May 1, 1899.1 THE TROPICAL 
AaEICULTtJEIST. 
765 
PRUNING DOWN OP TEA CHARGES. 
The following circxilai- has been issued by 
the Tea and Produce Committee :— 
The profit on tea cultivation having reached 
such a narrow margin, it has become imperative 
on the gi-ower to curtail every item of expendi- 
ture on the garden to the very lowest limit ; and 
many forms of allowances, wliich were common 
in better times, have of necessity been abolished, 
It has now become necessary that tlie grower 
should extend this pruning down of charges to 
those on his teas af terreaching the London Market. 
The allowance of 1-lb draft per chest or half-cliest 
to the buyer is considered by the grower an un- 
warrantable charge on his teas and one that should 
be abolished. 
The reason for this allowance is founded on the 
assumption that the dealer and grocer loses weight 
in sampling and in the turn of the scale when 
retaibng the teas. Importers, however, are con- 
vinced that sufhcient allowance is given in the 
Customs weights to cover any such loss. 
By the system of weighing by H. M. Customs, 
the weight is always in the buyer's favour, and 
this advantage varies from as much as l-13th oz. to 
5 ox. per package, and may safely be taken to 
average ilb. per package. 
When In September, 1890, H. M. Customs issued 
an order that, in future, teas were to be weighed 
to the Alb., the order ^vas withdrawn on the strong 
representation made by the dealers and grocers 
that the turn in the scale of the Customs weigh- 
ing was essential ; otherwise thej^ would sustain 
considerable loss. 
The late Sir Francis Peek (Chairman of the 
meeting lield in London to protest against the 
order of Government) in referring to the sys- 
tem of weighing by the Customs said : — " If it 
were not for the tui'n of the scale given in favour 
of the buyer, it would result in a loss to him." 
The growers have no wish to do away with this 
system of weighing or to deprive the buyer of his 
present advantage, although, at Mb. per package, 
it means tlie grower has to provide 1,380,000 lb. of 
tea for which he receives no payment. 
The 1-lb. draft, however, is a distinct bonus 
to the dealer or grocer which the grower can 
no longer afford, owing to the difficulty of pro- 
ducing tea at a profit. 
Last year there were imported into London :— 
Chests. i chests. 
From India ... 1,286,998 "285,664 
„ Ceylon ... 831,406 316,090 
2,118,404 601,754 
and the allowance from draft alone amounted 
to 2,720,000 lb. of tea which, at a cost of 8d and 
2d profit, equals a bonus of £113,000 per annum 
to the trade. Inclusive of the turn in the scale, 
given by the Customs, the gi-owers, therefore, 
have to provide 4,080,000 lb. per annum which 
are not paid for. 
India and Ceylon supplied last year 560,000 
chests of Tea to Countries other than Great 
Britain, on which no rebate in weight was 
allowed, and it seems, therefore, preposterous 
that this allowance should continue to be given 
in England. 
In 1890, all draft allowance on cured provisions 
and cheese was abolished, and the same has 
been the case, with bark and other articles. 
It may further be pointed out that, even if it 
could l)e shown that there was any sutticient 
reason why an importer in selling KA) lb. of tea 
should be paid for only 99 lb. =1 per cent, re- 
duction, there can be none in penalizing; him 2 
per cent, when his teas are put into a 50-lb. chest. 
Cinnamon Oil.— For the week emlinfr February 
14lh '2,600 oz. only of both hark and leaf oil 
■was shippeil fioni Ceylon, atul all to Hunibui'g. 
^Chemisi and Druggiit, March U, 
TEA IN .JAVA. 
One of the principal .Java products — namely, 
tea — enjoys a continual progress, which is 
shown by the figures of the recently issued 
statistics of the past year. The consumption 
of Java tea in this country increases con- 
siderably and in connection with it the cul- 
tivation on Java is extended. This fact is 
the more satisfactory, as the prospects a few 
years ago were far f roiu being favourable. In 
188;3 Mr. N. P. van den Berg wa'ote : the tea 
cultivation i.j gradually decreasing and even 
the best estates will not be able to stand 
the fearful competition of British India, 
where the working occurs under the most 
favourable circumstances. After some elapse 
of time, Java tea will have to give up com- 
petition and the Dutch market is lost for 
the article. Its existence remained question- 
able for a few years more, so that even the 
expoi't duty was abolished ; but after 1893 
better times arrived. The production in- 
creased and the Dutch market received a 
larger share of it. From 189.5 to 1898 the 
imports on this market increasesd from 48,000 
to 68,000 chests (nearly 42 per cent), the 
home consumption from 27,.500 to 33,500 chests 
(nearly 33 per cent), the export from 24,000 
to 35,000 chests (nearly 46 per cent) — a very 
satisfactory progress. Howevei', more should 
have been obtained if the cultivation had 
been effected on a larger scale. At present 
new estates are worked in the Preanger 
districts, the produce of which may be ex- 
pected shortly, but all is done in a too 
moderate manner. A ten times larger ex- 
tension of ground should be brought into 
cultivation. The Preanger district seems 
specially fit for the tea plant, and doubt is 
expressed whether the soil, climate, &c., are 
suit'ible as well, but a survey is desirable. 
A great fortune would be obtained if a larger 
surface could be obtained. Tea is less de- 
pendent upon weather and wind than coffee, 
and yields a better profit for the native 
population. The native tea plantations in 
the district of Soekaboemi are constantly ex- 
tended, and in the last colonial report the 
desire is expressed that further steps may be 
made in this direction. — L. and C. Express, 
March 17. 
THEOBROMA CACAO. 
BY E. COWLEY. 
Manager, Kamerunga, State Nursery, Cairus. 
Not a gre^t deal is known about cocoa in Queens- 
land, for little has been grown in the colony. That 
it can be grown was evinced at the last Cairns 
Show, when some pods of the fruit were displayed, 
the same being grown at the State Nursery, Kame- 
runga What indeed, could not Queensland grow ? 
Perhaps the mangosteeu and the durian* would 
puzzle them, but cocoa has been exhibited before 
now in a Oairus Show. A few years ago the Messrs. 
Swallow Bros., of Hamlsledou, showed a pod which 
puzzled many persons. However, the Blessrs. Da 
Molcyn are planting a considerable area in the Russell 
district, where probably the plant has the chance of 
thriving better than iu any other part of tha colonj-. 
It would seem that a humid climato is essential 
to this plant, and this Kussell River climate, accord- 
* T'uee varieties of mangosteen have been dii- 
co i>i-, d in Queensland — tlio latest from Cairns. The 
duiim will also flourish whore the Jak fruit thrives 
It do€b iu Quaeuslaud,— lid (j. A.J 
