320 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [Nov. 1 1902. 
inn; the name of Ceylon. It is to be hoped, too, 
that erelonf? there will be some proper accredited 
supervision at your Customs. It is the only sure 
safeguard. Possibly the Kegulatious here may be 
over-stringent, but not without cause. 
When the tariff was being debated the strongest 
argument used for the retention of some duty oa 
tea was not so much the need of it for revenue, 
bat that 
FREE SYDNEY 
had become a by-word as the dumping ground 
for all that was most abominable and dirty in the 
tea trade, the refuse being used for blending. 
It was argued that the 3(1 duty made such 
imports financially prohibitve here ; but predicted 
that the moment Melbourne became a free port it, 
too, would be flooded with the filth for blending. 
Today the Protectionist prophets are sirnply saying 
"I told you so." Fortunately for the consumer, 
the Board of Health has step|)ed in strongly. 
Some of the Firms, which have just happened 
to be dropped on, are well-known Houses considered 
beyond reproach, who must make the best stand 
they can against the Government. As one, in special, 
comes in du'ect contact with the public, I shall be 
able to let you know details and how matters go 
in a week or two. 
I was told yesterday that there are a lot of 
" Ceylons " among the condemned tea ! " Ceylon 
dusts, I suppose, you mean " J replied, which , no 
doubt, it is; but — quoted by the man interested in 
" Chinas or Indians " depend upon it — it is simply 
" Ceylons." In the meantime it is hard on the 
patient planter doubling his Cess, and striving with 
tooth and nail to get his product back to something 
of its good old footing, to have the reputation of bis 
teas' purity sullied by unscrupulous exporters. In 
fact, I think, it is shocking that he is not protected 
against such happenings. It is this sort of thing 
wiiich disheartens and disgusts those who are doing 
their best to push Ceylon Tea and watching with 
anxiety for a return of prosperity to the planters of 
LANKA. 
♦ 
TEA IN MELBOURNE. 
SAMPLES OP CUSTOMS ANALYSES, 
A Colombo mercliant has favoured us with the 
following :— 
(Copy.) 
Custom House, Melbourne, 18-12-01. 
To the Government Analyst, Melbourne. 
Sir, — I beg to hand you the accompanying sample 
of Tea marked as per margin, with the request that 
you will analyse the same and furnish a reply to the 
following questions, viz : — 
1. Is the sample really Tea ? Yes. 
2. la it exhausted Tei withiu the meaning of Act 
No. 6 of 101 or mixed with other substances or with 
exhausted Tea ? Yes, the total aah exceeds 8 per cent, 
3. la it fit for human food ? According to Customs 
Act 1901 Beg. Sec. 54 it is unfit for human use. — I have 
the honor to be, Sir, your obedient servant, 
(Signed) R. H. Dawson, pro Collector of Customs. 
(Copy) 
Commonwealth of Australia, Customs and Excise 
Office, Melbourne, .31—5—1902. 
To the Government Analyst, Melbourne. — I beg to 
hand you the accompanying sample of tea marked 
aa per margin, with the request that you well analyse 
the same and furnish replies to the following questions, 
viz :— 
■ X. la the sample wholly Tea? It is tea dust. 
..'2. la it exbausM Tea? No. 
3. Is it adulterated with spurious leaf or with 
exhausted leaves ? No. 
4. Is it uufit for human use ? According to Regu- 
lations 15, Section 54, it is. 
5. Is it unwholesome? No. 
6. Does the sample comply with Begnlition 15 
relating to Sub-section (e) of Section 54 of the Act ? No, 
7. Giveresul!; of analysis. —Total Aqueous Tea ex- 
tract, 421 per cent, j Total Ash, 8-79 j Soluble Ash, 
3-79. 
8. Is the tea in your opinion a '• prohibited im- 
port " within the meaning of the Customs Act and 
Regulations ? It does not comply with the regula- 
tions under the Customs Act, i.e., it contains more 
than 8 per cent, of Ash. 
(Signed)i C. R. Blackett, Government Analyst. 
AFRICAN OIL PALMS. 
We are surprised to learn that nothing is 
being done with the fruits of the West African 
Palms planted at Udagama a good many years 
back. One report on the palms is: — "They are still 
growing, they have attained to considerable size, 
but I do not think the nuts are of any value. 
The nut is smaller than a walnut, covered with a 
very tenacious fibrous husk like an areca. It 
seems to me to be of no value." 
This surprises us very much ; has any attempt 
been made to crush the nuts and extract the oil ? 
Let a native chekku-ralll be used, and the result 
reported. 
PLANTING NOTES. 
COHUNE Palm Nuts.— In British Honduras the 
Cohune Palm grows over a large extent of territory 
without any care or attention, and it having been 
ascertained tha^ the kernel yields a supply of first- 
class oil, it has been determined to place the nut 
on the market, provided a machine can be invented 
by means of which to crack the nut and so to secure 
the kernel uninjured and ready for the oil extrac- 
tor. The Agricultural Society of Belize has the 
matter in hand, and a barrel of Cohune nuts is 
now on the way to Mr Gurrie of the Imperial 
Institute, and he, we believe, will see to the placing 
of the sample before the trade. Mr Currie, we are 
informed, has reported that the value of the nuts 
is about £17 per ton. — Gardeners' Chronicle, 
Aug. 23. 
" Castilloa Er.ASTicA Rubber Dried m the 
Sun. — Senor Joaquin Jimenez, an extensive sugar 
and coffee planter of Tux tepee (Oaxaca), Mexico, 
is interested also in the cultivation of his India- 
Rubber, having planted up to date some 10,000 
trees, though, perhaps, this namber is not now 
standing. Kecently he permitted some of six and 
eight year old trees to be tapped by men sent 
to his place by a Vera Cruz trader, who extracted 
and cured about 700 pounds of rubber for which 
they paid 80 cents, Mexican, The trees tapped 
yielded an average of about one pound per tree. 
There are on the plantation half a dozen trees, 
planted fifteen or sixteen years ago, one of whicli 
is supposed to have yielded 11 pounds of rubber 
this season. The rubber here referred to was 
prepared without the addition of any coagulating 
agent, the latex having been poured over a coffee 
patio (drying floor) and dried in the su6,— 
India Bubher World, August I. 
