m THE TROPICAL 
Atbara and Chitial Campaigns had received appreci- 
ative attention ; (3) Thai no compulsion was at 
present used to make the Boldiers drink anything 
uor-alco!ioiic to the exclusion ol alcohol. 
4th. That the soldier could buy as much beer, wine, 
etc., as he liked in canteen. (There is practically 
no arunkeniiesa in the Austrian Army). 
.5th. ThQ,t if I conld supply the General Staff with 
further detailed information as the value of tea 
for forced work, that my communication would re- 
ceive attention.' 
I suggest then that the matter be treated as 
follows : — 
That a Sub-Committee be appointed to draft a 
treatise on the dietetic value of tea. An analyst 
would be the best man to procure for the scicntitio 
portion of the work and a little co-operntioQ 
from practical ptanteis would be sufficient to give 
the work a permanent value. The pamphlet could 
be printed for permanent use in the extension of the 
use of Geylou tea iu Europe and America. 
This pamphlet should bs freely circulated among 
the medical press, and any favourable criticisms ap- 
pended to later editions. 
Your Continental Agent could personally approach 
professors of Medical Bcience in Austria and Ger- 
many on this point. Much attention is paid by the 
public to their pronouncements and many of these 
gentlemen are already predisposed in favour of 
Ceylon tea. 
CONCLUSION. 
It must be noted that my report is to a certain 
extent barren of practical result as I was not em- 
powered 10 make any specific promise of assistance to 
[certain persons who are willing to consider the question 
of cealing in Ceylon tea only, and this indefinite 
state of affairs must continue until your Committee 
have a discriminatiug representative on the spot. 
A distinct offer to pay for advertising would bring 
forward, not one, but many Hums of repute willing 
to give prominence to Ceylon tea. 
In conclusion I have to thank His Excellency Sir 
Horace Rumbold, our H.B.M. Ambassador, and Col. 
Wardrop, British Military Attache, as well a? Mr. 
VV. N. Beauclerk, H.B.M.'s Consul at Buda-Pesth for 
their help and assistance. I have also to acknowledge 
the personal pains taken by Mr. H. VV. Cave to make 
the volume of Picturesque Ceylon, presented by your 
Committee to the Emperor Franz Joseph on the 
occxsion of his .Jubilee, worthy of the occasion. He 
also supplied me with an album of photographs 
relating to tea which was of much value in explaining 
from time to time the nature of the Island Industry. 
CEYLON TEA IN HUNGAtiV. 
The remarks made as to tea in Vienna practically 
cover the question of tea in Huugary. The Hun- 
. garians are a less conservative and more pushing 
people than the Austrians and (although at present 
consumers of but a small quantity of tea) shows signs 
of taking an increased amount in the near future. 
TEA IN GERMANY. 
In my passage through Dresden, Berlin and Bremen, 
I was able to note the large strides that are being 
made in the consumption of tea in Germany, I 
particularly noticed the efforts of Mr. Hagsnbeck to 
push your staple in Berlin. He has expended a large 
amount of capital iu the best possible way, and I have 
no doubt will be successful in introducing tea to 
thousands of persons who otherwise would not have 
heard of it. 
Prom Stu tgart Mr. Charles Bohring«r reports 
satisfactory progress and Mr. Charles Osswald is 
adveitising extensively and in the most attractive 
manner from Winterthur. — I have the honor to remain, 
your obedient servant, 
(Signed) JAMES P. RYAN, 
Eingslaad, Hereford, Oct. 27. 
THE MANURING OF COCONUT— IN FINE. 
Dear Sir,— I thank " A Coconut Planter" for 
the conciliatory tone of his last letter I would, 
ike him, ^visjh to say a last word. 
AGRICULTCRIST. [Dkc. 1, 1898 
I nuLst Htill maintain that the charge made 
aj^ainst iiie is nnwai ranted a^-- I shall evphiin. 
My remarks in the A(jrkull ural Ma'jazine may 
be divided into two jtarit*. (1) I };ave the pro- 
l)ortions of a mixture af castiir-cake, l*one du-it 
and aslie>< recoiiiuieiided by a \\\'^\\ autlioiity, and 
converted the last two into tlieir e<iuiv!il«;iiLs in 
Thmiias' plir)s;)hale and kainit. (2) I quoted Mr. 
Cocliran'w formula and remarked tlial liie (juantities 
of castor cike ami bone dust correHpondini; to it 
were lai;;er than tliose usually applied. Had I 
t/iken account of the plios-'iihori"- acid in castor- 
cake it wou'd have warranted nie in iiiaUin;; a 
further cotnpl.iiut as to the larye quantity of 
biiue du.st reconiiuended. but enousfh of tins 
quibbliiif,' over tlie |)ercent j;,'e» of phosphoric acid 
or potasli in au essentially nitro^ienous manure 
such as castor cake, or over the nilrofjen in an 
eminently idiospliatic fertilizer f-wch a.s bone dust. 
With re^anl to llie aritliinetleal pu/.zle pro- 
pounded hy "'A (Jocouut rianter'asio the quantity 
of phosphoric acid which castor-cake iniportn into 
the soil, the cxplaaation in his last ii^tter hah 
not helpeil to clear the coafusioa which appar- 
ently led me astray. Even now it is not known 
what he means by 'a doze of the manure.' 
What manure ? Presumably a nii.\lure of castor- 
cake ami hone <lnst. Then, if the former i» to 
supply 7 oz. (allowing it the highest percentage) 
of pliosphoiic acid and the latter (22 percent) 
9 oz. so as to make up the pound between 
tiicm, the quantities of the fertilizers used 
will, a.s nearly as possible, need to he 1.3 lb. and 
3i lb. respectively— altogether dii'proportiouate 
quantities. 
The fact is that an attempt li.as been made to 
evolve .a mountain out of a mole liil! — an unprofi- 
table undertakin". In thee f.ist times, we 
cannot aflord to lin<;er over minutia; for fear of 
giving an ounce too much of phosphoric acid to 
our hungry soils ! — Yours, A. M. C. 
CEYLON TEA IN AMERICA. 
The set of Newspaper cuttings, &c., sent n« 
includes a list of some .10 American uewspajiers 
in which the Commissioner now advertises Ceylon 
tea. This is as it ought to be, and we think 
50 more rei)resenCative of the Middle, Western 
and even of a few of the Southern State? should be 
added. The time i" surely fast approaching when, 
judicious advertising contracts being entered into 
to last some time, the subsidising of any sepaiate 
firms may be discontinued? At any rate "to 
this complexion it must come at Ifist." In the 
meantime we are glad to note specimens of the 
attractive advertisements inserted and to see 
fuitherthe coloured cover of an American perio- 
dical, "The Youth's Cojupanion," the front of 
which is occupied by a "Cocoa" advertisement 
costing, we are told, 7,500 dollars or £1,500 ! 
Mi. Mackenzie also includes extracts showing the 
extreme uncertainty prevailing as to the future 
of the American tea duty. Tlie war being over, 
one would expect the duty to disappear ; but 
" politicdl " reasons niay cause its continu- 
ance, although we trust not for long. The 
great increase in the shipments of Ceylon 
tea to Russia is attracting the attention of 
American journalists and several references are 
made to the fact. But perhaps the most amus- 
ing and celling deliverance is one in the American 
Grocer on the " American Tea-eye " based on an 
extract from the Tropical Agriculturist and in 
which special reference is made to " the able work 
of the Ceylon and Indian Tea Commissioners." 
