Oct. 1, 1902,] THE TKOPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
253 
to a '•floating nursery." One of these latter may 
be seen, stocked with babies, in the watercourse. 
The youngsters are fed four times a day with 
finely £;raled liver, and in about a month's time 
will be transferred to one of tlie ponds. 
Ainoiis; the otiier patterns of '• hatching-boxes " 
exhibited are those from Seorton (Lancashire) and 
from Dumfries, N.B. In both of these patterns 
the eogs are accommodated on f^lass grills. Ic the 
boxeslrom the Dee Fishery, and from the Surrey 
Trout Farm, the trays are of peforated zinc. Both 
have partitions in the lower parts of the box for 
even distribution of the water. In the Midland 
Fishery box the trays rest on wires, and oscillate, 
for the purpose of shaking out the silt, to a touch 
of the hand. America is represented by boxes 
from Uraig Nook on the Atlantic, and Battle Creek 
on the Pacific side. 
Of the different forms of apparatus shown, it may 
briefly be said that all are equally efficient in skil- 
ful hands. The palm must, therefore, go to the 
kind that best combines economy of construe tion 
with simplicity of management. On tlsis account 
little difficulty will perhaps be felt in selecting 
the Sandfort pattern. 
In India there is no possibility of establishing a 
Salmon Fishery. rrout-farniing, however, is a 
most profitable ind-istry, and we hope to see it in 
time firmly established in Kashmir, where the 
authorities, the climate, and the natural features 
of tlie country and mountain streams are favoura- 
ble to the venture. In Germany it lias proved 
capable of acclimatization ; and we trust that the 
results of recent importation of ova to the East 
will be such as to encourage private enterprise in 
the future, if not State ; for the public inijiortance 
of such fisheries is now well enough understood all 
over the civilized world, audits prospective value 
to Kashmir and other favourable localities in, or 
bordering on, our Indian Empire cannot be over- 
estimated.— /Hciirt^i Field, Aug. 21 
CHINESE TEA. 
To the Editor oj the " Home and Colonial Mail.'' 
Sir, — I noticed a paragrapli in your issue of last 
week in which yon commented on the repoi-t that 
there was a large demand for China tea in the tea- 
room of the House of C9mmon.=f, which you supposed 
was an indication of the spread of the Imperialist 
idea. Has it oocnrred to yoa, Sir, in reidioe; the 
reports of the vai-ious Consuls in China, that it might 
easily be believed, if one judfjod by these reports alone, 
that Ohinii wag a portion of the British Empire ? It 
is quite necessary that the British Consuls at the 
Treaty Ports should record facts about the tea trade, 
but it seems strange to find them actually pointing 
o.nt the excelleaoe of Chinese tea, and depiooiating 
Indian and Ceylon tea. I have frequently noticed 
that in these Consular reports it is assumed that the 
falling-off of the trsde in China tea is a circumstance 
to be deplored. This may be. for aught I know, per- 
fectly legitimate on the part of a Consul at a Chinese 
ortj but when we consider that British-grown tea 
as taken the place of China tea in most of the 
markets of the world, there should be nothing very 
depressing in the fact to a Britisli subject, even if 
he be a Consul in China. 
The British Consul at Fu-Chau in his last report, 
which has been printed in several of the leading liome 
journals, describes the tea trade of China as a vanish- 
ing indngtcy, and attributes the decline to the Indian 
and Ceylon competition, and to the obstinacy of the 
Chinese tea grower, who refuses to reform his method, 
as well as to excessive export duty as regards the 
neglect of the grower to use due care in the mani- 
pulation of the leaf when growing and being picked, 
as well as in the preparation for export. The 
Consul says: "The means of ensuring this hag 
been repe;itsdly indicated to him and put withio 
his teach, but with no result. He has been in turns 
implored, scolded, and lectured, but all to no purpose. 
Some years ago a crcular was issued by Sir Robert 
Hart, warning tea growers that, owing to the superior 
metho ls prevailing in India, the trade was slipping 
away from China. It was recognised by Europeans in- 
terested that the progress made by India and Ceylon 
had been secured by the substitution of machinery for 
hand labour. Machinery was accordingly imported. 
While Formosa was still Chinese the Governor im- 
ported into the north of the island, not only the machi- 
nery considered desirable, but ev2n an expert from 
Assam. But neiiher in Formosa nor in Fu-Chau have 
tho56 devices proved of any avail. Next there is the 
change v/hioh has come over the public taste in Europe. 
When Assam and Ceylon entered into the competition 
with China it was soon apparent that the liking for their 
products was increasing rapidly, and China tea was in 
no long time hopelessly distanced." 
Now there is nothing to complain of here, but note 
what follows. " It is likely that, as regards delicacy of 
flavour and aroma, the teas of China are still assured of 
the suffrages of the cultivated few. Teas from the 
nearer East are admittedly coarser of taste and contain 
a larger percentage of tannin, on which account they are 
condemned by medical men as prejudicial to digestion. 
But they make an attractively dark brew and are econo- 
mical. Thirdly, the trade in Indian and Ceylon teaa 
has been fostered by judicious and persistent advertis- 
ing, to which the Chinese merchants will not resort. 
Lastly, the trade is crushed by an excessive export duty," 
The Chinese tea growers, if they do not advertise, as 
the Consul points out, are at least fortunete in the fact 
that they practically receive free advertisements of 
the excellence of their tea from the officials of a 
country whose sons are actually competing with 
them in the growing of the product, and who have 
to trust to their own enterprise in the competition for 
the tea markets of the world. — I am, Sir, yours, &c., 
An Inquiring Planter. 
— R and 0 31ail, Aug, 8. 
^ 
PLANTING NOTES. 
The Once Important and Lucrative 
Chinese Tea Industry— (writes the British 
Coiisiil-General at Canton) has been almost 
ruined by Chinese apathy and neglect. The 
growers in the interior pay little or no atten- 
tion to their plants, and do not trouble to 
renew the old bushes as they 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, is frequently 
found affected or deficient in strength, body, 
and colour. Thirty years ago Canton exported 
to Europe some 13 million pounds of black tea 
and nearly two million pounds of green tea. 
Last year's export was less than one million 
pounds, consisting chiefly of Congou. The 
monthly returns of deliveries in London also 
mark a decline, which would lead one to 
suppose that the well-known scented capers 
for which Canton was famous are rapidly 
going out of consumption. The recent deci- 
sion of the Chinese Government to lower the 
export duty on tea to 5 per cent ad calcrein 
may have some beneficial effect upon the 
trade, and will enable low-priced Chinese teas 
to compete more favourably with those of 
India and Ceylon, 
