836 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTTEIST. [JrKE 1, 1899. 
CEYLON TEA IN AMEUICA. 
By latest accounts fiom London, our Tea 
Commissioner had just returned from 
America. He thinks our Ceylon teas are 
too dear now for America, the rise of 2d fol- 
lowing on 5d duty, being more than a people 
who care so little for black tea, want to 
digest. Coffee— their national drink— they 
can have almost for nothing. On the other 
hand, men have been scorn ing the American 
cities for tea to be shipped to London ! 
Some teas rejected by the United States 
Inspectors lately, were bought for 2Ad in 
New York, shipped to London, and sold for 
6Jd. They were rubbishy "China blacks." 
— We append an article on the proposed 
differential duty in Canada. Several papers 
ai^e agitating for it ; but we learn that the 
agitation is a " worked-up " one, not the 
natural outburst which would betoken a 
strongly felt grievance. Still let us hope it 
may succeed. But the Canadian blendei-s 
and packet-people who have made our trade 
with the " Dominion," will feel this rise 
very bitterly. Unless they organize, they 
cannot raise the price of their packets. The 
article from the Toronto World is as fol- 
lows : — 
TEA AND THE PREFERRNTIAL TABIFF. 
It is reported that the Government has in view the 
placing of a tax on tea to meet the deficiency caused 
by the recent postal reductions. If such is its in- 
tention, advantage sliould be taken of the opportu- 
nity to discourage the use of the adulterated and 
poisonous teas that are dumped on the Canadian 
market. There is a lot of trash known as tea that 
should be absolutely prohibited from entering the 
country. This low grade stuff is the cause of sallow 
complexion and nervousness in the people who nse 
it. We have no hesitation in saying that it is the 
exciting cause of many cases of insanity. The far- 
mers seem to use a good deal of it and with bad 
effects. Whether the Government places a duty on 
tea or not, it should protect the people from these 
poisonous teas. They come principally from China 
and Japan, being prepared by people who are un- 
cleanly, ignorant and devoid of all ideas of sanitation. 
In order to discourage importations from China and 
Japan, it would not be a bad idea to extend the pre- 
ferential tariff, as applied to Great Britaiu, to such 
parts of the empire as produce tea. that is if a duty 
of any kind is to be imposed on tea. The tea plan- 
tations of Ceylon and India are under the control of 
Englishmen, who use machinery to prepare the tea, 
while in China and Japan the work is done by the 
bare feet and hands of the natives. A preferential 
duty would kill two birds with the one stone — encour- 
age trade within the empire and discourage the use 
of an article that is sending many people to the 
sylum. 
^ 
NORTH MYSORE PLANTERS' ASSOCL 
ATION. 
At the last animal general meeting of this As- 
sociation a report was submitted showing that the 
accounts were in a satisfactory condition. The income 
derived from subscriptions amounted to El, 593-11-0. 
The expenditure was El, 483-8-6 and there was now 
a total credit balance of E2,013 of which El, 600 was 
allotted to the Eeserve fund. Crops had been good, 
but any satisfaction felt on that account, was fully 
counterbalanced by the poor prices their coffee was 
now realising. The plague had been very severe in 
several districts of the Province and had interfered 
with the completion of various public works, parti- 
cularly iu connection with means of communication. 
The Imperial Government had sanctioned the ap- 
pointment of Dr. Adolf Lehmcinn u Agricaltar&l 
Chemist to the Mysor« Governmeut for » period of 
five years. No cases of coffee Btealing had this y««r 
been brought to the notice of the Aasociatiou. in 
spite of the fact, that placards oilrriag a reward of 
RlOO for informatiou leading to the goovkuoq of 
receivers of stolen coffee were posted in thi. (./nucipal 
villages of the district; the absence of rlaimg for 
the rewards did not, it wa£ feared, mean that coffee 
stealing had in any way abated. 
Mr. O Scot EiBTiKO wm elected President for th« 
year, A letter was read from Mr. G li Oliver rt the bay- 
ing and selling of coffee advocatin(( the oae of Eugiiah 
weights as a standard, stating that at present the 
Man^alore maund is 26| lb. English and a candy 
676 lb. instead of a maund of 2H lb. aud a caudy 
of 560 lb. It ia true that the native lb. ii 40 rapeea 
weight and the English 39 rupee* in wei|;bt. biu 
even then the difference is not calculated correctly, 
and as it is pret^^umed that Englieih weighing ma- 
chines are used by all planters and tirmn it ib an 
anomaly that native weights should be used. E«- 
sulved that the Honorary Secretary address the 
South Mysore Planters' Asaociation, and in lb* 
event of their agreeing to co-operate, that all Coring 
Agents be addressed on the subject. 
ADDBESS BY THE AOBICULTCRAL CHEMIST. 
Dr. Lehmann then said ; — I thank you for the 
honour yon have done me, in inviting me to be 
present at this Meeting, and I wish to take this oppor- 
tunity of expressing to you, and to all the other 
planters, it has been my privilege to meet, my 
gratitude for the hearty welcome which you and they 
have given me. It would be useless to mention to 
yon the objects ol my visit to ibis State, bat I ought 
to say thrtt ray present tour ia only a preliminary 
one, and simply for the purpose of becoming acquainted 
with some of your difficultiee. As I have been barely 
two months in ludia I am in a large measure un- 
acquainted with your climate, and nave examined 
your soil, with a mamotie only. I kaow practically 
nothing of the peculiarities of the coffee tree, and 
have not had the opportunity of making a single 
experiment, it would ne presumptuous on my part to 
speak to yoa, on any of the subjects which lie 
nearest to your hearts. I should however like to ask for 
your support and co-operation in the work which the 
Mysore Government has asked me to undertake. The 
Laboratory work will suggest metheds or in other 
cases, tes* results, but a part of the work will have to 
be carried out on experimental plots, or on your plant- 
ations, I hope that some experimental plots will be 
established, yet the great difference in climatic and 
other conditions in the State, make the experiments 
conducted on your own estates, other things be- 
ing equal, of greatest value to you. I should be glad 
therefore if you would undertake some experiments for 
yourselves, and I shall of course give yon all the assist- 
ance that lies in my power. The sabjsctof fertiiisen 
is one that has been ranch spoken of : as you know, 
plants are composed of compounds of various elements, 
some of which are essential, or necessary for the growth 
of the plant; others are simply accidental or taken up be- 
cause they happened to be present in the soil. The 
plant is not dependent on the latter. It could grow, if 
they were not present, but if any of the former were 
missing the plant could not grow. I doubt if there 
being any soil in the Mysore in which one of those 
essential elements is absolutely absent, still there are 
probably Districts in which plants suffer, because 
their roots are not able to obtain as large a supply of 
one or other of these constitsents as is necessary for 
the perfect growth of the plant. It suffers from 
partial starvation. As yon are aware, this starvation is 
generally due to the absence of available compounds 
of either potash, phosphoric acid, or nitrogen, one 
or more of these compounds, or possibly some other 
compound like lime may be lacking, or in other words, 
the particular plant, to be grown may be unable to 
assimilate a sufficient quantity, for there is a differ- 
ence in plants as well as a difference in soils — some 
plants for example, can readily assimilate from » 
paiticalar soil all the potash they require, while 
