564 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Fet.. 1. 1899. 
Volunteer Fleet via Ceylon, the land trade which they 
have lost through Persia and Afghauihtan. In la.*5 
theso-called 'Indian' tea that passed through Bataiu 
to the '''aspian and Central Asia amounted to 8O0 tons; 
tlie last Consular report returna it at 1,330 tons in 
l*Si)7. The trade in this low class green tea is iudii- 
perident i f the lnrf;e question of the introduction of 
tlie finer Indian teas into Russia itself. A movenieat 
iu that direction is taking place and tlie Itnssla.i 
shipments of British-grown tea from Ceylon 
rapidly rose to 439,(150 lb. in 1897, besides over one and 
a luilf million pounds of Indian and Ceylon tens from 
London, and an unknow quantity traiiBmilted through 
German porta. Hitherto the Ceylon and Indian teas 
have only hetn used in Kusaia for blcn ling. If they 
could be brought iuto general uiie a Taut new field 
would bo opened to the llritiih industiy. liut this 
would involve either a change in the Russian taste or 
an adaptation of the Indian tens to the Russiao 
market. The movement may, howerer, receive an 
impulse from the expected stepB towards the equalisa- 
tion of the Russian duty on sea borne and land-borne 
teas, aa pai't of the revised customs arrangeraentt 
incident to the extension of the Siberian railway 
towards China." 
Indian Tm in Tibet,— Mr. Robert Laidlaw calls 
attention in the Tinier to the revised tro'ly between 
India and Tibet, which is subject to revision iu May 
no.'ct, and upon which the Indian Tea Association it no 
doubt keeping an eye. Under this treaty Indian tea is 
abaolutely prohibited from entering Tibet. To the very 
la''ge class who are directly or indirectly interested in 
one of India's chief industries, one in which many 
millions of British capital are employed, it ia very im- 
portant, aa Mr. Laidlaw points out, that this restric- 
tion should be removed. 'The Tibetans are great tea 
drinkera, probably the greatest in the world, their 
estimated consumption being 12 to 16 million lb per 
annum ; all of this is now taken from China, whereas, 
but for the " closed door," this trade would uaturally 
be done with India, which produces a better article at 
a lower price. The Tibetans have now te pay a high 
price for a very inferior brick tea, and, aa the distance 
between the tea districts of India and Tibet ia much 
shorter than that over which the China tea is carried, 
transport would be cheaper ; the change would there- 
fore be beneficial alike to the Tibetans and the Indian 
indusLry, " Tho Tibetans have free access into India 
and no restrictions are put upon their exports iuto that 
country," says Mr. Laidlaw. " Chinese iuliuenco alone 
is responsible for our not having the same privileges, 
and it was Chinese influence which prevented the 
friendly commercial mission which the Indian Covein- 
ment proposed and prepared to send to Lhasa in 
1889. "The present position is a most humiliating one. 
Surely the influence of Peking cannot longer be 
allowed to retard British enterprise and shut our 
trade out of a country where the Chinese have no 
more right than ourselves. If our engineers were 
allowed to go into Tibet to unearth their minerals it 
would bean immense advantage to the Tibetans them- 
selves, some gain to us, and no detriment to China, 
but for that I fear the time is noi yet. When revi;.ing 
the treaty the Government should be satisfied with 
nothing short of equal privileges to tliose enjoyed by 
China in the east and Russia in the i;orth. (iive ns 
an ' open door,' and iu a few years Tibet will be a large 
and increafiuR market not only for Indian tea, but for 
many articles of British manufacture." 
Nice Tea. — The competition in the retailing of tea 
has brought about some interesting ventures in the 
art of tickling the consumer. Here is a list of presents 
advertised by a retail tsa company : Given v\'ith 
quarter pound of tea, at 7d per quarter : Large tin 
aaucepau (with steamer), pair of lace antimaeassars, 
two large honeycomb towels, hairbrush (all bristle), 
good washleather, fancy china cream jng, strong wood 
horse, cocoa broom (red back), stroug bass broom, six- 
piiit tin kettle, good clothes or shoe brush. Given 
with half-pound of tea at 7d per quarter: 8 ft. Gin. 
bamboo cornice pole (rings siud eud.^ complete), large 
oval bath, white table cloth, clothes basket (good size). 
Given with one pound of tea at 7d per quarter : Nickel 
lever clock, wool-bordered parlour door mat, white tabU 
cloth (large size), one yard best floor oil cloth (two 
yards wide), blanket (good aize). Wuh t»o pouade of 
tea: Eight ijint copper kellle. With four poiiade of 
tea: Pair blankets (iuU aizd). Cublouieri may save 
their lea checks for any article they bee la ebop or 
window, and cliange them atauy time. 
Pi.AN-n-Nu IV Nkvv GtiNKA.— Possibly there may be 
an exodus of Indian and Ceylou planters to New 
Guinea. As will be seen lu anjilicr col jmn, Sir Wia. 
Mttcgregor 8ay< that the colouy is will adapted for ten, 
coffee, tobacco andeottoa. and the climate is not bs,d", 
laud is cheap, and there aie frieu Ily natives who may 
be induced to work. The fear of being eateu need uot 
trouble settlers, for catmibklism is Bearly a thing ol 
the past. 
C^IJKENBL&ND CoFFKE — Not couUnt with bef 
triumphs ia the wiy of sugur production, Qtieeuslaud 
agriculturists recently turned their atteutioo to cofToe 
as there are coueiderable areas ef tropical ci asl laude 
suitable for the cultivation of the coffee pUut A 
quantity of unhusked coffee berries hud just arrived 
from the colouy for iulroductiuo in Miuciug Lane. 
Half-a-dozen leading firms of brokers have reported 
upon this (Jueeutlaud coffee, which they t.tate to k« 
well cured aud dried, aud to compare well with ih» 
Central American article lu general quality. 
WuAT Ihet Ahk Doing at Kew.— The organisa- 
tion at Kew Gardens with regard to the culiure of 
tropical plants is alniirable. Special department* 
have been founded in the more important colonies 
which keep continually in touch with the ostablibh-' 
uient at Kew on botanical questions, and especially 
those of economic importance, and there aie 
iu addition to these larger Colonial establuh- 
ments, a eonsiderable kuiuber of botanical stations 
first founded to meet the special requiiemeuts of 
the smaller West Indian Islauas, and since extended 
to Webt Africa, and even to Fiji. Iu many of our 
colonies the fruit .trade of late years has become 
of great importance, and to thie Kew has paid 
special attention. With its aid the tree tomato, tile 
chocho, and the cheiimoyer have been transferred 
from the West Indies to Ceylon and India, and the 
debt has been repaid by sending back new vaiietiea 
of bananas and mangoes. There are alto luanr 
plants which are yalued not for their floral beauty, 
but for their utility. The fibre plants, as one group 
about seventy in number ia collectively called, of 
which hemp and flax are the oldest and nioat 
familiar examples, have now been carefully studied at 
Kew for not a few years past. China grass forma 
the subject of a recant aiticle in the //u/^/in, from 
which it appears that, if certain difficulties could be 
overcome in preparing the fibre, it would be a formid- 
able competitor in the market with silk, flax and the 
better qualities of cotton. The cultivation of rubber 
plants and the discovery of new soarces of (hie 
material, now that the demand for it is so great ii m 
question which evidently has not been neglected at 
Kow, and some of our colonies seem likely to benefit 
by its studieR. Besides those, a host of other horti- 
cultural questions of economic importance hfue been 
investigated— such as Bermuda arrowroot, qninme 
vauila, the growth of date.s, sandal wood inccuee 
trees, even the artificial production of indigo. In all 
this work the indefatigable labour of the late director 
Sir Joseph Booker, aud of his successor, Mrl 
Thiselton Dyer, seconded by the very able scientific 
staff of the Gardens cannot be too fully reco'^nised. 
The Adulteration or Spices —Although the more 
romantic side of the spice trade is referable to a 
bygone time, it is not without its pleasant fictions 
at the present day. The piquant fl:ivour of spicea 
depends upon a volatile es-cutial oil which reaJily 
diffuses itself through any less pungent commodity 
with which It is brought into concaot. Hence it follows 
that the adulteration of spices is both easy and profit- 
able. It is possible, indeed, to mannf.icture "ground 
spicoi"' without any admixture of real spice whatever 
and as mills exist for the e.vpress purpose it cannot bo 
doubted that such a form of enterprise ia in active 
existence. Ginger i.s "made" from various corn 
