492 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Jan. 2, 1899. 
just Exchange rate of Is. 3cl. The firet solution would 
be a diastic but dangerous remedy which can only 
be imposed by the Proprietary or accepted by the 
Laborers after much distress and incalculable loss to 
both, which will have its echo in England in raising 
the price of Tea, the principal beverage of the masses. 
If such a result comes about its origin will be fully 
explained to them. On tlie other hand it i.s in the 
power of the Government to ease the situation by 
transferring at Is. 3'1. and save Ceylon from a 
calamity which may only in degi oe be inferior to the 
state of things in ]<arbadoes, and which it will have 
itself imposed. 
I have still two remarks to add to my Memorial. 
The first is to anticipate the assumption that a Gold 
currency in the East will be absorbed for hoarding. 
Lately in Ceylon I have had sovereigns offered me 
by a Native banket in the interior at below their 
Colombo market value and, seeing that the ei.ormous 
volume of gold which is absorbed annually in the 
East is obtained at cost price, the demand for 
hoarding is fully met, as it is. An Indian Mint 
would come into competition with this demand 
and attract gold now hoaided, more especially in 
times of stringency. 
The other remark, also from a Ceylon standpoint, 
is as to the necessity, if a Gold Standard is 
adopted, that it shall be reasonably effective for pur- 
jjosea of Curreucy as well, and that it shall correspond 
with the Note circulation. The Sovereign does ni't 
meet those requiiemenis. It corresponds with no 
Note Issue in India and, in Ceyloir, where the Colony 
has been made to think in decimals by the Goven - 
ment, it will have no currency utility whatever. It 
will servo only to illuatrate the expression — "If thy 
sou ask bread of thee wilt tliou give him a stone? ' 
—I am, yours truly, E. Hakcoubt Skiunk. 
CACAO THEFTS -PRICES AND " CHIOLLO " 
PROSPECTS. 
Galasedera, Dec. 3, 1898. 
Dear Sir, — It is a remarkable fact that the 
stealing of cacao, so life formerly, has been f,'radii- 
ally lesseninfj; to such a degree in this judicial dis- 
trict, that tliis season no case has been rejjorled 
yet. This is certainly due to the policy of our 
able P. M. who, with liis usual acumen, lias taken 
in hand the headmen and inspired them s» well 
with a sense of their responsibility as to ob'.ain 
this most satisfactory result. 
Crime of all kinds has diminished also to such 
an extent that lawyers must be bewailing. 
If Government paid the P.M. as doctors are -said 
to he "paid in China, according to theirability of 
keeping away disease (crime is another form of 
disease) Mr. W. Dunuwille would draw a large 
salary. 
The Price Current of the Chamber of Commerce 
is often at variance with facts ; on November 29th 
their prices for cacao are : unpicked and undried 
Kf^l, picked and dried f.o.b. K53. Unpicked and 
undried cacao must difi'er in weight at least 5 per 
cent and containing ail the flat underferuiented 
beans, diminishes it another 10 per cent in value, 
so that there would be a difference of K7 '50 when 
the picked and dried is quoted at E50. On the 
30th of November no better price than i\47-5) 
could be obtained for a fair sample of picked 
and dried. 
There is still some hope that .some of tlie cacao 
trees of the criollo variety will survive the attacks 
of the fungus in this district, till the ne.xt century. 
Yours truly^ 
A V. P. P. 
CHEAPENING THE COST OF TEA. 
Dec. 9 
Dear Sir,- In your August T. A. there is a 
very pertinent article :— A Paper rca<l by the 
Secretary, before the Kangra 'i'ea Aiisociaiiou on 
Cheapening the Co.sc of llie Production of Tea. A 
good ileal of tlie article applies more particularly 
to India tiian Ceylon, but there are one or two 
poiflts very much aj.plicable to both, and for 
vhicii a remedy ought to be sought and found. 
Amongst tlie.-e on page 74 is one on Taring. The 
writer submits that a margin of two pounds on 
the average tares of a break is insulliiient for 
practical juirposes that if the uiargiii were in- 
creased to three lb , the dillicnlty of laclory taring 
would be greatly lednced and if it were increased 
to four lb. the diHiculty would disappear. He 
says further :— " I cannot sec what harm the Cub- 
tonis in London would sutler if they raided the 
margin of permissible variation in tares from two 
to lour lb. All that the Customs want to en- 
sure is a correct net weight of tea, and if a 
variation of tares up to four lb. were )>ermitted 1 
fail to see how this would materially interfere 
with the essential jioint aimed at— nor ha»e I 
ever been able to fathom tne philosophy which 
deters the Customs from weighing net instead of 
weighing gross and then deiliicting the tare, etc. 
But I niaintain that the process of weighing net 
for duty is more sen.sibic, more exact and more 
expeditious." 
He gives figures to e\io\\ that bv bulking and 
taring at the Factory the saving "on u cion of 
144,000 lb. packed in luO Ih. chests would be 
£99. 18a. 
On page 76 he comes to the unnecessary trade 
levy ? Draft, as he says is a free pound of tea 
given away \uili every chest weighing over '^8 lb 
gio.ss. 
In this connection I give my own experience 
Sometime ago my London IJroker wrote su'-'-estinL' 
that I sliould pack a certain tea in 20 lb. boxes us 
by .so doing a higher price might be obtained at the 
same time warning me to be careful that the ; rose 
weight did not exceed 28 lb. otherwi.-e each paoka-e 
would be liable to a draft of 1 lb. Hut packing Tn 
(even neat) count ly-made p.ackages I found I 
could not keep within the 28 lb. gross consist- 
ently wuh stability, necessary (o stand the 
treatment of rail, shipping, etc. We must re- 
member that in addition to the mere rase 
there is lead lining, solder, nails and at the 
corners at least, sciaps of hoo))ing iron. Let me 
again quote from the Secretary's paper :— " A bor 
containing 20 lb. net and weighing 27^ lb "ros« 
gives no draft, yet there are twenty tniTis of 
the scale at least. A box containing' •''o lb net 
is taxed 4 jier cent by the lb. draft; on the other 
hand a chest containing J50 lb. of line dust is 
only taxed 2-3rds per cent. This of course, is 
simply inverting the ratio (i necessity. In my 
crop of 144,000 the amount for draft was 1 6-'6 lb 
which at 7i per lb. cost me £19 2s 4d. Eut sup- 
pose my plantation had been up on the Itange 
and to enable my coolies to carry my teas to 
the cart road I bad packed in 40 1b. half che-'ts, 
then I should have been mulciMl 3,600 lb. valued at 
£i08 I5s."-0n pages 76 and 77 he gives a long list 
of surplns payments, but I refrain from inflicting 
more. But I commend the earnest perusal, or le- 
penisal of the article to all connected with tea 
production. Surely in these time^ when the 
margin is getting .so fine for the producer the 
non-productive portion ought to abate a little of 
