430 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Dec. 1, 1899. 
Ibe accounted for Ly a natuial reaction from the 
strong puii<;eiit tea of the masses, bem^ bO iiidis- 
criniinately used in the drawing rooms of many of 
the wealthy. 
HOME ACTION MUST BK TAKEN. 
With a Tea Producer.-,' A:=sociation in London, 
that would fairly face all these questions, of 
re<,Milation of sales, collecting accurate and com- 
plete slaiistics, instrnctirif;- and educating tlje 
public and having machinery to touch the trade 
in every part, there is nothing to fear in the 
future of the tea industry. On the other iiand, 
if producers believe tuat the falling of the dis- 
tributing of thtir teas into fewer liands, as has 
happened more or less with almost every indu.stry, 
means that they are to make no action themselves, 
they will havearudeawakemng.^^ 
CARDAMOMS AND (ALOE) FIBRES. 
Bambragalla, Rattota, Dec. 3. 
De.-vr Sib,— Li yoivr para " Tea and Cai-da- 
iiioms," in the Observer of the 1st instant, I 
see that a brother planter has corroborated 
what I stated in niy letter to you of the 
26th November. I know several small iielcls 
once T3lanted with cardamoms, which are now 
growing .food tea ; brrt 1 do not know and 
never heaxd of any land which failed to grow 
tea well having been planted with carda- 
moms and I am quite sure that cardamoms 
would not bear in such land. The article by 
" L." in a Ctilcutta paper Avas about aloes 
not about rami. "L'"s experience of grow- 
ing aloes has been very different from 
mine. My experience of growing aloes, 
the large' kind with spines on the edges of 
the leaves, is distinctly adverse to growing 
them in poor useles.s land. Twenty years ago 
I thought they couid be grown on any kind 
of land, so I planted up 15 acres of useless 
land with them (the large kind) and kept 
the field free of weeds for two years ; but 
finding that the plants made little or no pro- 
gress 'l abandoned it. Some of the plants 
continued to live for years afterwards, but 
never became large, though plants put in 
fairly good soil grew to the usual size.— Yours 
faithfully, ^^ 
JADOO. 
Kandy, Nov. 29. 
Deab Sir.— Can any of your readers tell 
me, from bona jficZe , expebibnce, if Jadoo is 
good for strawberries, as regards the bearing 
Sf fruit. E. F. T. 
Dear SlB,-In reference to "E. F. T"'s query 
re-Jadoo I may say from experience that this is 
a nutritious and convenient -because light and 
clean— form of soil, which is especially useful 
for plants grown in pots in rooms and ver- 
andahs. As regards its application to straw- 
berries, however, it Avould no doubt be found 
to l)e productive of healthy growth for a time, 
provicled it did not get too soon washed 
away by the rain ; l)ut, from a commei'cial 
point of view, it is very doubtful whether 
It would thus pay. .ladoo is a, light spongy 
sort of soil, Hiiiiilar to decayed coconut fibre, 
At one time it was t]ioii;.4lit to be the medium 
nar for nnrscvv-bcds for tea., coffee. 
Ate, but apparently it has not as yet stood 
this ty«t'-Y"^'^'^ '^^'^^'i ' 
THE TEA DISPUTE AND RESULTS. 
{From a Hoikc Correspondent). 
LONDON, Nov, 17. 
H. M. Customs li.'s at last given its de- 
cision with ii-,L,;nd to t)ie Dealers and Im- 
porters' i"'^iti 11 r'garding the terms of 
agreement ( djui' t > in August last, and has 
issued its order. " * * It will be seen that 
this is distinctly m advantage in favour of 
the Im]-;»)i ter;i. 
It ri iiiains to be seen what steps the 
Buyci-8 '(Vill ij<:\v t;ike U) secure the " over- 
toil 'er.'-.' I uiideistand they have taken 
CDUiisfcl's opinion which is that they are 
legally entitled to them: but Importers' have 
an opinion to tlie contrary effect. Perhaps, 
the l)est cour.se would be to settle this by 
a friendlv "test" c;',,se. 
N(jt\v;thstaiiding the adverse criticism of 
the few that the draft was badly engineered, 
it appears to nie that tlie result o))taine<i 
has fully justified the efforts of the Joint 
Cuii.'uiittee. The Importeis have scored in 
the matter of Customs weighing, while Buyers 
have gained nothing. 
The regulacion or sales of Indian teas has 
been an unqualified success : the system 
adopted is working smoothly and has un- 
doubtedly saved the market from being 
flooded with tea at this time of the year. 
Although Ceylon teas do not require regu- 
lation, the course adopted has been the 
means of keeping up the market for Ceylons 
as well as Indians. 
The Associations are quietly working the 
w;irehouses, regarding a reduction of rates, 
and this is. I l)elieve, in a fair way of being 
obtained. The docks, ho-never, do" not see 
their way to fall into line with the other 
warehouses which are prepared to make a re- 
duction. 
Should they persist, and the others do 
not break from the " ring,"' the inevitable 
result will be that a planters' warehouse 
will be started. 
Another result of the " Tea Dispute " is 
that an Importers' Association is being 
formed. The draft of its constitution has, 
I learn, been drawn up by the Joint Com- 
mittee of the Indian and Ceylon Associa- 
tions ; but will not be submitted to those 
interested xmtil the Committee have 
thoroughly matured the sclieme. 
The amount of time given by the members 
of the Joint Committee to the great disjmte, 
and all these other questions affecting the 
Tea Industry on this side, has been & severe . 
tax on busy men. In my opinion, those 
growers and importers who did not support 
the Committee, and more especially those who 
seceded after signing the agreement, should 
be heartily ashamed of themselves. No doubt, 
however, they Avill gladly accept all the ad- 
vantages that others have fowght and gained 
for them. You will remember it was the 
same with the voluntarj^ tax and export 
cess for pvishing our teas. A miserable minor- 
ity who could not see beyond their noses, 
protested, but all the same reap the advan- 
tages with others. It is always good to have 
an opposition, but, when the fight has once 
begun, we should stand shoulder to shoulder, 
as our country is now doing in this Traog- 
vaal wax', 
