668 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [April 2, 1900. 
colonisation were an essential feature of it. With 
their help the business of recruiting Indian 
labourers would be greatly facilitated, for the 
village corregidors have much influence over the 
Indians, and can promote or hinder their en- 
listment or turn them in one direction or another 
very much as they please. Under any circum- 
stances, however, the future of this region of 
tropical valleys, descending from the eastern 
face of the snowy Cordillera Keal of Bolivia is 
certain to be prosperous, and its development 
will attract much attention. 
From the Discussion which followed the reading 
of the paper, we quote as follows:— 
The Bolivian Minister said : The production 
of rubber was even more important than the 
figures quoted would indicate. Sir Martin Con- 
way spoke of 1,000,000 lb. as the export from 
Mo'llendo, but that did not include that exported 
by way of the Madera river, which was so con- 
siderable that it brought the total export in 1898 
up to 3,100.000 kilos., or in value about £1,100,000. 
Mb. R. Ka^ e Gray confirmed what had been 
said by the Bolivian Minister and Colonel Church, 
that the greater part of the rubber from Bolivia 
came do^n the Madera; the quantity which came 
down via Mollendo was insignificant. He had 
been to Lake Titicaca, but could not pretend to 
know the district. It was certainly a great ad- 
vantage to have railway communication as far 
as the lake : but as that stood at an elevation 
of 13,000 feet and all produce had to be taken to 
that height, that route did not seem well fitted 
for commercial purposes. Some years ago he met 
Mr. Martindale, who was much interested in 
trying to develop the rubber industry on the 
eastern slopes of the Andes, and in discussing 
the matter with him he came to the conclusion 
that the labour question, including transport, 
was the chief difficulty. Still, Mr. Martindale 
had been able to do something, and the rubber 
was certainly very good, fetching about 2d. a 
pound less than 'the finest Para, and 3d. less 
than what was known as Bolivian rubber. The 
inferior quality and scraps probably did not pay 
for carriage. Being interested in rubber, and 
finding it very difficult to turn out electric wires 
and Avaterproof garments with Para rubber at 
4s. 5d. lb", he should rejoice at any development 
of the production of good rubber. 
Mb. R. H. Biffen asked if Sir Martin Conway 
could assure him that the rubber trees he had 
spoken of were really the Siphonia elastica of 
the Amazon, because from the description given, 
it hardly seemed likely. As known in the Amazon 
valley, that species always grew on soil which 
was flooded part of the year, and when trans- 
ported to Ceylon, where the situation was some- 
what similar to that described in Bovilia, the 
trees did badly, and the yield fell off very much. 
Sib Martin Conway, in reply,, said he was not a 
botanical exjDert, and unfortunately the specimens 
he brought home were lost en route, so that he 
could not get them identiiied. The statement 
was based on the report of the British Consul, 
Mr. St. John, who visited Bolivia three or four 
years ago, and he said that he got his informa- 
tion from an expert, but he could not ascertain 
his name, and could not therefore affirm posi- 
tively that the identification was complete. But 
it grew under conditions practically similar to a 
swami3, inasnmch as there was rain falling daily 
from a permanent cloud. It was a very unusual 
climate, if not quite unique. The amount of 
Mollendo rubber exported was not quite insigni- 
ficant, for it amounted to over three million 
pounds; over h;ilf a million came from the small 
district over which alone he liad an opportunity 
of examining, near Sorata. Of course the great 
fo)'ests in the neighbourhood of the Beni river 
could produce a vastly greater quantity than the 
filtle district he had xnentioned, and its full de 
velopment could only result from the opening 
up of the Amazon route. As for railway develop- 
ment generally, there was the line from Antofo- 
gasta to the shore of Lake Titicaca, and the 
whole area alongside it was very rich in minerals. 
Sicasica, half-way between Uroro and La Paz, 
was also a rich mineral district, but it produced 
practically nothing, for lack of means of transport. 
Even fuel had to be carried up if the mines were 
to be worked. He did not believe there would 
ever be a trans- Andean Railway. It had, however, 
only cost a few hundred pounds to make the mule 
tracks necessary to work the little district he 
had referred to.' With regard to labour, there 
were plenty of Indians, but you cannot get them 
to stay at work more than three weeks at a 
time, and therefore it was very difficult to organise 
the proper cultivation of the rubber industry. 
It could only be done by importing colonists, 
who would not only look after the rubber, but 
cultivate the ground and provide their own food. 
—Journal of ike Society of Arts, Feb. 2. 
HOW TO PUSH CEYLON TEA ON THE 
CONTINENT OF EUROPE AND ELSE- 
WHERE. 
THE TRILINGUAL LETTER ON TEA; 
Our tri-lingual letter on "Ceylon Tea"— 
of which the "Thirty Committee" has given 
10,000 copies to Commissioner Renton for 
use on the Continent of Europe, attracted 
a good deal of attention during our recent 
visit to central and northern France and 
Belgium, as also among London City mer- 
chants dealing in tea with the Continent. It 
may be of interest in view of the " Thirty 
Committee" 's order, to recaiMtulate some of 
the English opinions kindly given to us when 
we were trying to improve the circular letter ; 
and at the same time to publish certain in- 
formation respecting tea generally which 
should be of interest to tea planters. We 
first quote a sentence from the letter of Mr. 
Herbert Anderson, of the Dimbula Com- 
pany : — 
I thank you for yours of November 20th, en- 
closing copy of circular letter tor the Continent, 
which is very much to the point, and ought to 
answer the purpose, especially as it shows how 
the revenue may be increased by absorbing our teas. 
Mr. Anderson was good enough to point out 
a couple of misprints in our figures which 
were at once corrected. Mr. H. K. Ruther- 
ford was good enough to write : — 
You are indefatigable in your exertions to ad- 
vertize Ceylon, and this latest idea of having 
your article on Ceylon Tea translated into the 
continental languages is a very happy one, as it 
should undoubtedly draw attention to the ad- 
vantaces to be derived by foreign Goveninjents 
in lowering the duty on tea. I return the paper 
and cannot suggest any alteration as it puts the 
matter in a very telling way. 
Messrs. Fredk. Huth & Co. (Tea Depart- 
ment) 27, Mincing Lane, wrote : — 
We have to thank you for your very interest- 
ing circular, the distribution of which on the 
Continent would be probably of assistance to the 
trade in general, hut scarcely to the benefit of 
Ceylon teas only, as the ilealers and packers no 
doubt will continue to buy such teas that suit 
their taste and pocket. 
We now turn to a long communication 
sent to us on the eve of our departure from 
England, by a well-known London merchant 
connected with the Indian tea trade. 
