760 THE TROPICAL AGEICULTURIST. [May 1, 1900. 
RUBBER TRADE OF THE UNITED 
KINGDOM. 
The following interesting table reKoecting the 
rubber trade of the United Kingdom for the past 
three years will be interesting to our readers, 
although it may be misleading ii! some r.^speets it ia 
importa)it to notice that in spite of the supoosed 
great increase in the nse of rubber, the ( unsumption 
in this country w.is less in 1899 by nearly 5,')00,OUO 
lb. weight than in the provious yeav, and the value 
about £500,0(10 les=. Gomparing tht imports th^re 
was a marked increase on the total amount imported 
in 1898 over 1897 of over 10,000,000 lb. of nearly 
£2,000,000 value, but there was a considerable falling 
off in 1899, the weight decreasing 4„500,000 lb., but 
the value was only about £300,01)0 less. Curiously 
enough the re-exports of raw mbber have steadily 
increased both in weight and volne, but taking t'.ie 
average value per lb. in 1897, the imports and exports 
weie the same, namely, 2s OJd per lb. whilethat vi-ed in 
this country only averaged IslUd per lb. In 1898, 
the imports averaged 2s 3id per lb., while the re- 
exports averaged 23 4d per lb., that for home con- 
sumption amounting to 2j 4|d per lb. Daring 1899, 
although the prices all-round were considerably 
higher than in 1898, the imports avcr.iged 2s 2;j;- per 
lb., the re-exports 2s 5if'J, while that consumsd in 
the Uni'.ed Kingdom averaged 2.-> Ojd per H'. Oi 
course there are a number of points conneite l witii 
a general statement such as this which detract from 
the value to be placed upon the I'esult. For i^^stance, 
in the imports we get a large quantity of the best 
quality rubber from the South American muket. 
The average value of the Brazilian rubber importe.l 
in 1897 was 2s 10 1/83., whde for 1898 it amounted 
to 3s Ojd. The figures for 1899 we have not yet 
complete. Of our re-exports, a largo proportion is 
of the bettor quality rubber, the cheaper African 
kinds being largely shipped to Continental ports 
direct, so that our re-exports average a high 
rate, while onr home consumption is consequently 
somewhat lower in comparison. We are preparing 
a full statement of the rubber trade for the paat 
three years, which will doubtless prove very in'.erest- 
ing to all engaged in the rubber trade, and we shall 
be glad to receive particulars f i.-.jm any of our readers 
which in any vi-ay bears upon this question : — 
1897 
Avr. 
Total weight Total value 
value per lb. 
Eaw Rubber. 
lb. 
£ 
s d 
Imports 
44,-156,018 
4,55.3,416 
2 Oi 
Ee-Exporta 
26,619,152 
2,795,878 
2 Oi 
Consumption 
17,836,896 
1,757,538 
] ll5 
1898 
lb. 
£ 
per lb 
Imports 
54 833,072 
6,214,933 
2 3i 
Ee-Exports 
33,023,536 
4,020.850 
2 4 ■ 
Consumption 
21,809,5.36 
2 194,083 
2 4i 
1899 
lb. 
£ 
per lb 
Imports 
50,360,464 
5,925,64,S 
2 21 
Re-Exports 
34,284,880 
4,271,711 
2 53 
Consumptien 
16,075,584 
1,653,932 
2 OJ 
— India lluhher and Guttapercha Journal, March 1. 
SOUTHERN INDIA PRIZE TEA. 
We learn that the Agri-Horticultural Society'.s 
Gold Medal for tea has been again jiwarded to the 
Glendale Tea Estate.?, now under the manage- 
iiient of tiie Nilgiri Plantations Cunij),iiiy, Limited. 
Tlie prize lea, which i« being .sold at A:^. 8 per 
pound, was \ alued by the brokerK at twelve pence. 
The .satnp'e case iia'< be' ii rno«t kindly |ire.sented 
lo one of the Eiihrnl-in Nted Society .s V>'oiiieii's 
yVoi\<tiho[)fi.- Madras Mail, Match 28. 
PLUMBAGO IN CEYLON: 
THE MINING INDUSTRY AND THE 
COMMERCIAL " BOOM " ; 
IS THE LATTER A BLESSING, OR 
CURSE, TO THE SINHALESE? 
PADDY CULTIVATION DISTINCTLY 
FALLING OFF. 
During a recent visit to the Southern 
Province, we were much struck with the 
evidences brought under our notice of social 
disorganisation, and indeed demoralisation, 
among the Sinhalese, in connection with 
the great " boom " in pliunbtigo. Tlie recent 
sudden rise in value, by fifty to a hundred 
per cent., had quite turned the heads of the 
people in districts where there is any prob- 
ability of the mineral being fotmd. Not 
only was agriculture neglected, — M'ork in 
the paddy fields delayed or postponed until 
too late, attention to gardens and planting 
a thing of the past, — but the "craze" had 
affected the villagers accustomed to work 
for the tea, planters ; it had moreover greatly 
disturbed domestic service — so that Sinlialese 
house serv.ints v.'ere at a premimn.- iuid it 
has even in some qnarterd emjitied the 
ichools ! In their haste to be rich, Sinlialese 
parents insist on their children working all 
day in cleaning and sorting the precious 
mineral and they call home house-boj's and 
appus to tttke a part in plumbago digging or 
exploiting. Not only so ; but we were assured 
that the industry with the new and gi'eatly 
sncreased wealth ^^■hicll it has brought and 
is bringing in, is provoking an unpre- 
cedented spirit of gambling. A European 
resident, who knows the people and th.eir 
language well in the Gaile district, declared 
that inste^ul of 10 and 50 cents— the ac- 
customed stake from each in a gambling 
bout,— the villagers or idlers now gamble 
for five rupees each ; and in one case, away 
out in the country, he had found each per.soii 
staking fifty rupees ! Then, again, just as 
gambling on horse-races in England has been 
brought within the reach of domestic 
servants, so in South Ceylon— and perh.ips 
in other plumbago-yielding divisions —persons 
now wander about asking appus and ayahs, 
cooks and table boys, to take a rupee, or 
five-rupee ticket, in a new plumbago mining 
company or village syndicate ; ancl so, in all 
these ways, phimbago mining and prepara- 
tion has provoked an extraordinary amount of 
gambling, with its inevitable concomitant of 
crime, among the people. 
We were especially struck with the many 
paddy fields out of cultivation, no doubt a 
direct result of the plumbago-mining mania. 
But we were assured by some old residents 
that ever since the abolition of the paddy 
rent — that is eight years ago — the tendency has 
been to circumscribe, rather than to extend, 
the area under culture. This is in accord- 
ance with experience in the Central Province 
under the old system which permitted the 
purchase of the rent at a value covering a 
certain number of years. V/here such pur- 
chase v.'as made, it was found that the 
object was almost invariably to have so much 
less to cultivate — to secure so many more 
holidays — rather than to get more crops or 
money ! Who will say that there was not 
