392 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTUEIST. [Dec. 1, 1902. 
the voices rise higher, and fclie weeds are spitted 
with feverish energy as tlie song describes the 
doings of the old chieftaiij? who held the moun- 
taia peaks, and took all they wanted from the 
people of tlie plains ; and the drummer in rear of 
the line dances to and fro, beating with frantic 
gesture wherever the line falls behind, and the 
wave of song passing along the line keeps every- 
one working with demoniacal energy, while the 
fre(iueut passing clouds leave everything dripping 
with water. 
The field appears a quagmire, but from the 
steep slope and frequent rain the cultural 
result is satisfactory, and from a distance the 
effect of the rude music, re-echoed froai moun- 
fcain and glen, is plaintive and weird as the 
notes rise and fall in gentle cadence, or scream 
with fierce joy of battle as the workers emulate 
the deeds of heroes on the hapless vveeds. 
Early in the afternoon the workers return to 
the house of their host, a bedraggled and worn- 
out crew, who have done as much work in six 
hours as is usually done in twenty ; they leisurely 
eat another meal, learn whose field is to be done 
tomorrow, and by sunset retire to their own homes, 
to repeat the orgie of labour daily while the 
weeding season la^ts. G. Marshall Woodrow- 
— Gardeners' Choronicle, Aug. 23. 
THE TEA CASES (CUSTOMS) IN 
. : AUSTRALIA. 
THE LEADING JOURNAL UPON THE CASE. 
The Melbourne Argus of 19th September con- 
tains the following editorial on the above subject : 
— The decision given yesterday in one of the tea 
prosecutions instituted by the Minister of Customs 
affords another illuminating example of Mr King- 
ston's methods, Parliamentary and Departmental. 
Under the Commonwealth Customs Act certain 
regulations created a special standard for tea and 
special tests of which Great Britain and America 
know nothing. These regulations came into force 
in November. In ignorance of their existence, 
'shippers at the Indian and Ceylon ports sent to 
.Australia, teas which would have been accepted 
|in other parts of the world, but which failed to 
'quite satisfy one tesi of the several imposed by 
regulation. The ash, which should not exceed 
8 per cent, was found to be 8.5 per cent. In 
other respects the consignment more than 
satisfied the artificial standard set up here. The 
aqueous tea extract was said to be more than 26 
per cent, above requirements, and the soluble ash 
also was considerably over the stipulated per- 
centage. In short, the tea was a thoroughly 
good and sound commodity, which in a detail fell 
short of the new technical requirements. Mr 
Blackett, the Government analyst, called by the 
prosecution, was fain to admit that "he believed 
the tea was perfectly wholesome, and, apart from 
the regulations, was fit for use." On the strength 
of this evidence, the Court, which has power to 
fine up to £100 for adulteration detrimental to 
the public health, declared that the minimum 
penalty of £5 would meet the case. This is the 
view a court of justice takes of an affair which 
Mr Kingston represented in the House a few 
weeks ago filled him with virtuous indignation 
and convinced him that he must do his duty or 
submit to the brand of cowardice. 
Truly this Minister's ideas upon courage and 
veracity would form a stranger subject of analysis 
•than any of the goods imported by. the reputable 
firms whom he seeks to stigmatise for unfair 
dealing, If words have any meaning, his language 
when challenged by Sir Malcolm M'Eacharn on 
this very point conveyed that he was fearlessly 
exposing and punishing men who attempted fraud 
and injury upon the public. He spoke of ''those 
who would palm off Indian mud and charge for 
it;" of "old and decayed leaves, nauseous to 
taste and without aroma ; " of "exhausted tea," 
of " rotten and decayed stuff." And the sequel 
of all this intemperate abuse, uttered by a politi- 
cian quite unscrupulous as to what shifts 
he resorts to screen himself momentarily 
from attack, is the complete moral exonera- 
tion of the first defendants proceeded against. It 
really passes patience that the Minister at the 
head of a department requiring above all things 
Tinprejudiced, judicial administration should com- 
fort liiniself iu this spiteful and reckless fashion. 
Even if the absurd contention be granted that 
all cases of simple error or accidental breach 
must be adjudicated upon in a police court, it 
surely does not folio that the defendants must 
first be " ragged " and rated by Mr. Kingston as 
a prelude to being found innocent of any wrong- 
ful intent by a competent tribunal. What Mr, 
Kingston flaunted as a high-minded championship 
of the rights of the consumer proves, in Messrs. 
Gollin's case at least, to have been simply petty 
persecution. The firm's application to be allowed to 
reship the tea, as is done elsewhere, was treated 
with contemptuous silence. The minister would be 
satisfied with nothing less than the destruction of 
the shipment — a course taken under sensible and 
civilised administration only where a commodity 
is certified unfit for human use. When new regu- 
lations are introduced, it is only fair to treat con- 
siderately shippers who have acted in ignorance of 
the new conditions. The fair treatment in this case 
was to allow reshipment of goods sound and whole- 
some in themselves and saleable in open market 
elsewhere, and shipped to this port in ignorance of 
the new tests. But Mr Kingston only saw in the 
incident and opportunity to exercise his authority 
and to lampoon the traders. Sir Malcolm M'Each- 
arn's refusal to follow the lead of such a Minister 
will now be explicable to his constituents. 
. ^ 
" CEYLON SILK- WORMS." 
The following extract from a letter 
addressed by a well-known agriculturist in 
Algeria to the French Consul is of general 
interest and we have, with the pRrmission 
of M. Labussiere, had it translated to lay 
before our readers :— 
" As I intend to devote myself to various ento- 
mological experiments upon the various kinds of 
silk-worms more or less known, I take the liberty 
of making my request known, based on a purely 
scientific idea. 
" The many ravages that are made in the silk- 
worm nurseries by diseases inherent la the 
domesticated silk-worms, have led nie to believe, 
after many long years of experiment, that the 
best means of eradicating the disease which 
would ruin the silk-husbandry of France, would 
be to make some alliances between our domestic 
races and the wild ones. 
" I would then make known to the Entomo- 
logical Society of France, to which I belong, the 
reeulls I should have obtained, aad I hope, \ 
