470 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST [Jan, 1, 1900. 
PASSION FRUIT. 
We are surprised to stuinble upon some icrnorant 
coinments on an article on Passion Pruit, whicli 
appeared in our columns some weeks ago, in a 
paper which should know something above the 
subject. The Fruit Grower of November 30th has 
the following : — 
It is notorious that we have to go from home to 
learn anything of ourselves. The Ceylou Ohserver 
in an article on passion fruit, tells us that " fairly 
successful '' trial shipments of this fruit have been 
made from Australia to the London markets, " some 
of the samples being sold as high as Is a dozen." 
We would like to have some particulars as to the 
" success " of these shipments. The Observer much 
more correctly sums up the situation with regard 
to passion fruit by saying that it is an excellent 
fruit for " local consumption," 
In view of this extraordinary and ill-informed 
effusion we have been at the pains to refer to facts. 
Corroborating our statements, the following from 
the Daily Telegraph early this year and from 
the Melbourne Leader of March 3rd will be suffi- 
cient : — 
Whatever may be done as regards oranges in New 
South Wales, it may be considered certain that an 
attempt will be made this season to send a good sup- 
ply of passion fruit to the London market. This is a 
fruit in connection with which Australian growers 
need fear no rivalry. The obstacles to overcome are 
the ignorance of English people to the merits of the 
fruit, and the unaccountable prejudice some of the 
London fruit importers have against it. Why this 
prejudice should exist is a mystery, but that it does is 
evident from the published letters of Mr, F H Dangar. 
He was led to write owing to one firm going so far as 
to say that passion fruit had " no commercial value" 
in the London market, and he pointed out that this 
could only be from the fact that it was almost every- 
where an untried novelty The main fact remained 
that it carried well, hardly a pod going wrong in a 
large consignment, and that by many buyers the fruit 
was pronounced delicious wherever sampled. The 
loss to exporters of passion fruit last year was ocoa- 
Bioned chiefly by London agents not thinking it worth 
their while to make sales. The time will come when 
to be agent and salesman for Australian fruit in Lon- 
don will require more than a mere mechanical con- 
veyance of the cases to a sales room and an offer 
there to the highest bidder. — Daily Tclcgrax)h. 
Some time back a trial shipment of passion- 
fruit was sent from Pennant Hills, ISIew South 
Wales to London. It was a failure, the account 
sales showing the disposal of thirteen cases each 
at one shilling per case. Some later consignments, 
however, fared better ; and Mr. P H Dangar, of 
Sydney, who is now in a letter to Mr. 0 13 Cairnes, 
of Parramatta, remarks : — " I am inclined to think 
that as the fruit was not known, the waste has 
been unnecessarily enlarged, and fruit rejected 
which was perhaps slightly shrivelled. Eaglishmen 
who used to stay with me in Sydney used to call 
it 'heavenly fruit,' and I am certain when 
this is better knowti higher prices will be 
obtained. I fear that but few Australians 
here knew of the shipment." Mr. Dangar 
mentions that when he went to England last year 
he took a case containing 20 dozen with him from 
Sydney. They were carried in the vessel's cool 
chamber, and when opened in London not more 
than six pods were found to be damaged. It seems 
pretty certain that a few more Australian consuls 
like Mr. Dangar would be invaluable to our growers 
(says the " Daily Telegraph "), and that it is simply 
absurd to ship fruit to British fruiterers who have 
never seen it before, and who condemn passion fruit 
aa worthless because the skin is a little wrinkled. 
English busiuess people are the most conservative 
men on earth in many respects, and a small con- 
Bignment of unknown fruit, with some shrivelled up, 
could not be recognised by them as the first fruits 
of a new and paesibly great trade. The pity of it — 
for the Pennant Hills people — is that Mr. Dangar 
did not meet Mr. Cooper v,'hen the latter was selliag 
fruit at a shilliug a case, while Mr. Dangar was 
giving a shilling a 'lozen for all he could get, tnd think- 
ing ii, would be ridic'ilously cheap. It is quite evident 
Ui.it great as was the failure of the first trial the 
passion fruit export trade has possibilities which are 
in some ways greater than that of oranges, if only 
for the fact that they will leave the maiket to 
themselves. — Melhourne Leader, March 3. 
PKODUCE AND PLANTING- 
The Tea Market in No VEM13EB. — " During Novembt' 
the oSerings at public auctions of Indian teas wer^ 
220,000 packages, agtiinst 210,000 packages in the 
same month of 1898. Some inferiority in quality was 
apparent as compared with earlier arrivals," nay 
Messrs. McMeekin and Co., in their report, '" and this 
was most marked in the case of some of the Darjeeling 
teas. The strong tone and active market noticed 
during October continued till the middle of the month, 
but after that buyers showed some iinwillingncss to 
purchase, and a material decline in the value of all 
descriptions took place. The average price for the 
month was SJd per lb, as against 8Jd per lb. for the 
corresponding U-cnth of lasb year. The imports were 
20,471,000!b, and the deliveries 13.689,0001h, leaving in 
stock ou November 30, 52,98.">,0001b. The present 
position of tea generally is in marked contrast of 
twelve months ago, when attention was pointedly called 
to the manner in which both the home and the export 
demand were running ahead of the importations. For 
the eleven months expired of the present calendar 
year, the imports from all sources shown in the 
figures of the Tea Brokers' Association have increased 
by 5,700,000 lb. while the total deliveries only show an 
increase of 1,600,000 ib. and the stock shows an in- 
crease of 3,270,0001b. on th.at of Nov. 30, 1898. The 
period of higher prices for common grades, which 
Kct in early in 1899, appears to have checked the 
increase in the rate of home and foreign consumption, 
which had been proceeding previously in a most satis- 
factory manner. It ir, piobable that during 1899, 
the total increase in shipments, as compared with 
1898, of Indian and Ceylon teas to countries other 
than the United Kingdom (including re exports from 
there) \n\\ be about 4,000,000 lb. while the increase 
in home consumption may be comparatively tmall. 
The increased crop for the Indian season will proba- 
bly exceed 12,000,000 lb. and Ceylon is likely to finish 
up with some 5,000,000 1b. of increased yield for 1899. 
There is, therefore, little fear of an inadequate supply 
unless there is a sudden large development in the 
demand. The regulation of the supplies piinted in 
auction in working well from the buyers' point of 
view, and so long as large unoffered first-hand stocks 
remain in the warehouses, there can be little induce- 
ment to run the risks and incur the expenses of buying 
ahead of immediate requirements especially in a 
declining market. Of Ceylon tea the offeiim^s were 
98,000 packages, against 100,000 pack.^gesin the same 
month of 1898. The quality generally showed a falling 
off, and really fine liquoring teas were strongly com- 
peted for throughout the month." 
The Nyassala'nd Coffee Crop. — Advices fiom 
Blantyre say : " Seasonable rains have fallen in the 
Shire Highlands. The coffee crop amounts to 1,009 
tons. It is expected that there will be an excellent 
crop next season, largely exceeding any in the past." 
Remindees are NECE-qsARY, — The war absorbs so 
much space in the newspapers, that there is appar- 
ently no room for the insertion of the occasioral 
^^aragraphs about the planters and tea planting, which 
at one time served to advertise Indian and Ceylon 
teas. It may be thouglit that the product of British 
enterprise is so popular witii consumers that there 
is no fear of any decline in the demand. This ig 
