May 1, 1899,] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
759 
ferably 40; and the branches first meeting 
at that height, leaving plenty of air space 
below, with an evenly diffused chequered 
shade. 
" Mr. Cameron's suggestions on the hybri- 
dization of coffee are of gi-eat importance to 
cofree jjlanters. Some of the natm-al hy- 
brids seem to show a marked immunity 
from leaf-disease. The pity is, that system- 
atic work in this direction was not com- 
menced on the first appearance of leaf-disease."' 
We .shall take Mr. Green's advice and re- 
print the Report in full ; and in regard to 
the value of light shade for tea we have 
been getting a gi'eat deal of evidence lately 
from different qiiartei\s and especially froiii 
some of the lower and medium districts. 
Mr. Maitland-Kirwan is as strong as to 
the value of grevillea trees in Elkaduwa as 
Mr. Cantlay is in respect of the game in 
his fields in Dimbula. 
following that Bombay can claim fully one- 
half of what is credited to all India under every 
head :— ^ 
JAVA QUININE. 
A meeting of tlie sliareholdeiR of tlie Java 
Bandoeng Qiuniiie- works was lield there on Jarniavy 
23rd, Baron van Heeckeren (director of the cuiu- 
paiiy) occupying the cliair. The fust point of the 
agenda, tlie election of a director, was quickly 
disposed of, after whicli the terms of disniissfil of 
Mr. H J van Prelin were considered. Until Dec. 
14th last the inanai:enient of the company had 
been vested in Mr. Van Prelin as technical direc- 
tor, jointly with the connnercial director, Barron 
van Heeckeren, but on that date, at a general 
meeting, Mr. van Prehn was removed and the office 
ofteciuiical director abolished. A coniinittee of 
shareholders was appointed to report on the sub- 
ject, and it was now proposed : — 
1. That the dismissal of Mr. van Prehn should 
'take effect from December 14th last. 
2. That the conditions of his dismissal shoald be 
definitely settled only after the balance-sheet had 
been dealt with. 
The articles of association required alteration in 
accordance with the committee's report, and after 
an amendment increasing the maxiniuin nniiiber of 
directors on the boanl from four to live had been 
adopted the whole proposal was canieil unani- 
mously. As, however, jiending the approval of 
the alteration of the articles of association by the 
Government, the office of teclinical director, va- 
cated by Mr. van Prehn, had to be filled tempo- 
rarily, tlie iiieetini; appointed to this ))0st Mr. 
fsuiith Sybinga, who l)a<l acted since Mr. van 
Prehn's removal. — CAewuii and Drwjqist, March 11. 
THE COTTON INDUSTRY IX INDIA. 
The Annual Report of the Bombay Mill- 
owners' Association contains some interest- 
ing figures, exhibiting the continued deve- 
lopment of cotton mills and their outturn, 
notwithstanding all that is written of bad 
times and diminishing profits, and notwith- 
standing the terrible ra\ages of Plague. 
The figiu'es further justify Lord t'urzon's 
lecture to Bengal, in replying to one of the 
many addresses which he used a.s occasions 
for enforcing nurch-needed lessons, when he 
drew attention to tl;.- little that was being 
done for trade, and industries and agriculture 
by the Bengalis, as compared with other 
races, and notably as compared witli the 
people of Bombay. It will be seen from the 
c o 
w 
a 
'3 
"Su 
xn 
Looms 
2 i 
3. = 
1897 
1898 
1897 
189S 
695.30 
70,728 
ForBomhai/ : 
75 2,187,42.5 21287 702 756 
82 2,226,982 21,.S79 Sn\?j%S 
For all India : 
17.S 4,065. G18 37,584 1,300,936 1 44 335 
185 4,259,720 33,013 1,431,328 1,48,964 
The outlook cannot, however, be said to be 
very hopefid, seeing how gi'eatly restricted is 
the demand for expoi-ts. In yarns there was 
an increase of 76,254 bales, or about 21 per 
cent ; but there was a material decrease in 
piece-goods— the shipments in 1898 to China 
alone having fallen-off by about If million 
yards or over 56 per cent ; while Japan (which 
is starting mills of herown)took no goods from 
Bombay ! But, curiously enough, the imports 
from the United Kingdom to China and 
Japan of piece goods and yarn combined, 
show an increase of of 9-68 per cent as com- 
pared with 1897. Competition must there- 
fore be vei-y keen. No doubt the influence of 
such conditions has told on our own Spinning 
and Weaving Company apart from restricted 
capital to start with. We woi.dd fain hope, 
however, that the local Mills may not cease 
work, but that they may prosper in the 
hands of a richer Company (or enterprising 
wealthy individual) not on"ly because of the 
nmnbers to whom they give employment, 
but because their presence should "ensure 
some attention to cotton-growing, in one or 
other division of the Northern districts to 
be traversed by the Railway. 
TEA IN RUSSIA. 
In accordance with our correspondent's 
suggestion yesterday we interviewed the 
Russian tea-buyers, Messrs. Tokmakoff and 
Stcherbatchoff, of the firms of Tokmakoff 
Molotkoff & Co. and Stcherbatchoff, Tchokoff 
& Co. with the following result : — 
The price of the very cheapest brick tea 
in Russia is, we leai-nt, about 2s a brick 
which consists of from 2h to .3 lb., so that 
the average price per lb. of the cheapest 
tea drunk in Russia would be little more 
than 8d. But, Mr. Tokmakoff informed us 
brick tea is very little drunk in European 
There were, also, two kinds of brick 
tea known in the Ruissian dominions, the 
black and the gi-een. The gi-een brick tea 
unlike the black, was never employed to 
make an afternoon beverage. AVhen a de- 
coction Avas made from it, it was alwavs 
mixed up with a quantity of (to us imheaid 
of) ingredients and transformed into a thick 
soup ; milk, fat. tallow, and nuitton chips 
were, said Mr. Stcherbatchoff, often 
thrown in and the resulting fluid was only 
used at meals — like ordinary soup. 
On enquiry as to wb.it classes in Russia 
drank tea we heard tliat the working men in 
the towns drank it whenever procurable, the 
drink being very popular, but no leaf teas 
