July 1, 1898.] THE TROPICAL AaRICULTURIST. 19 
(172,858 acres) ; Katha (166,400 acres) ; Pakokku 
(142,025 acres); Kyaukse (136,355 acres); and Saga- 
ing (115,000 acres). Lower Burma, Pega (678,200 
acres); Bassein (406,003 acres); Akyab (451,418 
acres) . Hanthawaddy (403.983 acres) ; Thongwa 
(394,ly4 acres) ; Henzada (297,199 acres) ; Thana- 
waddy (290,661 acres) ; Amherst (286,872 acres) ; 
and Prome (250,210 acres). For the other districts, 
in Upper Burma, the statistics fluctuate between 
84,000 and 1,838 and, iu Lower Burma, between 134,201 
and 1,249 acres. 
Ifc is commonly stated that 1,600 lb of paddy per 
acre is the average yield in Burma. That quantity, 
by deducting twenty-five per cent as loss of weight 
in husking, would show the yield to be fifteen niauuds 
of clean rice. Expressing that yield to the acreage 
returued, tlie total production may be said to have 
been for the year (1888-89) as follows ;— 
Maunds of Rice. Total Production. 
Lower Burma .. 6,10,14,090) 8,51,03,130 maunds 
Upper Do. .. 2,40,89,040 [ or 3,039,897 tons. 
The transfrontier trade to and from Upper Burma 
is not published, but the available statistics show 
the land traffic to and from the lower province, the 
transactions with Upper Burma being viewed as hs- 
tween a foreign country. These may be briefly 
reviewed : — Imports of rice and paddy 13,961 cwt 
and exports 2,738,723 cwt, thus showing a net ex- 
port of 38,00,663 maunds. The average exports to 
Upper Burma during the past nine years have been 
20,92,188 maunds. But viewing the transactions be- 
tween Upper and Lower Burma only, the net export 
from the latter to the former province was 38,11,262 
maunds, That amount has, therefore, to be added 
to the estimated production of the upper province. 
The figure thus obtained would have given to the 
population of Upper Burma a daily consumption 
of IJ seers per head. But as the amount thus shown 
is, judging from the similar results obtained for 
other provinces of India, exceptionally high, it may 
be pointed out that there are four possible errors : 
— The population accepted is a mere estimate and 
may be considerably below the mark; there were in 
Burma durin? that period a larga army of soldiers 
and camp followers which materially increased the 
rice-consuming population ; no allowance has been 
made for the exports beyond the frontier of Upper 
Burma ; and the figure of yield (fifteen maunds of 
rice to the acre) is that worked out for the lower 
province and may be too high for the mountainous 
tracts of Upper Burma. 
But in addition to its exports to Upper Barma, 
the Lower province has an extensive trade by sea 
to the provinces of India and to foreign countries. 
Besides Upper Burma, it has also a small land traflic 
wiXh Siam and Kareunee. The following balauce 
sheet of the rice traffic of Lower Burma may, there- 
fore, be given for the official year ending 31st March 
1889 :— 
Destination. Exports. Imports. Net Ex- 
ports. 
Maunds. Maunds. Maunds. 
Foreign Countries . . 1,99,52,090 310 1,99,51,780 
Indian Ports . . 5,35,498 1,05,482 4,30,016 
Land Iraflac . . 38,34,212 20,749 38,13,463 
Total.. 2,43,21,800 1,26,541 2,41,95,259 
These figures have been purposely made to ex- 
clude from consideration the transactions to and from 
ports within the province, and thus to exhibit the net 
exports from LoAer Burma. Owing to the disturb- 
ances in Upper Burma the exports to that province, 
during 1887 and 1888, were abnormally high, and 
the comparison with those of the succeeding year, 
therefore, showed an apparent, though not real, failing 
off, since the total exports were, during these years, 
adjusted by the tempor.iry decline and again restora- 
tion of ihe foreign trade. A slight confusion is also 
occasioned through the fact that the financial year 
ends (31st March) in the middle of the rice season. 
An average of the transactions carried out during 
a period of years would, however, admit of the cor- 
rection of this cause of confusion. To allow the above 
balance sheet to be compared with Other published 
statements, it may, for example, be said that the 
average gross exports (under the three headings shown 
in the table) for the past nine official years ending 
31st March 1890, have been -S, 95, 10,308 maunds or, 
say, 1,411,082 tons, and the average net export of any 
period of years would appear never to have exceeded 
40 million maunds. 
It need scarce be here added that paddy and rice 
have in these figures of Burma trade (as in tho-e 
of the provinces of India) been taken conjointly. 
The error thereby admitted into the calculations is, 
perhaps, more serious in the case of Burma than 
in any of the provinces of India, since the coast- 
wise exports are in nearly equal quantities of paddy 
and ric-'. But even this fact is greatly minimised 
by the immensely greater quantity of rice exported 
to foreign countries. If we accept the balance sheet 
as fairly correct, the net export deducted from tne 
estimated production would leave the amount which 
in the year in question was available for local con- 
sumption. That quantity expressed to head of popu- 
lation (viz., 3,736,771) would be about one pser 
per day. 
QUININE TO CONTINUE CHEAP: 
PROSPECTS OF THE JAVA MANU- 
FACTURES. 
The anomalous condition of the quinine-market has 
been slightly relieved. We have no previous occa- 
sions called attention to the influence which Java 
quinine may have upon the supply of Java bark, 
the European quinine-manufacturers' mainstay ; but, 
so far, the information in regard to the quinine- 
works in Java has been too general for definite con- 
clusions, while the supply of bark has increased 
rather than diminished. We now have more specific 
information before us, and, in presenting it, we, for 
clearness sake, review the conditions which prevailed 
before Java undertook the manufacture of quinine. 
We shall take it from the Amsterdam point of view, 
since the market there dominates the supply. It will 
be remembered that when Amsterdam reached that 
position, cheap bark and quinine became inevitable, 
and continued sales from the large London stocks 
threw greater quantities of bark on the market than 
the quinine-works required, very little was bought 
on speculation, and a decline in the prices naturally 
followed. The margin between the price of quinine 
and that of bark, which, in 1888, was 7fl. (lis 8d), 
gradually fell until in 1892 it was only 4fl., and at 
one of the auctions in that year it came down even 
to Bfl. (5s). With a margin of from 5fl. to 6fl. the 
manufacturers were still able to work with a good 
profit, but the downward tendency caused much 
dissatisfaction, and, to remedy matters, the most 
important quinine-manufacturers combined to depress 
the price of bark. Growers are natucally inclined 
to sell their output quickly, as very few of them are 
backed up by saflicient capital to allow their stocks 
to lie idle and increase ; so the combination had it 
all their own way until recently, when some Java 
planters resolved to turn their birk into quinine, 
which they reckoned would give them as goo i pro- 
tits as bark, and better if they embarrassed European 
quinine-manufacturers. Three factories have been 
established in Java, the most important being the 
Bandoeng quinine-works, which have been working 
for over twelve months, although it is only within 
the past two months that their quinine has come 
into the market. The company which owns the 
works is well suppliad with capital, otherwise it 
could not have met the difficulties which have 
repeatedly been placed iu its way, which dif- 
ficulties extended even to the fitting of 
the factory and its superintendence. These diffi- 
culties have been overcome, and when wo consider 
that the works have already done in the produc- 
tion of quinine it would bo unreasonable to exclude 
