536 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Feb. 1, 1904. 
Minute utid Resolution referred to :— 
••rubbishy" teas in COLOMBO HARBOUR. 
Read letter from the Secretary, Ceylon Chamber of 
Com-nerce, enclosing copy of the report of the Com- 
mittee of the Colombo Tea Traders' Association with 
recommendations for the prevention of the sale of 
rubbishy teas in the Colombo harboar, as a basis for 
discassion and submission of proposals to Government. 
Resolved:— " That the report of the Colombo Tea 
Traders' Association be published and be recommended 
for adoption by the Committee, and that the question 
for submission to Government be brought before the 
annual general meeting of the Planters' Association 
of Ceylon on the 17th February, 1904." 
KEPOKT OF THE COLOMBO TEA TRADERS' 
ASSOCIATION. 
After very careful consideration, we have to 
make the following proposals: — 
(1) A Government standard of quality should 
be fixed and no teas failing to pass this standard 
should be sold either by auction or private sale, 
or shipped from the Island— the standard fixed on 
to be a break of tea and the break bought in and 
retailed in packets to those interested. 
(2) All teas or tea refuse which do not come up 
to the standard to be allowed to be exported 
in bags or bales only after being mixed with 
some chemical to prevent them being used tor 
human consumption. 
(3) All persons selling tea in the harbour or 
port tc be licensed. 
(4) All packages and packets of tea to bear the 
name of the seller, 
(5) Prominent notices to be placed on the Jetty, 
in the Hotels and at the Railway Stations, cau- 
tioning passengers from purchasing packages of 
tea which do not bear the name of the seller. 
(6) The Government to grant certificates or 
licenses under recommendation of the Tea Traders' 
Association to respectable traders who engage to 
sell only such packets or packages bearing either 
a banderole or seal with the name of the packer. 
We are also in favour of a Government Inspector, 
who should be an experienced tea expert, being 
attached to the Customs stafiF. 
I'LANTING AND OTHER NOTES. 
The Cultivation of Ramie Fibre should 
spread like no other product, if suitable heed 
is given to its tireless apostle, Mr. D. Edwards 
Radclyffe, who has not been satisfied with 
Director J. C. Willis's recent reply on behalf 
of the local Government to Mr. Radclyffe's 
previous letter. His rejoinder by this week's 
mail we are enabled to publish elsewhere, 
before it comes to hand in the official course. 
The advance proof of an article from the 
Draper^ to hand also, runs to several columns 
in length, and gives a greatdeal of information 
The Malay Peninsula Sugar Industry 
Association— want 8000 Javanese coolies, and 
applications in the prescribed form have been sent 
to the Consul General for the Netherlands. A 
meeting of the Province Wellesley Planters has 
decided that in the event of the monopoly in 
recruiting at Negapatam being insisted on, as 
indicated in the Resident-General's notes, the 
planters should take combined action as an Asso- 
ciation in getting over coolies from Negapatam 
through other sources. Meantime no steps are to 
be taken by the Association unles.s the Government 
insiston the Monopoly,— -S. F, Press, Jan. 4th. 
The Removal op the New Zealand Tea 
Duty— on British grown tea — comes into 
force, we learn, on March 31st, when foreign 
tea of all sorts, or British tea in packets of 
1 lb. and under, will alone pay the present 
2d duty. 
Rubber Production and Treatment in 
Ceylon. — We publish elsewhere two inter- 
esting letters giving local experience on the 
point of rubber manufacture dealt with by 
the India Rubber Journal's article, which 
we quote. In one case the use of acetic 
acid is held to be unnecessary ; this is 
in an upcountry district ; as, however, in 
the second case— a lowcountry district — it is 
practically admitted that the acid greatly 
accelerates the coagulation. The writer of 
the second letter, who speaks with greater 
authority, gives a very distinct testimony 
in favour of its use, and the large output, 
which he has supervised, adds very greatly 
to his statements. Until a distinct difference 
in prices is noticed between rubber treated 
with acetic acid and that which coagulates 
naturally, it is practically certain that the 
quicker method will hold the field for some 
time to come. 
The •' Packet Tea " Duty in New Zea- 
land — We direct attention to Mr R. Valentine 
Webster's letter and the interesting cutting he 
sends referring to the retention of the 2d duty 
on (1 lb) packet tea in New Zealand, though 
tea in bulk goes in free. It will be seen 
that Mr. Seddon's move in imitation of Aus- 
tialia has not given general satisfaction. 
The plea of the retail dealers might well be 
backed up by representations from the Ceylon 
Government, even though the matter is not 
of so great importance as the threatened 
increase in the British duty on tea, over 
which Sir West Ridgeway acted so promptly 
and forcibly on one occasion — more especially 
as packets have only slightly to exceed 1 lb. 
to get in free ! The resolution and protest of 
the Maoriland tradesmen at the meeting 
which led to the deputation to Mr. Seddon, 
were as follows : — 
" That the retail importers of New Plymouth 
are astonished to find that the remission of the 
duty on tea to take effect on March 31st only 
applies to bulk tea, and that this will very pre- 
judicially aftecfc the direct importation by retailers, 
as well as lower the standard of quality to the 
customer, is to be regretted. Teas packed in 
Ceylon (or other British dependencies) have the ad- 
ditional advantages of retaining the whole of their 
aroma, coming fresh from the drying rooms, and 
are immediately hermetically scaled. The faci- 
lities for dealing with, and the immediate packing 
of, the tea in Ceylon secure to the consumer a 
better quality of tea at a lower cost. That by 
restricting the direct importation by the retailers 
it will very prejudically affect their interest, inas- 
much as it will force the retail trade into the hands 
of a few packers, resulting in a corresponding reduc- 
tion of value to the consumers. This meeting of 
tea importers emphatically protests against such 
an interference with their right to import British 
teas, believing as they do that it would tend to 
foster a monopoly at the expense of the consumers, 
who under the circumstances would not partici- 
pate in the reduction of duty as intended by the 
Legislature." 
