Carolina and desired to got facts 
as gathered by a person'il reprasentativa. 
Coffee planters may well ask to be saved from the 
ingenious people who seek to produce adulterants to 
thtir product. In Austria they make a produc called 
coifee o£ figs, which is supposed to be appreciated io 
Germany and Austria-Hung.iry, Nutritive power it 
claimed for it. It ij obtained by drying fruit- 
especially figs— and mixing them with coffee. It acta 
