174 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Sept. 1, 1898. 
are, we believe, something over 200,000 frnns in 
tlie island, and a yearly tax of lU i>er n»n 
would enable the (Government to go a jjood deal 
further in protectin<? Kanie, and at the name 
time to obtain revenue from a tax M'hich would 
not entail any hardship on the |«eople who have 
to pay, while it would enable Government to 
know in whose ])ossessi<)n most of the Riin.s are, 
and a 10 % commission to the headmen for collect- 
ing this tax M'ould doubtless induce them to 
take some trouble in collecting it. 
" GOOD BUSINKS.S." 
(To the Editor of the IT. and C. Mail, July l.st.) 
Sir, — In your is.sue of June '24lli, you comment on 
the re|)oit of Biooke, Bond & Co., Limited, under 
the heading as above, "Good Bu.siness." Allow me 
as a looker on, to jioint out that the report of the 
sime Company for the previous year showed " Bet- 
tar business still," inasmuch as the Company tlien 
earned a total of .f48,0OI ]7m Cd, out of wliich sum 
they redeemed dehentures at a cost of £10,.").jS, 
leaving a nett dis))osable profit of .£37, 443 IT-s (id. 
This, 1 would point out, is very dill'erent to the re- 
sults of this year's opcr.'itions, as no debentures 
have been redeemed, and it would thus anpear, as 
the profits are stated at £.S2,000 , that tlierc is a 
falling away of about £10, (OO, Wholesale tea 
blendei slike this Coni|)aiiy who, by the way, carrj' 
on extensive retail business at Leeds, Bradford, and 
Manchester, have no insect pests such as ' red 
spider," "greenfly," and blight to contend with, 
but are subject to excessive competition, low prices, 
etc.; for example " true tea " at tenpcnce retail. 
It is ]K).ssible for any dealer to sell " true " that is 
clean, pui e Indian and Ceylon tea at such a price 
and maintain prolits? — lam, sir, yours, etc. S. 
London, June 27th, 1898. 
RUSSIAN TEA. 
lb is always interesting to note what may be 
the beginnings of a hii: industry. J,ast year the 
first crop of tea that has ever been growii in 
Kussia was .secured by Mr. Popoff, a Russian 
tea merchant. On March 14th he w.as received 
in audience by the Czar, and he gave him a 
sample of the new crop. As tea is largely con- 
sumed in Russia, and cost just twice a.s much 
as it does in England, it is possible that there 
is as great an opening for the te.a planters as 
there was for the vine-grower in that country. — 
Westminster Budget, July 1. 
Mica in Quebec. —In a paper on " Afining in 
Quebec," read before the Federated Canadian 
Mining Institute, it was stated that seveial pro- 
spects for mica were made in the Gatineau distiict, 
but that they were of small importance. In the 
vicinity ef Perkins mill, in Teiupleton, three im- 
portant companies have worked regulailj', and 
taken out a large quantity of mica, well adapted 
for electric purposes, of wliich a good part has been 
sold in Canada and in the United States. It is 
very difbcult to give exact figures regarding this 
mineral, on account of the numerous qualities and 
sizes, representing as many different prices, but 
according to the best information it is estimated 
that about 200 sliort tons of thumb-trimmed mica 
have been taken out, 90 men being employed. The 
demand has diminished, on account of the high 
duty in the United States, and only the hot grade 
of electrical mica is wanted. No mine of white 
mica was worked last summer, — The Electrical 
Engineer. 
A RECORD SALE IN "liEU TEA LEAF" 
AND THE HISTORY THEREOF. 
A planter writes : — " You are a nieatly de- 
nouncer of the (jliipper of ' rubbi«hy teas,' and 
in that 1 agree with you. Yet I have liumbly 
to confess that I have been in the I^ondon market 
with rubblKh, and come out in a way tliat lias 
surpriseil nic. My 'flutter' was forctil upon ine, 
^or I had i-liipped rood iSroken I'ekoe, and while 
it was in Colombo— presumedly between the tstore 
and tiie wharf— some of the clictsts were tam- 
pered with, emiitied of their contents, and a 
vile 8am|>]e of red leaf and dirt was substitute<!, 
I W88 not tlie only sufferer ; other niaiku were 
tieatcfl in the same way, and the thing was ilone 
so neatly that it was only by very careful ex- 
amination that it externally became evident that 
tlie chests had been opendi. Tlie lead inside 
was cut, and left unsoldered. A eaiiiple of the 
'muck' was forwarded to nic fnim Ivondon, and 
instructions asked for: Would iliey fell it, or 
what? 1 naturally grumbled a good deal, for I 
made ture that the lof.H would have been le>8 
had the chests been walked oflf with for good, 
but to be filled ui) with a kind of no quality 
tea, and on which I would liave to pay tlie 
usual shipiiing charges, etc., vas like ashling 
insult to injury. What to do with it? '1 hat 
was a question, and I expected t<» see my 
estate mark with a sale of Bioken Mixed at IJd 
or 2d a lb. and to read ai;ain a burst of indigna- 
tion from various quar ers, on the iniquitous 
cut-thro;it policy of shipjiing ruldti^h and 'spoil- 
ing tlie face' of Ceylon teas. So I replied to 
niy London friends, that I left the problem with 
them ; they could selT it or abandon it if they 
liked, but they were to take no course that 
would land me in any extra expenses, and there 
1 left it. Fancy my astonishment to get by 
the mail just in, a memo of sale for this unique 
thing in teas — and 4jd landed ! I am sorry I 
threw away the samples which were sent ine, 
for I am sure the all-seeing e litorial eye if it 
had seen them would have admitted tlrit here 
was (and at the price) something it h.ad never 
seen l)efore. Four-pence-farthing for such stuff 
is surely a thing only to be dreamt of ! 1 Who 
could be the buyers of this undrinkahle stuff and 
how could it be utilized?" 
"P.S. — I find that my tea maker Aha- kept back 
a sample of the ' Broken mixed ' which I told 
him to throw out. So I send it for inspection." 
^lessrs. Someiville & Co. have been good 
enough to report on the sam])le sent us as 
follows; — "Brownish flaky mixed dusty; liquor 
very coniinon. London value 2d ; Colombo equi- 
valent at exchange Is 4|d = G cents." This in- 
creases the mystery of ti;e London Sale at 4id ? 
"We trust this will not be taken as an encourage- 
ment to go in for the shijiment of " rubbishy 
tea" worth l^d to 2d in the hope of " landing" 
4d to 4J(3 ! — a trade whicli undoubtedly the lull 
abolition of the tea duty would be apt to foster. 
There is, however, no chance of getting rid of 
this duty save by gradual steps — the first ju-oba- 
bly being a reduction from 4d to 3d ; then another 
year from 3d to 2d ; and then, after an interval, 
total abolition. 
