Oct. 1, 1899.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
261 
believe has been tried in soni'- cases, I should 
say that where blight is so bad as to require 
such treatment, the sooner such tea is pulled 
up and destroyed the Ijetter, as such bushes 
would never stand the shock of being killed 
back — which most of them would be — and at 
the best surviving b\ishes would be nothing 
but typical nurseries for parasites ; and I may 
add that methods even more drastic than 
this have been tried in Assam, and in nearly 
every case the new bush grown hjis within 
a year been as bad with blight as ever. 
Blight, it seems to me, should be looked upon 
more as an effect than a cause. What has been 
the history of first coffee rather than tea ? We 
have in most cases steadily drained the soil 
of its nourishing properties and, as long as 
dividends were forthcoming.have been content 
to ignore the laws of nature ; with whut 
result? — adecrease in both quantity and quality, 
as well as an increase in cost of production. 
Too late we turn our thoiights to manuring 
and general cultivation of the sickly and 
hide-bound bush we have left and by many 
years of ill-treatment trained into a nursery 
for all kinds of diseases which are after- 
wards distributed in the tea of more healthy 
and neighbouring fields. Having done all this 
we commence manuring and in many cases 
with disappointing results — why, it is not diffi- 
cult to see : as with the bush so with the roots. 
And the latter in consequence— until new and 
healthy root stems are formed — are unable 
to utilize manures to the best advantage. 
The chief thing necessary now is either 
the entire clearing out of tea on sickly ridges 
or the building-up of the same by a system 
of bulk manviring. In the latter case many 
methods might bo adopted, burying of 
prunings, decomposed vegetable matter 
(cheddie could be collected into pits for this 
purpose) heavy dressings of castor cake and 
where available application of cattle manure 
and I believe much might be done by^'plant- 
ing cuttings of say yld/Kr^O(Za vasica (a highly 
nitrogenous plant, also making a good 
fungicide) amongst tea on poor soil a few 
months before pruning, to be afterwards 
buried with the prunings. In conclusion I 
might again repeat that the general opinion 
of practical men is that no real danger need 
be apprehended in connection with the 
present increase of blights ; and I think we 
shall find these parasites will shortly play a 
more important part at annual company 
meetings than on the estates. 
MINOR PRODUCTS REPORT. 
Cinchona. — In addition to the quantities announced 
by us last week to be offered at the Amsterdam auctions 
on August 24th a farther 2,251 bales and 93 cases 
(192,726 kilos) been brought forward. This now 
brings the totfvl to 7,564 bales and 276 cases 
(688,364 kilos). The shipments from Ceylon for the 
week ending July 18th were 30,647 lb, and from 
January 1st to I8th tbey were : — 
1899 1898 1897 1896 
Lb ... 277,336 277,755 304,311 193,398 
Five brokers have declared aactions in London on 
August lath the total at present amounting to 1,132 
pivcknges, of which at least 800 are Bast Indian 
bark. 
CiTEONELLA CiL. — Quiet and unchanged at lid to 
llgd per lb on the spot in drums. The Ceylon 
exports for the week ending July 11th were 23,270 
lb, of which 21,002 lb were for London. — Chemist and 
Di-uijgist, Aug. 12. 
LABOUR AND TRANSPORT IN THE 
PHILIPPINES. 
Mr. Dean C. Worcester, Assistant Profes.sor of 
Zoolop:y at tiie University of Miciiigan, in his 
book '• The Piiiiippine Islands an d their People,' 
says :— 
" The labour piobleni is a serious one. There 
i.s little trouble in gettin<< a limited number of 
f lirly good workmen, but when it conies to eon- 
diK-tinij: any enterprise neeessitatin«x tiie eniploy- 
nient of men in large numbers, diiliculty is sure 
to he encounterefl. 
'■ Wages are low, running from tour to eight dol- 
lars per month, but one is often compelled to seek 
labourer.s at a distance, and tomaketliein heavy ad- 
vances against salary account. Shouhl they desert 
before working out the debt, there is, under 
existing condition.s, no legal redress. 
" It is often necessary to sub-let parts of large 
estates to natives who work for a percentage of tlie 
crop raised, but they iniprovidently spend their 
wasres as .soon a.s earned, or sooner, and have 
nothing left to live upon. Ifc is, therefore, neces- 
sary to loan them money on security of a crop not 
yet harvested, perhaps, not even planted ; and 
should it fail, one is left out of pocket. Con- 
siderable losses from this and similar causes are 
inevitable. 
" At the best the native is an intermittent 
worker. He is indisposed to e-xert himself un- 
necessarily, and i.s apt to relapse suddenly into 
idleness when he has accumulated a small sum in 
cash. It is to his dislike for steady, systematic 
labour, that the failure of so many mining enter- 
prises has been due." 
Concerning transport, Mr. Worcester says : — 
" The lack not only of railroads, hut of roads of 
any description, has impeded cominunic.ition and 
transportation. 
" There is but one railway in the islands. It 
extends from Manila to Dagupan, a distance of 
about 120 miles. Elsewhere transportation must 
be by water, by carts or .sledges usually drawn by 
buffaloes, but sometimes by bullocks, or finally by 
coolies. The last method is often the only practic- 
able one. 
" This lack of any adequate means of over- 
land transportation lias contribuied as much as 
any one cause toward retarding the commercial 
development of the colony. There is fairly regular 
conuiiunication between the more important islands 
by means of steamship lines, but} freiirhts are 
high." 
PRODUCE AND PLANTING. 
Indian Tea Companies' Results. — ^^r. Seaton's 
a'lnual tabular return shows the results of the working 
of forty-five Indian tea companies. The paid up capital 
of these companies is £7,047,885. The average 
dividend distributed oa this capital was 5J per cent, 
which is a shade below that of the previous period. 
The reserves are also a little lower, being £534,000 
against £559,000. These results follow naturally upon 
the fact that the profit per pound earned was only 
l-45d representing £392,000, against l'5d per lb. re- 
presenting £413,000 in the 1897 season. The dividends 
distributed by these 45 companies varied considerably, 
and it may be interesting to shortly summarise them. 
