August 1, 1898.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 125 
CEYLON TEA IN AMERICA— AND 
THE INDIA. CURRENCY QUESTION. 
June 21st. -I have been to see Mr. Wm. Mac- 
kenzie. Ceylon Tea Coiiinnssioner for North 
America, at the Ceylon Association rooms this 
morning. I found him looking extremely well 
after the voyage home. He said he had very 
little information to give regarding the immediate 
prospects of tea in America, having unburdened 
himself to the Committee shortly before leaving 
the island. The only comparatively new point 
was the 5d duty on tea which tlie American 
Government had imposed as a War Tax. The 
injury that this will do to the trade in tea is 
somewhat serious, and for the jiresent its sale 
will be considerably liampered. Of course America 
had to create some extra tax to provide revenue 
for the war which is proving far more costly 
than the nation had anticipated, £80,000,M(iO hav- 
ing been spent already. But a duty of half the 
amount, say 2id, on coffee would have produced, 
in the ordinary course of affairs, more tlian three 
times the revenue that will accrue from the or- 
dinary tea-duty. For coiFee is far more of a 
national diink in America than its later rival. 
For every 9 lb. of coffee consumed by the Yankee, 
the corresponding quantity of tea does not ex- 
ceed Ig lb. The only cause for this apparent 
shortsightedness in American finance must be 
found in the powerful iuffuence exercised by the 
laree coffee lirms in the States, such as the 
American Sugar Trust and Arbuckle & Co. They 
practically rule the market and may be said 
also to control any tiscal measures that may 
be proposed in Congress. It is doubtless their 
wire-pulling that has kept the coffee untaxed at 
a time when the immense revenue that a small 
impost would produce would have proved a wel- 
come addition to the resources of the American 
War Department. As it is, the very price of 
coffee, at wholesale rates, i-c, 4i per lb., is 
alone less than the duty now imposed on tea. 
Mr. Mackenzie had however heard this morning 
from one of Sir John Muir's men that an agita- 
tion had been started in America to obtain eitiier 
a remission of the present tea-tax, or else a 
similar treatment tor coffee. It would be a 
bolder stroke than one feels justihed in expecting 
(provided the influence of the big coffee ffrms is 
really as great as Mr. Mafkenzie believes) if 
the American Government were to equalize the 
circumstances of 
TEA AXD COFFEE 
by making a tax of 2M on each. They can hardly, 
in the case of pressing war-needs, remove the recent 
imposition, and it is only too probable that tea 
•will have to endure its hardship and make the best 
of it without hope of change for some time. 
The tax, taking the tea imports at 90,000,000 lb. 
is expected to yield rather more than If million 
sterling; but, as Mr. Mackenzie remarked, the 
higher prices consequent upon the new duty 
•will reduce the quantity of tea-drinking. Here 
lies the chief hojie of the even-handed justice 
that those interested in tea would desire. The 
American Government if they ffnd the tea revenue 
to be below their estimates may lie brought to 
see the superior imjiDrtance of coffee to them as 
a revenue- producing product and act accordingly 
witli decision and audacity, in spite of the long 
arm ot the millionaire kings of the bean. With 
reference to Sir John Muir's doinss in the Ameri- 
can tea market Mr. Mackenzie informed me that 
jt was an ei'ioi to suppose that that geatleman 
was favouring India at the expense of Ceylon. 
He had received a considerable number of orders 
for Ceylon tea, and was serving the interests of 
both without jiartiality. 
Mr. Mackenzie also told me that the Tea Com- 
missioner for Russia, Mr. Rogivue, is in town just 
now, so I will interview him in a few days if he 
has leisure. 
Mr. Leake came in for a few minutes before I 
left and he had written another letter to Ihe 
Times yesterday on the Currency questions, prov- 
ing from the words of Lord George Hamilton, 
Sir James Westland and Sir Henry Fowler, that 
the Indian Government had already gained, not 
lost, by the depreciation of the rupee and that 
the additional Indian Loan proposed would be 
an additional to the prosperity it had enjoyed 
through its borrowings. He was of opinion also 
that the re-opening of the Mint was bound to 
come eventually. As I was going, Mr. T. N. 
Christie turned up. He had come to meet a 
gentleman with a view to discussing the Currency 
question. I said 1 had hoped to see him before 
now, but had not found time. He had, however, 
been away in Scotland till yesterday, having 
had a bad attack of fever and been in the doctor's 
hands for days past ; but today he seemed 
fairly well. E. H. F. 
TICKS IN CEYLON AND AUSTRALIA. 
The Queenzlander of June 18th mentions that — 
"Ticks have now been received by the Stock 
Department from India, Ceylon, Batavia, Argentine 
and the Continent of Europe, which are identical 
with the true cattle ticks of Queensland, and, 
with the exception of Natal and Argentine, the 
ticks have no evil effect one way or another on 
the cattle." 
The specimens from Ceylon referred to are no 
doubt those sent by the Colonial Veterinary 
Surgeon. The request for the specimens from 
Queensland, with specimens of the Australian 
tick and bottles containing the preserving solu- 
tion for Ceylon ticks, came to the Superinten- 
dent of the School of Agriculture through Mr. 
J. G. Drieberg, D.E., Anuradhapura. The matter 
having been refened to Mr. Sturgess, that officer 
undertook to forward the required information. 
It appears that a tick found on goats which 
was sent from Ceylon is new to Queensland. 
The Queenslandcr who mentions that Mr. T. J. 
Kingsbury, of Town Hall Chambers, has brought 
before the notice of the Department of Agricul- 
ture an oil made from the Margosa tree of India 
{Azadimchta indicu), which is said to be 
very effective in destroying ticks ©n cattle. The 
oil is used in Ceylon for nearly all cattle dis- 
eases, and is mentioned by Mr. J, Affleck Ro- 
bertson, who has had thirty years' experience of 
cattle in Ceylon." The most common remedy, 
Ave may add, against ticks, and moreover a 
satisfactory one, is a mixture of salt and coco- 
nut oil. 
Rubber FUOJI Corn Oil.— This is theheadinR 
which the Fmamial News puts, with an ex- 
clamatory sign attached, to cover a statement 
that some Chicago chemists have providetl a sub- 
stitute for rubber by vulcanising the oil of corn. 
The South American rubber tree is going to be 
eclipsed by this dUcovQiy,— British and Colonial 
Druggist, June lU. 
