240 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTUEIST. [Oct. 1, 1899. 
it as closely as possible. In the stall-fed cow leaving 
out of consideration the water which is nine-tenths in 
weight, we have Organic matter . . 60 
Containing nitrogen equal to ammonia .. 9 
Inorganic matter . . . . 20 
Coaiaining phosphoric acid . ..7 
That does not look formidable. Perhaps, Mr. Baur, 
with that enterprise which is his characteristic, may 
find out what the total solid and liquid excrements 
of one animal is for one night, analyse that and 
multiply it by ten and give us a mixtiue repiesenting 
the application per tree. It is impossible to enlirely 
manure an estate, or even a large part of it, by 
tethering cattle to the trees, so the next best thing 
. to be done is to secure a mixture resembling it as 
closely as possible, for the effica(^y of the droppings 
of cattle in the immediate neighbourhood of trees is 
assured. 
I have had the opportunity of watchin? the diffe- 
rence in effect between the droppings of cattle and 
an application of cattle manure, castor cake, bones 
and ashes. The former was to a field that had been 
neglected and unmanured for a number of years. The 
latter to a field that was in cultivation and had 
been manured a couple of years before. Both fields 
were comp ised of poor, whitt sand, The former field 
responded at once with beauiiful dark green heads 
and a brave show of blossom and very good yields 
for two years. Though the crop fell off after that, the 
appearance of the trees did not. The better part of 
the application to the latter field was appropriated 
to bring up the condition of the tress and but a little 
went towards the putting on of crop. We read a great 
deal last year about " denitrilieation." That may be 
responsible for the disappointing results, which, how- 
ever, are no' general. — Gov. 
PRODUCE AND PLANTING. 
BvcTEEiA AND Tea. — Mr Allen Cooper, cf Southamp- 
ton, quoti iig the article in the "Contemporary Review," 
in wnich it was asserted that the particular flavour of 
different growths of tobacco is "attributable to the 
agency of microbes alone," these microbes being gen- 
erated during the piocess of fermentation, thinks that 
an interesting question for tea planters arises in con- 
nection with it. Not only is poor tobacco trans- 
formed, but it has also la'ely been discovered that 
it i.i possible to have living culcures of Bacteria which 
cm give a delicious flavour to butter and a fine taste 
to cheese. "It occurred to me," says Mr. Cooper, 
" that the distinguishing flavour of teas from 
different countries might be attributable to a 
similar cause. It may not be the plant so 
much as the Bacteria generated during fermentation 
that gives each district its distinctive character. All 
tea planters are agreed on the importance of the fer- 
menting process for the proper development of 
flavour, and the necessity of arresting this fermenta- 
tion, or 'fixing' it (as it is called) at the critical 
moment, over-fermenting producing a peculiar rancid 
odour and flavour. Mr. David Crole, in his lecture 
on the Chemistry of Tea (given on February 10th, 
1897, at a meeting of the Society of Arts), was very 
emphatic on this point ; and some tea planters I 
was fortunate enough to meet on the s.s. " Nubia," 
four yeais ago also emphasised the importance of 
this piirt of tea manufacture. They all agreed that 
the fermentation period was the critical one for the 
proper development of flavour. This raises an in- 
teresting question. Is it possible to alter the flavour 
of teas from poor districts by the introduction of 
living cultures of Bacteria developed from micro-or- 
ganisms taken from fermenting tea in the more 
favoured districts ? " Perhaps BIr. Watt or Mr. 
Bamber may have somethir g to say on the subject. 
A Declining Market foe Tea.— Under the above 
heading "The Grocer" discussea the tea market as 
f. Hows: " It is now three months since the market 
for tea was in a buoyant condition, with prices of 
the common descriptions astonishingly high for these 
modern days of cheapnessi and wheui moreover, the 
position of the distributing trade in April last was 
exceedingly strained and awkward. The subsequent 
trend of the market has proved that at the period 
referred to quotations had touched their highest 
points, when at public auction the Indian growth 
fetched the following rates: Common to good leafy 
Pekoe at 8d to I3 .Sd ; Broken Pekoe at 8d to Is 4Jd ; 
Orange Pekoe at 8^d to Is 5Jd. with finer grades up to 
Is lOd and 23 3;|d; also Broken O.P. from lOd to la 
6|d ; Pekoe Souchong and Souchong both at 7Jd to 
lid ; fannings at Od to Is 44d ; Broken tea at 7d to 
ll:j:d ; and dust at 6d to 8Jd per lb. Also at the same 
time Ueylon tea was reaoily taken off as nnder : Ccm- 
mon Pekoe Souchongs at 7^d to &Jd ; Pekoes at 8d to 
8f d ; ordinary broken teas at Gd to S^d ; with fine bi okea 
and Orange Peltoes at from Is to Is 4d, From these ex- 
treme rates there has latterly been a gradual, though 
uninteviupted, decline of l^d to 2d per lb., so that 
common grades of Indian Pekoe and Souchong now 
are not worth more than 6Jd to 7d, and those of 
Ceylon realise only tid to 7d, with the mecium sorts in 
propoitioii." 
A Retubn to Lower Rates.—" This reduction in 
the value of both Indian and Ceylon tea marks a great 
step towards a return to lower rates, such as will enable 
the dealers end retailers once more to push the sale of 
the article^ with their acsustomed vigour and success ; 
and, provided that the rupture between importers an'i 
the wholesale dealers is soon healed op, there is a pros- 
pect of business being renewed with increased activity 
during the remainder of the year. At first, when ' top ' 
prices were the rule, operations were more or less 
cramped, p irtly by the manipulations of speculative 
members of the trade, and also by reason of the fix 
in which many blenders found themselves iu 
having no reserve or precautionary stocks to 
fall back upon at the moment they were most 
needed. The comparative dearness of teas that had 
to be pressed in to do duty for the popular shilling 
canister ' likewise helped to instil a ft-esh spirit of 
cautiousness in all bona-fide purchases for home use, 
and for several weeks in succession considerable 
difficulty was experienced in satisfying all reiail re- 
quirements with the same promptness and satisfaction, 
as -when in the latter part of 1898 clean leafy teas 
were easily procurable at 5d to 6d per lb. Stiff prices 
nevertheless, wrought good service in hastening for- 
ward the arrivals of new season's teas from India, 
which came to hand in larger quantities and earlier 
than they did last year. Besides this the merchants 
were willing sellers on terms which continued to 
show a distinct improvement on the lowest rates that 
were current before the extraordinary rise commenced, 
and enough tea was secured by the blenders and 
others to keep matters going on' pretty smoothly at 
a season of the year when, as if by universal con- 
sent, the wants oS consumers eeneially are neither 
so large nor s'j urgent as in the cooler inouths, when 
supplies are superlatively abundant." 
A Strong and Unsurpassed Demand. — Notwith- 
standing the fact that the clearances of tea in the 
United Kingdom have been somewhat inflated by the 
heavy duty payments made in March and April last, in 
anticipation of an increase in the Customs' impost 
there is reason to believe that the rate of consump- 
tion is fully equal to, if not decidedly beyond, that in 
1898, or indeed, in any previous year, and this may be 
regarded as a guarantee for the continuance of a strong 
and unimpaired demand on home trade account. Gran- 
ted this much, it naturally follows that, with a plen- 
tiful supply of new season's teas coming on from all 
parts, the necessities of the market here will bewell 
provided for, and orders to any extent will be capable 
of fulfilment at more reasonable prices than were de- 
manded in the spring of this year. Other questions 
of vital importance have also to be considered just now, 
and it will be greatly to the advantage of both impor- 
ters and dealers if they can succeeded in arriving at a 
friendly understanding where any cause for disagree- 
ment is supposed to exist, and so keep the whole machi- 
nery of the London tea in perfect working ordo".— S'. 
c£- C. Mail, July 21. 
