AUGITST 1, 1898.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 115 
serious complieatious, he thought it better to leave 
the currency question as it now is. After soaie 
general discussion the Chairman proposed and Mr. 
W Meikle seconded the following resoliition, which 
was cai-ried unanimously — viz : — "That in the opinion 
of this Association any action having for its object 
fixity of exchange is undesirable in the interests of 
the planting community." 
Read letter from Secretary to Government inviting 
the Assistance of the Association to effect the ascep- 
t mce on the part of Estate Managers in Srlangor 
of the views expressed by the Government of Iiidi.i to 
the effect that coolies shoald not denied su3tenanc3 
in cases of malingering, but that the proper remedy 
for contumacious refusal to work is punishment as 
provided by law. Resolved that the Hon. Secretary 
inform the Government that it is the custom on Estates 
to make advances of money and food to coolies 
who may be without means of subsistence and are 
in consequence disposed to malinger. 
Read letter from Messrs. Barlow & Co., in reply 
to certain queries made by the Association in re- 
ference to the proposed (during Mill at Klang, inti- 
mating that they will keep the queries bsfore them, 
but with the immediate future so gloomy they thinK 
it wiser to break off negotiations for the present. 
Coconut Trees Preseevatiox Enactmexi, 1898. 
The Chairman said that now with coffee at siich 
rninously low figure, planters had to look to other 
products to make up for the loss, and it behoved 
Government to give us .all the assistance in its 
power such as the stringent enforcement of the 
Enactment in question. This had been done in Pro- 
vince Wellesley and Singapore with good effect, and 
should be done here, where a great deal of capital 
was being invested in the coconut industry. 
The Chairman read a letter from Mr. F. A. Toynbee 
offering to assist the Association in pushing of our 
coffee by the sale of packets, and in the opinion of 
the meeting the offer was well worthy of oonsidera- 
lion, Tom Gibson, Hon. Secretary, S.P.A. 
Klang, 20th June, 1898. 
— ♦ 
TEA BROKING IN CALCUTTA. 
We are in receipt of tlie business circular of Mr. 
Louis Campbell Baines from 3, Man^oe Lane, 
CalcuUa, 29th June and we quote as follow.s : — 
I have this day established myself in business at 
the above addresss under the style of Baines & Co. 
as Tea, Indigo, and General Produce Brokers, as- 
sisted by the staff of the late firm of Messrs. William 
lyioran & Co. I have authorised Messrs. Bertram 
Stausbnry and George Henry Louis Mackenzie to 
sign my firm, and beg to call your attention to our 
respective signatures at foot. The late partners in 
Blessrs. William Moran & Co., to whom 1 have been 
an assistant for the past eighteen years, share with 
me the hope that all their friends and constituents 
will extend to me the same support, as was afforded 
to them, and every endeavour will be made by me, 
and the staff, to .ensure the efficient conduct of all 
business entrusted to my firm. 
EXTKACTION OF RUBBER. —We read that at the 
Trinidad Agricultural Exhibition — the Botanical 
Department exhibited a new form of macliine for 
the extraction of rul)ber, Mr. Hart directing tlie 
operation.s which were carried out on the spot. 
The r'lhber in the space of two minutes is 
separated from tlie latex, or milk of the Castilloa 
tree, and is then put to dry. In llie space of 
three hours, sheets or slabs of fi;;e ciear market- 
able rubber is produced, free from the usual 
amount of proteid and albuminoid matters wliich 
are usually found in rubber produced by the ordi- 
nary process. Some 22,000 people visited the Ex- 
hibition, which was a great success. 
DIRECT PRODUCE SUPPLY 
ASSOCIATION. 
We have now received some further informa- 
tion about the proposal brought under the notice 
of our readers by our well-known correspondent 
'■J.L.S." We have been jjlaced in possession of 
a Circular which has been addressed to several 
who have tea businesses and which, we learn 
has been very favourably received : so much so 
that the project is certain now to go on and the 
larger it can be made and the more it embraces, 
the better for all interested. Some friends of the 
proposal at home think the promoters shouhl 
start in competition with the huge cheap, tea- 
supplying concerns and cut them out; but to'enter 
into competition witli such Houses would only 
still further lower the price to the consumer anil 
consequently to the jjroducer. If it is decided 
to raise tiie price of tea it can only be done 
by getting people to pay more for it, and the 
scheme now proposed will — to all appearances, 
and "J.L.S." is especially confident— have the 
effect of arresting the steady fall, and possibly in 
raising the price. Tho-e who have already built 
up connections for the distribution and sale of 
Ceylon tea or other produce, can capitalize them 
according to the information given in the Cir- 
cular ; and those who can buiid up connections and 
have not ah-eady ilone so can work as commis- 
sion agents at ten per cent clear piotit upon all 
business introduced. Workin* as a commission 
agent, it seems, will onlj' mean sending home a 
list of names to whom circulars and price lists 
may be forwarded. This ready-made machinery will 
save part of the enormous expenditure on advertizing 
and employing travellers which otherwise would 
have to be paid. Tlie promoters are anxious to 
lose not a moment in putting the project through, 
so if any of their friends in Ceylon think of join- 
ing they should write at once. The new Company 
is likely to have agents in all the large towns 
to take orders, but not lock up large stocks of 
tea in the country, supplying as far as possible 
direct from London. \Ve now reproduce the pie- 
liniinary Circular referred to above : — 
This Company is formed to take over and amal- 
gamate several going concerns, which have made the 
supplying of Ceylon tea their special object, and also 
of coffee, cocoa, pepper, curry powder and other 
articles of common use, which they procure direct 
from the place of production and can thus offer to 
the public on exceptionally favourable terms. The 
going concerns which are now being taken over are 
all purchased at a price which shows 10 per cent 
nett profit for the last three years, and it is estimated 
that the economies in working expenses which will 
result from the amalgamation will considerably increase 
this return. In addition to which the introduction 
of many new shareholders largely interested iu the 
cultivation of tea in Ceylon will, it is confidently 
expected, aff'ord a cheap and valuable advertising 
medium which will very largely increase the busiuess 
and consequently the dividends of the Company. 
The supporters of these businesses are composed 
chiefly of those who can appreciate a good article 
and are prepared to pay a fair price for it, who 
realise that the lowest priced article does not neces- 
sarily offer the best value, and who are aware that 
" the finest tea the world produces" cannot be retailed 
at prices below wh.at it realises in Mincint: Lane; 
and while the object of this Company will be to 
supply tea at prices v,-bich will suit the wants of 
all, special attention will be given to placirg the 
very best tea at reasonable prices within the reach 
of everyone. No promation money will bo paid, and, 
to ensure continuity of goodwill, the vendors to the 
Company will in no case take less than half the 
purchase money in shares. The extra capital which 
