346 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTUPJST. 
'Nov. 1, 1S99. 
for shipment may counterbalance this advantage 
which New Guinea rubber trarleis would derive 
from a handy labour supply. Our Department of 
Agriculture lias durin<^ the year been trying by a 
series of articles to direct attention to this indus- 
try. Its progress will be watched with much 
interest. It will also place another string on the 
Cairns bow in raising that town into a place of 
much importance in the future." — Sydney Mail, 
Oct. 7. 
♦ 
THE INDIAN TEA INDUSTRY, 
lu his remarks regarding the position and 
prospects of the Indian tea trade, Mr. O'Conor, 
in his Annual Keport, concerns himself 
chiefly with the question, whether the demand 
for China tea in the British market is likely to 
undergo a furtlier reduction ; but he ako touches, 
incidentally, on the etl'cct of the closing -jt the 
Minis on the trade. In connection with the ques- 
tion of the effect of the closing of the Mints, he 
appeals to the fact of its not having brought 
fcbout even a momentary pause in the substi- 
tution of Indian for Ceylon tea as " another 
proof, if one were wanted, that a bad currency 
system does not promote trade, and that a 
good (uirency system cannot injure it." Here, 
however, he seems to us to miss the real point 
at issue. No one imagines that a bad cur- 
rency system |>romotes trade or a good one 
injures it. Most of those who complain that the 
closing of the Mints has injured the Indian tea 
industry would probably maintain tiiat the 
currency system if introduced was not a good, but 
a bad one. But, adnvitting for the sake of argu- 
ment that it was as good a system as that 
which it replaced, there still remains the question 
whether the transition from one the system to the 
other was not calculated to injure the industry, 
8C least temporarily, Kegarded as a permanent 
fact, one rate of exchange is, doubtless, a-? go d 
for trade as another. But it can hardly be doubted 
that a rise in exchange must have an injurious 
effect on the ))rofits of the producers of a com- 
modity like tea for export to a gold standard 
country, pending adjustment, which, whether it 
ia brought about through contraction of produc- 
tion, or through a reduction of the cost of produc- 
tion, is a more or less tardy process. The fact, 
moreover, that the closing of the Mints brought 
about no pause in the decadence of the China tea 
trade, is no pioof that the Indian industry was not 
injured by it. All that it necessarily shows is 
that the injury, if any, was not great enough to 
produce that particular result. On the whole, it 
may he regarded as morally certain that, if the 
rupees were suddenly to be de])reciateil to siiclran 
extent as to enable India to undersell Cliina, she 
would have a mncli better chance of obtaining an 
entry for her tea into foreign markets than she 
has at jiresent. — Statesman. 
COCONUTS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 
There are several species of cocoa palms grow- 
ing in the Archipelago, but the ordinary coco- 
nut tree (Cocas nuciftra) is the most important. 
The Indians make use of it in a jrood m uiy 
ways, but only the principal ones need be enu- 
merated. The kernel of tlie nut tliey use tor 
food, while the liquid the shell contains makes 
a refreshing drink. If allowed to stand for some 
time, this liquid forms a very agreeable milky 
juice that is lealised not only by the natives, 
bnt by Europeans as well. After this juice has 
coagulated, it is mixed with sugar and made in- 
to bonbons, known as cocoa sugar, and also into 
various other delicacies. According to a re- 
cent report of the United States Department of 
Agriculture, by tapping the central bud that 
crowns the coconut, a kind of wine, called tuba, 
of an agreeable pungent taste, is produced. This 
tuba, when allowed to ferment, produces vinegar, 
and when distilled, a kind of brandy, that is 
highly relished by the natives. From the husk 
of the coconut the Tagals make ropes and cords, 
and a material for calking their boats. From 
the woody shell they carve spoons, cups, beads 
for ro'aries, and many other articles. The leaves 
Ihey use to cover the roofs of their houses. 
Hoofs made in this manner are thick and tight, 
but they have the disadvantage of buiniug re- 
adily, so that in the towns and villages where 
the houses are thus covered, conflagrations spread 
with great rapidity. The veins and smaller ribs 
of the leaves are used to make brooni.s, the mid- 
ribs serve as fuel, and the ashes are utilised in 
making soap. The trunk of the palm is made 
to seive as a pillar lo support the houses that 
its leavfs overshadow. Oil barrels, tuba casks, 
and water-pipes are fashioned from hollow sec- 
tions of the trunk. From the roots the natives 
extract a red dyeing material, that they chew 
in place of the areca palm nuts or bonga when 
the latter cannot be procured. Large quantities 
of coconut oil are manufactured in the Philip- 
pines. This oil is much prized by the natives. 
Tlie men and women both use it to anoint the 
thick growth of hair that adorns their heads, 
and it thus finds a ready sale at remunerative 
prices. It is also used in the lamps that take 
the place of gas-burners in the streets, and in 
these used by the natives and Chinese in their 
houses. Manila exports annually about 150,009 
pesos (£25,000) worth of coconuts to China'and 
British India, and about 30,000 pesos (£5,000) 
worth of coconut oil to China.— Jc/Mj-na^ of the 
Soaetif of Arts., Oct. 6. 
CACAO IN THE PHILIPINES. 
" Theobrama Cacao " (Food of the Gods) as Lin- 
naeus called it, a native of Central America 
flourishes in these islands in the hot damp re<^ion» 
It is said to have l)een imported into the Aiilin- 
pines towards the end of the 17th Century from 
Mexico, where it has been in very ancient use. 
Outside the tropics, the tree wili grow in some 
places, but gives no fruit. The Philippine quality 
is very good, and compares favourably with that 
of other countries, the best being produced bet- 
ween latitudes 11 and 12 N. 
The cultivation of Cacao is an extremely risky 
amd delicate business as, often vfhen the planter's 
liopes are about to be realized, a slight storm will 
throw down the almost ripened fruit in a day A 
disease sometimes attacks the roots and spreads 
through the plantation. It is natural tkerefore 
that no one should dedicate his time exclusively 
to the cultivation of this product at the risk of 
almost instantaneous ruin. Usually, the Philin 
pine agriculturist rightly regards cacao as a useful 
adjunct to his other crops. Small quantities of 
it are sent to Spain, but the consumption in the 
colony, when made into chocolate by adding sugar 
vanilla, cinnamon, etc., to counteract the naturai 
bitterness of the bean is considerable. To make 
chocolate-paste, a large quantity of sugar is added 
varying to one third of its weight to equal part'; 
whilst one pod of vanilla is sufficient for 1§ ib of 
Cac; o. As a beverage it is in great favour with 
the Spaniards and half-castes and the better class 
of natives. 
