Drc. 1, 1903.] 
THE TROPIC Ali 
AGRlCtTLTURIST. 
417 
not send as luauy uieu as tlie planters need. 
This is largely attributed to the trouble which 
arose iu 1900 when 135,000 coolies made the jour- 
ney, but found the estates could not employ 
them all. Many got into debt with the Kanganies 
and are now afraid to return to Ceylon. However, 
from January to the end of July this year, 20,986 
men arrived, which is an increase of over a thou- 
sand upon the corresponding period of 1902 and 
points to an increase in activity. The system 
by whi?h Indian coolies are secured for the 
Ceylon gardens has much improved of late years 
and the comfort of the men is more studieil. 
To many, however, the idea of even a brief 
sea trip is so terrifying that they will not 
go, and the planters will probably have to 
wait until the railway over Adam's Bridge, 
connecting the island with the mainland is built 
before the necessary labour can be more easily 
secured. In the Straits and the Malay States the 
planters have agreed upon terms for the recruit- 
ment of Statute labourers in India, but the fact 
that the immigrants have to pay their own return 
passage may deter many Indian coolies from 
going so far away, even although the agreement 
is to be for three yeais only. — Times of India, 
Nov. 12. 
RUBBER CULTIVATION IN BURMA. 
The efforts of Government to encourage rubber 
cultivation in Burma are being attended with 
a certain amount of success. A Buimese 
Municipal Commissioner of Shwegyin has taken 
up the cultivation there and the wife of a forest 
ofBcer has a large rubber plantation and recently 
obtained about 100,000 plants from Ceylon. — 
Piower, Nov. 14. 
PEPPER PLANTING IN COORG. 
POLLIBETTA, Nov. 12.— The pepper plantings in 
these parts in some cases date back a few years, 
but are mostly of more recent date. It is to be 
regretted that they were not planted years ago, 
as a profit would now have been derived from them 
which would not have been despised. Pepper was 
looked askance at as it was supposed it did harm 
to the coffee, but there are no indications of this 
on any of the places on which it has been cultivated. 
On ly in one case has the systematic cultivation of 
the vine been carried out for a long time, so long 
that the stems of the vines, at the foot are of the 
thickness of a man's forearm, and now is the owner 
reaping tiie fruits of his prudence and foresight. 
On one occasion he realised Rf),000 for his pepper 
crop, and the income from this source is almost all 
pure profit, for, beyond planting the vines and 
harvesting the crop, no special attention is paid 
to them — the cultivation of the coffee sufficing for 
them also.— iH Mail, Nov, 17. 
BRITISH GREEN TEA IN AMERICA. 
A NEW YORK VIEW. 
The market here looks somewhat askance at the 
large production this year of British green tea, 
which gives promise of having an outturn of at 
least 11,000,000 pounds Ceylon and 4,000,(00 
pounds Indian. Most of this is destined for the 
American market. United States and Canada, 
As has been stated many times, the British tea 
growers wish this market as an asset of theirs, 
and having too slowly succeeded with their black 
teas, have taken also to the manufacture of green 
teas, which they have been told this market in- 
sists on having in preference to black teas. They 
even pay a bonus, amounting to about one cent a 
pound United States money, to the makers of 
green tea. Last year, the first of any that amoun- 
ted to anything in tlie manufacture of green tea, 
about 3,000,000 pounds, were made, and this year 
the increase is about 500 per cent, which is 
enormous, in view of quantity produced last year 
for the first time. The Indian makers are also 
attracted to the green tea market this year. Per- 
haps a special incentive for the large production 
has been the scarcity of the green teas last year, 
when they brought high prices, and the British 
greens came into notice as a desirable substitute. 
But the situation has changed. As was to have 
been expected, the barren market and the high 
prices obtained has stimulated production, and as 
is apt to result in such conditions, quality has 
been sacrificed to quantity. We have now in the 
market a great quantity of 
UNDESIRABLE GREENS OP LOW GRADE, 
which are not easily saleable. On the other 
hand greens of superior grade are very scarce, 
command high prices and are considered a 
good investment to hold for still higher 
prices, which they are thought certain to 
bring as the season advances. There 
is absolutely no substitute in sight. Some regret 
is expressed that Ceylons or Indians have not 
risen to the occasion. There is do tea here that 
will match with higher grade greens so that at 
least they can be mixed without injuring the 
appearance of the pot pourri, to say nothing of the 
cup qualities. In the great abundance of the low 
grade teas, ruling at times even cheaper than the 
cheapest British greens, there naturally is not 
much call for the British green teas as an emer- 
gency, and these will have to sell entirely on their 
merits. Of course they have acquired a good deal, 
as goes the Indian expression, but it is to be 
doubted if it as yet equals by much the extent of 
the production. The makers, too, should be 
advised to put more cup quality in their teas. We 
saw some the other day which looked fine in the 
color in the cup, but was so weak in the body that 
only an expert taste could diseover a tea flavour; 
it was like so much hot water and was utterly 
drowned when sugar and milk were' added. Of 
course, such weak tea suits some palates, but the 
complaint here ia that the tea is too weak to be 
desirable commercially. It would appear to us 
that the makers have not been very thoroughly 
advised or if so favoured have not accepted the good 
counsel proffered, and hence it happens that the 
best plums in tiie market cannot be bid for. — The 
Tea and Coffee Trade Journal, Oct 20. 
♦ 
A FIND IN KULU : SAPPHIRE OR BERYL. 
A trader xhz has jnst come down from Zanskar, 
writes the Knlu correspondent of the " Civil and 
Military Gazette, " says that the passes are free from 
snow, what fell earlier in the month, having appa- 
rently all melted ; this trader also brings a story of 
a fresh find of sapphires, his version being to the 
eSeot that two marcheo beyond Zanskar there is a 
small lake, snrrounded on three sides by steep cliffs, 
and that a Sahib, who had come with a permit from 
the Mftharajab, had esumined three cliffs with hia 
glasses, and detected a large deposits of " ceelnm " 
or sapphire in the face of one of the cliffs, the said 
sapphires being only two feet long I and that two 
natives who had attempted to climb np to the atppbirea 
