THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Sept. 1, 1898. 
trial, and they feliould have further supplies so 
that each estate could have a run of it for a 
ortnight at least. 
My own impression is, continued Mr. de Ilun, 
that the Calcutta rice will revert to satisfactoiy 
prices in the first week in AuiL^u.st, and will be 
able to compete with Kangoon rice. The shipping 
difficulties are over and the pla;,'ue reslnclions 
are not so stringent. The reason why ihe prices 
are linn in Calcutta is because a large per- 
centage of i)addy in the dealers' hands is not 
turned into rice., until they are satisfied thai 
the incoming crop will be a good one. The 
latest reports received by local dealers show tliat 
the crop will be a good one, and therefore this 
old paddy, with a large percentage of the new, 
will be turnel into the niaiket. 
In another column wc ))ublish a very in- 
teresting lleport by Mr. JacUson, Acting Col- 
lector of Customs, Colombo, ami Mr. E M 
Shattock, of Messrs Lea H'-dges and Company 
on their recent visit to Kangoon to make en- 
quiries into the conditions of the Burma rice 
trade with special reference to the supplying of 
Ceylon with a rice suitable to the needs of her 
cooly population. There was recently Ji boom 
among the Colombo Chetties in broken rice fiom 
Burma, buc the coolies refused to purchase it and 
planters would not taken it at a gift. The 
schemes put forward in the Report under re- 
ference seem to be thoroughly practical and 
business-like and there is probably a great future 
for Burma rice in Ceylon.— 71/. Mail. 
MINOR PRODUCTS 
The 
REPORT. 
C.VRBAMOMs.— Offerecl, -131 cases. Sold 31G 
following rates were obtained — Ceylon-Mysore,_ fine 
bold 3s ;)d to iii lid 
3s 4d ; fine medium 
23 5d ; good 
23 Gd ; good 
CocAiNB.— The official qoot&tions for muriate are 9e 
Dd and 9s Gd, but a eiuall amount of busiacss bai 
been passing at a few pence less per oz. 
CiTuoNiiLi.A Oil. — Business has been done this week 
at 12 l-lOthd per lb, c.if., for October shipment. 
CocA-LHAvEs.— Ceylons sold at 7^d per lb for good 
bright pale. Truxillos were offered and bouglit in 
at Od per lb. Privately Haanoco leaves are lOd per 
lb, c.i.f. 
Croton Skeds. — In better supply, and e'inbtly 
cheaper for second quality, wbicb sold at C58 to 7l8 
for medium sizep, slightly dull ; 858 to 878 Od was 
refused for iiue bright, and from 908 to 958 per cwt. is 
wanted. 
LE.M0.NGiiAes Oil — Quiet. An attempt on the part of 
speculators to " bull " the market had no effect upon 
it, and there is plenty oil available in London at Id 
to Jjd per oz. on the spot, while there are sellers for- 
ward at 3}d, and buyers at H^d. In auction a parcel 
was offered "without reserve," and sold at 3£d per oz. 
Another lot was bought in at 5d. 
Vanii.la.— Easier. Only Maaritius sold. They were 
mostly good beans, well-frosted or chocolate, and 
the following were the rates realised : — 5J to 6 
inch, 178 to 17s Od; to 7 inch 198, Ifs 6d, 
IGs, 203 Od; 7i to 8 inch 20b; 7 to 7i inch 
178. Small brownish beans: 3} to 5 inch IGs; 4§ 
to 5 inch lis Od, 13s; 4 to 5 inch 13s; & to 
5^ inch 15s; to 0 inch 158 Od ; 0 to Ci inch 14s 
10s ; 8 to 8^ inch IGs Od ; slightly mouldy 58 Od. 
The exports from Tahiti in 1697 were 75,740 lb 
(£35,408) against .59,134 lb (£10,057) in lH% and 
50,028 lb (£7,209) in 18'.)5. In 1K97 the value of the 
vanilla sent to the United States was £20,230 ; 
Great Britain £2,219 ; New Zealand £0,281 ; and 
France £0,042. In January lb97, vanilla at Tahiti, 
was worth £1 per kilo, aud it gradually rose in value 
to £1 103 per kilo, in April, after which it gradually 
declined to 103. — Chemist and Di wjgist, Jnne 25. 
fine medium bold 3s 3d to 
3s ; fine small 23 3d to 
medium bold 2s ; good medinm 
za uu small 2s Id ; brownish and splits 
Is lid to 23 Id; seeds 23 (low) 23 9d. Ceylon— Malabar, 
line bold '23 9d ; fair small to medium, 2s 3d. Native, 
^^Ko^Li^NuTs.— Offered, 19 packages. Sold, 19. An 
unusual clearance was made from the catalogiies lu 
the case of this article ; bold West Indian and Ceylon 
nuts each fetched 2id, and fair washed nuts offered 
without reserve M— British and Colonial Bniigist, 
June 24. 
Cinchona.— The monthly auctions wars held on Tues- 
day when only a small quantity of bark was offered. 
A fairly animated tone prevailed throughout, and 
the bulk of bark offered was sold at fully previous 
London sales' prices, aud rather better than at the last 
Amsterdam auctions. The unit averaged Jd to ti 
tier lb 'J he ten catalogues comprised 2,724 pack- 
ages (against 4,145 in May), which were, divided as 
follows :— 
Packages. Packages. 
1,S98 of which 1,70G were sold 
Bast Indian cinchona 
South American cin- 
choua (Calisaya) . 
Java cinchona. • 
Ceylon cinchona 
2id ; 
hrancr'sid ; Tenewed stem chips 4ad ; and 'root, 5d 
Ser lb ' Succirubra, poor to fair stem chips and sha- 
v;iig3,'lSd to 23d;_ditto, renewed, 2d to 2ad. 
be "held at _ Amstjirdam on July 
. 349 
do 
152 do 
. 226 
do 
21D do 
. 224 
do 
189 do 
. 27 
do 
27 do 
2,724 
2,347 
X, natural stem chips, 
CocoA^BUTTER — The uext oocoa-butter auctions will 
held at Amsterdam on July 5th, and wiil consist 
of GO tons Van Bouten's and 10 tons Hehn Irand. 
On the same date 40 tons Oadbury's brand will be 
offered, in London. 
TEA SEED. 
A writer on " Tea Seed, its Varieties and Capa- 
bilities," discusses the subject of how many different 
kinds exist at present. He states that " there are 
two varieties of Manipuri that exist in what is known 
as the small Hack one, and the yellow one. " Hun- 
dreds of maunds of this seed have passed through 
my hands, but I have never noticed that there existed 
the two varieties named. We all live and learn. I 
should like to know if any of my brother planters 
have noticed that Manipuri seed is of two kinds, black 
and yellow. Jacobson in his " Handbook for the Culti- 
vation and Manufacture of tea in Java" writes: — "A 
change in the plant takes place, by changing the seeds 
in different lands. -1 difjeience in the colour of the fruit 
becomes al.'iO perceptible." I have consulted several 
works on tea but can find no other allusion to differ- 
ences in colour of seed. Bad seeds, those which have 
kernels and are merely shells, are of a sickly yellow 
colour, but I doubt if f/ood, sound seeds vary in colour. 
Dr. Watt distinguishes different varieties of tea by the 
number of veins in the leaf but we want to know more. 
A small pamphlet before me gives the following infor- 
mation : — '' There are several varieties of the tea-plant, 
each of which is called after the country in which it ia 
found growing wild or to which it is indigenous. Tte 
principal of these being the following, viz : — The 
(''hina variety is a small bush, growing under favour- 
able circumstances to 8ft. or 10ft. in height. The 
^ssam variety is a free growing shrub, growing to 20ft, 
or 25ft. in its wild state. The Cachar variety is a 
very strong growing plant, and is found wild in the 
jungles as a tree from 40ft. to 50ft. in height. The 
Manijyur variety also grows as a tree, but is not so strong 
growing as the Cachar variety, and has more lanceolate 
shaped leaves. There are numerous hybrids between 
these, the best yielding of which, are found to be the 
hybrids between the indigenous Indian varieties and 
the China plants." Such is the meagre information 
supplied. The chapter on tea seed has yet to be writ- 
ten, for none of our present works on tea exhibit any 
. really definite knowledge of the subject. — The Planter. 
