June 1, 1903.] THE TROPICAL AGEICULTtJIliST. 
835 
the products harder and prevent loss of weight 
until it could be disposed of to the Chinese 
smugglers. 
VALUABLE PRODUCTS. 
From various districts samples of gutta percha 
and rubber were brought to the government labor- 
atory at Manila, where it was subjected to a 
careful scientific analysis. These tests disclosed the 
important economic fact that the Philippine gutta 
percha will doubtless become as valuable for 
cable insulation and other purposes as the best 
guttapercha obtainable, while the lubber, with 
proper coagulation and drying, it is thought, will 
be equal to the best commercial rubber now on 
the market. While some of the gutta-percha 
trees found were new and hitherto unknown 
varieties, many of them belong to the general 
species, dichopsis gutta, the tree which has fur- 
nished the gutta-percha for most of the submarine 
cables of the world. Samples of these Philippine 
products were submitted to the chief electrician and 
to the cable engineer of the U S cableship 
" Burnside," who pronounced the gutta percha to 
be of very superior quality, and inasmuch as many 
cables will ultimately be laid between the Phil" 
ippines and Japan and Asia the presence of insulat- 
ing material in the archipelago is of extreme 
importance. That the government at Washington 
may be made fully aware of the necessity for taking 
some action in controlling these priceless forests, 
samples of guttapercha are now on the way to the 
United States where they will be subjected to most 
careful tests by eminent scientists. In the mean- 
time forest rangers have been detailed to p&trol the 
mountains where the gutta-percha trees grow in 
greatest abundance, while customs officers will 
keep a sharp look-out on the coasts where Chinese 
craft are engaged in the smuggling trade. Secretary 
Root is being urged to take the entire traffic of 
gutta percha of the Philippines and put it in the 
charge of government scientists. The plan is to 
reserve these forests as State property and the 
rubber and gutta percha to bs collected by the 
officials of the forestry bureau, or to permit private 
enterprise under strict conditions over specified 
areas. 
COMPETITION IN THE SALE OF TEA 
IN INDIA. 
Messrs. Brooke Bond and Co., Ld., are now 
actively competing for the trade in India. Quite 
recently a Director of the Company interviewed 
the Commissioners, who assured him that they 
cordially welcomed the addition of his Company 
to the exploiting pojver of the Indian Market. The 
well-known Lipton ia also pushing Inaian Tea in 
India more vigorously than ever, and other 
European distributing agencies are showing 
increased activity. Several European owned 
estates are also supplying tea in packets or boxes 
direct from the garden and generally a lid^of 
co-operation is settiug, which cannot but oe 
regarded with the greatest satisfaction. The Com- 
mission, however, has not only stimulated 
European trading in Tea, but has aroused the 
interest of the Indian shop-keeper. This community 
is beginning to get the idea that it will pay to 
handle tea. The Commissioners are doing their 
utmost to foster the trade in this direction, by 
giving every possible facility to those who make 
the venture They are pleased to report that 
dutiuj; tke pa«t three mouth* a large number 
have followed the lead given by the Commission 
and are now vending Ijrewed and leaf tea on 
their own account. — Fr'om Messrs. Andrevj Yii 
and Co.'s report for the period ending January 
let 1903. 
, « 
AN ENTERTAINING MELBOURNE TEA 
HOUSE 
BY "CYNTHIA." 
A few months back saw the transformation of a 
dingy set of offices in Elizabeth-street to a some- 
thing which compels the attention of any passer 
by. A broad shop window, behind which is dis- 
played a series of suggestive little scenes, with a 
bank of tea plants for a background, was the first 
thing that got the public in the habit of pausing 
in front of Griffiths Bros.' new tea house. ' That 
firm has got hold of a smart window-dresssr ' was 
the almost invariable comment of the casual 
observer, and a dissertation on the subject of up-to- 
date advertising was safe to ensue. The quaint, 
carved figures were grouped so fantastically that it 
was speedily recognised that only an artist could 
have had the arranging of them. ' It's not tea, I 
want,' complained one woman gazing through the 
grass, ' it's one of those little brown men or that 
ridiculous china pot,' She who hesitates is pro- 
verbially lost. 
PADSE TO ADMIRE A CINGALESE GOD 
and the first thing you know you are ordering tea 
at 1/9 a pound. As happened to the woman in 
question, happens to the majority of appreciative 
folk who take their walks abroad with their eyes 
open. The firm confesses that one branch of its 
trade has almost doubled since it withdrew from 
the stately seclusion of Flinders lane. And if the 
firm has gained, so has the city. An attractive 
shop window is something to be sincerely com- 
mended, and though this one, as it so turns out, 
owes absolutely nothing to a professional window 
dresser, it can hold its own with any in Melbourne. 
Small folk are beginning to insist in going round 
by Elizabeth-street to ' See the elephants,' while 
children of a larger growth take the same course 
ostensibly to see the tea plants. Elephants, be it 
stated, are a prominent feature in the window. A 
large painting of three Cingalese carriers at pre- 
sent occupies the window. One of them has quite 
an important history of his own, and is intimately 
associated with 
THE AFFAIRS OF A CERTAIN TEA PLANTATION 
in Ceylon. One loses nothing by passing on from 
the window to the sale room. If shop proprietors 
would only recognise how profits may be increased 
by picturesque surroundings, how much pleasanter 
a thing shopping would become ! In the sale 
room in question a judicious arrangement of mirrors 
and pot plants makes the sale of tea appear a 
mere incident. In two alcoves and several other 
nooks and corners tiny tea tables are arranged. 
At these tables present and prospective custoniers 
are served with tea. Smart ' buttons ' execute all 
orders for refreshment and you cannot pay a bill 
or even lodge a complaint without being offered a 
perfectly made cup of tea. Electric fans keep the 
place delightfully cool and comfortable, while the 
civility with which this firm has always been as- 
sociated makes dealing with it a pleasure. 
A COAT M'lTH ONE OF THE POWERS THAT BK 
in the firm elicits the fact that the increase 
in business has rcnderetl it expedient for CrifBths 
Bros, to heepeak the wkole output tf one of th« 
