314 
THE TROPICAL AGRICUI-TURIST. [Nov. 1, 1898. 
of Manilla heinp, various rubbers, and one or two 
kinds of Eucalyptus, auionftst llicin being the 
sweet-siuellii)}; species, were al^o to be, seen. 
Mediciual plants mch as titrychnos nux uomicic 
{of a miniature size), tlic Can)plior plant, 
from wliicli a heart medicine is prepared, 
(one of the two plants we saw bein^ worth £10); 
and food plants, sucli as the ai-nal potato, a 
climbing plant, which has Ion;,' fibrous tendrils 
often uf^ed for twine and the fruit of which yrow-s 
alonL' its stem afc points where the leaves sprout, 
the edible yoUow Passion fruit (I'assillorus edulus) 
the flavour of which jMr. Chiisty said was the 
best in the world, the coca plant, the Paraj^uay 
tea (Mattel), and the American chicklc or chew- 
gum,— these opcupied the major jioriion of the 
hot houses. There were also luxuiianl ;;rowths of 
maiden hair, and two varieties of cis-us, the one 
with delicately marked finely coloured leaves and 
the other wiih long stragi/ling tendrils ; aud 
Bome good begonias, one being a dcw variety 
only lately discovered and introduced from a 
small island off the coast of Uiazil. Cuming out 
into the open we inspected a large bed of violets 
containing every conceivable variety from the 
Neapolitan, the red and the white, down to the 
common scentless blue single violet, anil one violet 
only brought there a year before and called the 
Princess of Wales having a stalk a foot long 
and a flower as laige as a ]^Mv-y but withoiit 
smell; a double sunllower seemingly all petals 
and no centre ; a French raspberiy (ot rich flavour) 
obtained from Belgium ; and a large bed of the 
rarer sorts of roses, Ma.Umc de Wateville, Docteur 
Grill, tSrc, many of wh;ch look prizes at the 
Belgian Exhibition last year. 
lOd per tt) c i.f . There is reported to be an Abandut 
Btotk of ibo former iu Ncw York. 
KoLA.— Neglected. The only sale in •uction wm S 
bagi of Afnoau quarters al Is pet tti, tubject to 
approval. _ , J 
Vanilla — Only a poor assortment onerefl and 
mostly told tit easier rates. Bold Bourbou beaus, of 
fiae chocola'.e colour, realised 1b 6d to 21s per lb; 
foxy Bouibjn. of various JfcoKlhs. &s to 13* for Blightlj 
crystalised ; various mouldy lots 28 6d and 8b 9d. 
Seychelles, fine Irosted inches \'ii.—Chemt6t and 
Uiu'jijist, Sept 3. 
MINOE PRODUCTS REPOKT. 
CiTnoNfeLLA OiL.-Quiet, cases at Is 4d, and drums 
at l3 aa spot At today's drug auctions 15 drums were 
bffered and bought in. on o r.^«^ 
Cinnamon OiL.-Offered 7 cases. Sold 0. Good 
bark oil wns boiiRht in today at Is «d to Is 8d. 
EucAiAi'Tus OiL.-OfEt-red 18 casce. bold 0. Cyg- 
net brand was bought in at 2.. Good Portuguese 
Elobulous oil was sold before the auctions ; it is 
selling privately at Is 9d. Australian AmygdaUna 
oil was bought in at Is Od ; it is offering at 
British ami Vulonial Di wi'nal , Sept. 2. 
yjd,— 
this bark, 
here ; but 
for tlie few 
CANF.i.t,A.— There ia great scarcity of 
for which there has been some deniaud 
the principal holder wants .'lOs per cwt 
bales he has, and we hear of nothing less than tliat. 
CiN-CHONA —The sales in Amsterdam on ihursday, 
August 25th, went off quietly, and as reported by 
cablegram in onr issue of last week, the uuit de- 
clined to 40Gc. A portion of the inamifacturmg 
bark sold as low as Sic per unit and the highest 
touched was 4ie per unit The r.ohest bark 
was a parcel of 20 bales Ledgeriaua, which assayed 
9-32 per cent of quinine sulphate and the poorest 
was a Sucoirubra root-bark, which yielded 1-48 per 
cent Of the 7,503 packages offered, 5,658 sold. 
Cocoa Butter.— The next auctions at Amsterdam 
will be held on September 13fcb, and will consist 
of 75 tons VanHouten; 10 tons Helm, and 18 tons 
Suchard brand. On September 6th 45 tons Cad- 
burv's brand will be offered by auction m London. 
CiNCHONA.-South American crown and grey bark 
Bold fairly well, good clean Huanooo qmll fetching 
9d to lOd per It,, and Loxa varieties 'gd to S^d 
according to condition. Thin cnltivated yellow bark 
sold at 3d to4ad,and Id for dark and damaged stuff 
Coca LEAVBS.-The only variety offered today was 
Ceylon, which sold at lld to ll^d for good bright 
gi^en. Privately, good green Truxillo leaves are 
at t9 6d, and dark green Huanoco 
TEA PROSPECTS. 
No one i)ut the ca^e for Indian and Ceylon 
verisus China Tea and the iiiHuence of Exchange 
more clearly to the Currency Coniniiiw-ion than 
Mr. S. A. Ralli of Italli IkolUera. Here in * 
passage from his evidence : — 
Do you consider that the closing of the mints places 
the ludian and Ceylon produce al a great disadvaLtag* 
iu competition with similar produce from China and 
Japan ?— Undoubtedly, but not immediately. 
Do you think at present the tea trade is enffering 
from the high rate of exchange ?—Tboae who are 
iu the tea trade, who have gardens both in India aud 
Ceylon, tell me fo, certainly. 
I am asking your opinion ?— 1 hare not been 
into tea gardens; I wish 1 had been, because they 
have paid \erv well iu late years, but now they do 
not pay 60 well. 
I do not know whether yon have seen a probpectus 
that has come out thi» morning. There is a very 
large set of tea gardens for sale, and it is stated that 
the output of the estates for the fea«on of 18;'G97 
wa« I,y8o,6t>0 lb.; in 1897 yi* the output was 2.U45,f>02 
lb.; and the CHtimate of crops for isaw- 99 is 2,210,000 
ib. It is also stated, as to the principal estate which 
was formed in June 1896, which was after the clot>ing 
of the mints and after the high rate of exchange, the 
first year's operations were EuHicient to allow of a 
dividend of 12 per cent, on the ordinary shares, and 
the latest reports show a large increase of profits. 
Now if that prospectus is correct, about which I 
kuow nothing, it would imply that there is a very 
laige prospect V— There was. 
But this IS money asked today in London for the 
property ? — There was, but now there is not mnch 
profit. I wanted to tell you what is the reason of 
the great devlopment of the tea trade during late 
years. They have been favoured by a low exchange, 
but that is not the priucipal reason. It is because 
tea is manufactured in India and Ceylon by scientific 
process. The Chinaman, who produces his tea as it 
was produced 4,000 ye*r8 ago, has no chance whatever 
to compete with India and Ceylon. But immediately 
yon have the central provinces of China under English 
control ^^ith Englisn administrators, and there ii 
safety for money and property, and the exactions of the 
maudarins cease, if China is on the lOd. basis, the tea 
industry in Iniia will certainly be killed, and it is for 
that very reason that a great many of the tea planters 
of India instead of cultivating their gardens on their 
own account are turning them into companies. 
And Sir F F. Adam later on spoke out after 
this fashion :— 
Do you think the development of China will be 
rapid ? — I think, from the signs that we now sae, 
that it is going to be rapid. Of course, we know 
that China is a marvellous conutrr- It has a most 
industrious population and splendid resource!, and 
I think that in the course of the next 10 years 
China will develop more than she has done in the 
last 200 years— or 800 years for the matter of that. 
Hare you anything to say about wages in China * 
— I think in China, as in India, wages move very 
slowly. The first effect of any development is of 
course on the price the landlord gets for his produce, 
and the effect of any great stimulus of preduction 
takes a long time to make itself fel^ thQ cl^Si 
ftjt call the wage-earcing class, • ■ . ^ 
