430 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURLST. 
[Dec. 1, 1898. 
American colony, the chief calling port of all the 
great mail anrl passenger steamers for Austra la, 
China, or Calcutta, it is no wonder that Ceylon 
has become one of the favourite winter reboris 
and popular show places of the K«.btern worUl 
or that young men are still da/.zled with the 
prospect" of a planter's life in the land 
"Where every prospect pleases. 
Mr Ferguson, of course, does not confine him- 
self to tea, but every tropical product of any 
consequence is more or less dealt with-cortee, 
cocoa, coca, coconuts, cinnamon, areca, Kiiu 
and palmyra palms, rubber, nutmeg, ginger, ana 
vanilla, the great variety of fruits such as i)ine- 
apple, plantain, oranges, mangoes and mangos- 
teens, spices and essential oils, hbre yielding plant s, 
etc. for a full account of all of which we must 
refer the reader to the book itHeU.-Ahcnhen 
Journal, Oct. 17. 
SELANGOR PLANTERS' ASSOCIATION. 
General meeting-October 22aA. Mr. E. V. Carey. 
•^wTth^reg^'^d to the qaestion of arranging for 
funds to meet the expenses of the U.P.A. delegates to 
Java the Chairman said that in consequence of a 
suggestion from the S.P.A., the U P.A. Committee 
had de*:ided that an effort should be made to send 
delegates of the Ass.ciation to Java to investigate 
?he methods of treating Liberian coffee adopted 
there, with a tIcw to improving his quality of oui 
own, knd Messrs. V. B. Wickwar and G. shepherd had 
b^en asked to go. Uofortunately Ml^ W.ckwar vsas 
prevented from going by il ness, but Mr. C. Mtikle 
had been asked to go in his place and both he aud 
Mr. Shepherd had kindly consented. , „, . 
A teleLam from Mr. W. W. Bailey to the Chairman 
on the subject of sending delegates to Java and 
protection of a Dutch pulper was read to the meeting 
But could not be dealt with, as the question raised by 
Mr. Bailey had already been settled. 
grinding cocoa by band is 27 to 30 per cent. The 
value of raw cacao per lb is about 14 cents, and by 
adding 30 per cent lo tbe original cobt and make up 
for waste, we have a value of clean uugroand cucito 
of some 20 cents per lb. Take manufacture, griud- 
ing, Ac, to represent a value of 100 per cent (which 
would be an extreme estimate! we should have 40 
cents as the price of lib. of prepared chocolate witboat 
admixture of sugar. If again, we take 30 per cent 
of 40 cents — we have 14 cents for the cost of the 
cacao mixed in a pound of chocolate. This a4d«d to 
the cost of the sugar (some 4 cents) gives 18 cents 
or 9d, as the cost of hret-class prepared chocolate 
which is sold at 400 per cent above this ralue or 
3 shillings per pound. 
It seems a curious thing that the public have not 
as yet become alive to the fact that they are paying 
for sucar in' the form of chocolate at a ridiculously 
high rate For out of every 100 tons of chocolate 
Eold, there are 65 tons of sugar sold at 38 per lb ur 
at the rate of £33C per ton, while the poor planter 
is glad if he can get some i.'8 to i.'12 per ton — a 
maiter which seems to he deserving far.her inquiry 
on the iiuerests of West Indian planters. — Kev Built- 
tin for Oct. 
TEA PROSPECTS-CROPS AND PRICES. 
A planter, who travels a good deal over the 
tea distiiccs, reports as follows :— 
Every one is complaining of the w^eatlier. 
The ground is sodden, and tea la not flushing 
so well as might have been expected after a c ry 
August aud September. Indeed, in some dis- 
tricts the yield in October and November will 
be very disappointing. The surprising thins' is 
that tea is not higher in price seeing t,liat 
supplies have been falling short for some time 
nast. I am afraid wholesale buyers and dis- 
tributors and other Cheap-Jack people have done 
us a good deal of harm in the old country if only 
the truth were known." 
CACAO Vs. CHOCOLATE, 
Wishing to know what was really the percentage 
of sugar in manufactured chocolate of the best makers. 
I obtained a sample which was sold at the rate of 
3 shillings per lb in Port-of -Spam, the capi al of 
Trin dad Now out of this pound I found 6a per 
cent of sucrose, which might be either the sugar of 
the cane or beet sugar. At any rate there was 
Sesent 65 pet cent of sugar in the one pound o 
EhocoTate aFlowing this to^ave been of the very bes 
class it could no? have cost the manufacturers at 
wholesale prices more than 3 cents per lb. , 
The 35 pel cent cocoa and other material may be 
weU estimated as follows ;-Ih6 loss on roasting an^ 
MINOR PRODUCTS REPORT. 
CiNCH0K.\. — Good Huanocos and Guayaquil crown 
and rusty red barks were the principal ofiTerings today. 
The following were the prices realized : — Medium 
to bold Huanoco bright was limited ut 7d, one 
seron of water-damaged selling at quill S^d, email 
dark Guayaquil Loxa was bought iu at Is ; Guay- 
quil crown thin quill realized 7d 8d, and lud ; 
damages were limited at od and 6dfor unbroken ditto 
4Jd, was refused. Of red bark 46 packages offered, and 
mostly sold at 33 for bold open quUl of good colour ; 
ditto not so good, 23 Id. 2s 3d ; chips 8^d, and rusty 
3id per lb. 
OnoTOK Seeds. — The Japanese described in our last 
issue was limited at 82s 6d per cwt, aud 858 ia wanted 
for good bright Ceylon. 
Kola. — No business could be done publicly. 
The exports from Shiloango and Lnkula Congo Free 
State, during March, April and May 1898, amounted 
to 1,311 kilos (2,884 lb). 
Vanilla. — Reports to band this week from Bordeaux 
intimate that some important transactions have been 
put through duringthe last three weeks, and that stocks 
of good quality have been reduced. This briskness 
has been brought about by the present low prices 
and the good consumptive demand. Slightly dearer 
prices were paid today, and practically everything 
was sold. The following were some of the prices 
paid : — For brown poor Tahiti 4 to 6^ inches 6s 6d was 
bid and refased 8s being reqaried. Madagascar sold 
well, with fair competition at 22s for good chocolate 
.^i to 7 inches ; 6 to 7 inches 213; 6 inches 20s 6d ; 
4 to 5i inches 183 to 203 ; mixed sizes 19s to 193 6d ; 
to 6 inches 17s to IBs ; 3 to 4 iuf hes, 4 to 5 
inches 16s 6d ; and 3 to 4 inches 153 6d per lb. 
Bourbon 6 to 6J iuones 24s ; 5.J to 6 inches 23s ; 4 to 
54 inches 21s to 28= ; 7 to 8| inches 21s 6d to 22s 6d. 
Seychelles sold with keen competition at 203 6d for 
5 to inches ; 6J to 7 inches 22s 6d to 233 ; 4i to 
5i inches 20s; 5J to 7i inches 193 6d ; 5 to 6^ iochea 
14s ; and mixed sizes 13s to 143 per lb. — Chemiet 
and Druggist, Oct. 29. 
BRITISH NORTH BORNEO. 
" The country is going ahead aud planting ex- 
tending. Gold is now being dredged for in the 
Segammah, the manager being satisfied with 
his prospects. Tobacco is doing well and the 
improved prices for coffee may lead to further 
extensions. Our pearl fisheries at Kudat are 
bringing riches to the natives aud traders. At 
Liacabo aud Paitan on the East Coast seed and 
pearl Hslieries fx^ steadily ituprgving."— Co;', 
