Jan. 1, 1900.] THE TR©PICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
461 
SUCH A MAN IS BADLY \¥ANTKD 
now by the coffee industry of South India. Hard 
as Dr. Watt worked on his recent tour, it is ini- 
■possible he could effect niucli in siich a hurried 
visit. A be(i;inninn; in the provision of scientiHc 
aid to ayriciilture by Government has been made 
in Soutli India by the appointinentot Dr. Lehniann 
to advise the Mysore CTOvernraent, and of Dr. Bar- 
ber to advise the Madras Government ; but such 
appointments must be multiplied considerably 
before the many aLniealtural industries of South 
India can receive the attention vvliicli they requiie, 
and whieii would be readily aflorded them in the 
United States.— .¥of/)ws Mail, Dec. 14. 
TEA TARING. 
THE REFORM SUSPENDKD. 
The following letter has been addressed to the 
Secretaries of the Ceylon and Indian Associations 
in London by the Commissioners of Customs : — 
Custom House, London, Nov. 30. 
Gentlemen, — The Commissioners of Customs 
direct nie to acquaint you, for the infot uiaiion of 
the Ceylon and Indian Tea Assoeiiitions, that, to 
their great regret, they have felt it necessary to 
postpone, for a time, the coming into cpei'.ation of 
the London Fort Order 39-1899, respecting the 
taring of Tea to the lb. and an inciease in the 
number of tarers, referred to in Mr. Prowse's let- 
ter of the 14Lh instant, No. 13728-1899. Tiie 
date of operation mentioned in the Order is 1st 
December 1899, and the Commissioners hope that 
the period of suspension may not be long. Due 
notice will be given of the new date as soon as it 
has been fixed. 
The Board desire me to briefly explain the cir- 
cumstance.s that have rendered a postponemeni; 
necessary. Throughout the correspondence that 
has taken place on this subject the Board have 
maintained the position that no a,-,tion can be 
safely and properly taken on tlieii part, unless.it 
commands the general assent of theTeaTi ade, both 
Importers and Buyers. They felt that, subi'ect to 
the rights of the Revenue they could not lead the 
Trade butmustfollowit, if any change istobe made 
successfully in the methods of taring. Accord- 
ingly when the Indian and Ceylon and Tea 
Buyers' Association submitted the following pro- 
posals, on behalf of Importers and Buyers, couplel 
with the continuance of the 1 lb. draft, and of the 
present system of gross weighing, the Boaid felt 
no hesitation in agreeing to all of them that met 
with general acceptance, and fell within the 
province of this Department. 
TEA TARING. 
(«) If tare be to an even lb.— it will be entered 
as such. 
(6) If it be to an even ^ lb. or over, it will be 
entered at next lb. above. 
■ (c) If it be to a smaller fraction than 4 lb. it 
-will be entered at next lb. below. 
{d) No overtakers. 
(e) B jxes (t c. packages not exceeding 23 lb.) to 
be weighed and tared as heretofore. 
{f} lucre i.sed No. of Tarers according to scale. 
(g) If Teas are bulked, each package to be 
tared separately. 
Terms (a), (b), (c) and (f) were objected to by 
none, and were therefore provided for in Port 
Order 39 1899. T erm (d) was acknowledged to 
relate to a matter with which the C istonia could 
not interfere. Term (e) required no action : and 
{g) alone presented any difficulty because it in- 
volved the repeal of General Order 102 1894, and 
a number of leading importers petitioned the Board 
to leave that General Order in force. 
After mature consideration, the Hoard carne to 
the conclusion that the Port Order dealing with 
terras (a), (b), (c) and (f) ought to be issued at 
once, as dealing with matters no longer in con- 
troversy, and that, a« (g) was disputed, it would 
be fairer to both sides to preserve the existing 
option of either averaging or separately taring 
bulked teas. 
No sooner, however, had this decision become 
known than the Board received a strong protest 
from the Tea Buyers' Association against the 
separation of terms (a), (b), (c) and (f) from (g), 
because the separate taring of bulked teas was 
an essential part of the compensation w'hich the 
importers were to make for the concession of a 
lb. taring on the part of the buyers. The 
latter also represented that the option of separate 
taring or not when tea is bulkeil, is no safeguard 
of liberty, because the buyers have practically 
no voice in its exercise, and the importers will 
always exercise it in their own favour. They 
moreover dwelt on the ease and therefore cheap- 
ness with wl.ich each case, which must be emptied 
in the process of bulking, might be separately 
weighed, as was the rule until 1894. 
In the opinion of the Board it would have been 
inequitable to allow port order 39 — 1899 to come 
into operation in tlie face of this oi)position. 
They have therefore postponed it in tiie hope 
that after farther conference, the importers and 
buyers may either agree to adopt term (g) or 
make some other arrangements in common which 
will ren<ler that condition unnecessary. 
The board have no bias towards one side lather 
than the other, but must always be the hearty 
well wishers of both. Their desire is for as 
accurate weighing and taring, and as just averag- 
ing, as circumstances render practicable, and their 
officers will spare no pains in contributing to the 
attainment of these ends. In the whole system 
of averaging tares, and of rounding weights up or 
down, which is no doubt ordinarily a matter of 
practical necessity, the Board would always wish 
to have the mutual consent of all parties con- 
cerned. The law in its full strictness recognises 
exact weights only. 
I am to add that the Board earnestly trust that 
you will shortly be able to submit to them an 
agreement which will be fair to Buyers and Im- 
porters equally and will put an end to a dispute 
Which is seriously jeopardizing the prosperity of 
one of the most important trades of the Empire. 
— I am, gentlemen, your obedient servant. 
JOHN COURROUX. 
W Martin Leake, Esq., Secretary to the Ceylon 
Association, 
and Ernest Tye, Esq., Secretary to the Indian 
Tea Association, 61, Gracechurch Street, E C. 
REFORMS ON THE TEA. TRADE. 
The following is the conclusion of the article 
from the Produce Markets Bevieiv, the first part of 
which appeared in our last issue : — 
BULKING AND TARING IN INDIA. 
We alluilfd above to the great cost inflicted 
upon the Indian planter through the necessity for 
bulking and for separately taring their teas in this 
country. Some progress has been made with 
regard to bulking abroad, but it is inconceiv- 
able here why the system has not become 
