Feb. 1, 1904.] THE TROPICAL AGRIOULTUIUST. 
641 
The oouatituents of the latex may bo arranged into 
two gronpa as follows ; — 
(1) Rubber, Eesius, Albnminous matter, Miueral 
matter. This Rroup maltea up the globules which can 
be microscopically observed in the latex and separated 
on liliratiou. 
(2) Water with Albuminous matter, Sugar, and 
Mineral matter, in solution. 
This group coLsLitutea the liquid separated in a pure 
Btate from the latex by fiUration. To separate, in 
group 1, the rubber from tho other coiisutuent3 
appears at present to be a practical impossi- 
bility on a coinmeicial scale ; the task thtri;- 
fo-o left for the rubber grower is to separate group 1 
from group 2 as perfectly as may be. If this were 
done the rcanltiug substance would icpresent the 
purest and best possible rubber that could bo pre- 
pa cd on the large scale from the latex, and as 
fcuch it ought to command the best price. As long 
nowever, as rubber is bought and sold by the appear- 
ance, smell and strength, as they appeal to the rubber 
broker.", there is no guarantee that the best price will 
be given for the chemioaliy pure product. 
On llie question of Cotlon Growth in the 
Straits Mr Stanley Ardeu's letter to the Federal 
Secretary is pub i-hcd, He writes : — 
I am of opinion that Government should take np 
the experimental cultivation of this product — on a 
limited scale at first by starting small experiment- 1 
plots in di£fe: eut localities, and, by means of selection 
and hybridization, attimpt to raise disease resisting 
vaiietiea and improve the quality of the liut and 
yield per acre ; and if the results were promising, 
afterwards on a scale sufficiently extensive, to demons- 
trate conclusively the suitability or otherwise of this 
crop as an agi icultural undertaking to the conditions 
obtaining hero • Then and not till then, will Capitalists 
be prepared to iuvest money in its cultivation,— 6' /<' 
Press, Jan. 16. 
^ 
AN AGlilUULTUKAL DEPARTMENT FOR 
THE MALAY STATES. 
It is reported at Taiping that the establishnienb 
of an ARiicuUural department for the FMS has 
been approved of and that an officer is to be engaged 
for tiie purpose will be styled Director of A^vi' 
culture.— S<rrt!<s Timex, Jan. 14. 
^ 
CPA-LON AND CHINA TEAS. 
NO KNTEKPRISE AT PRtSENT. 
The attempts to foster the development of China 
Tea fell tl it for lack of enterprise on the part of 
Chinese tea growers. It is stated that a scheme to 
resuscitate the Cliincse tea trade by means of 
advertisement has broken clown, owing to scepti- 
cism on the part of exporters in Central China 
as to its practical value. 
TEA IN THE DOMINION. 
Among tlie recent callers at the Toronto office of 
the Canadian Grocer were Mv Eugene Kosedale 
and Mr J A Curli.^, of New \ork, representing the 
tea and coffee interests of Sir Tlionias Lipton. Mr 
Kosedale tells the Grocer that after an up hill 
fight the coflfee drinking Americans are taking 
hold of Lipton's teas in a most encour;iging man- 
ner. The Lipton Company are now turning their 
attention to Canada, and an aggressive campaign 
is being begun. 
A TRADE VIEW OF THE YEAR'S TEA. MARKET, 
In its annua! review the Grocer, referring; to 
Ueylon tea, says : — "Although the deliveries of 
Ceylon tea are falling off considerably, yet we 
cannot attribute this decline to the public givinc; 
up its use to some extent, bub entirely to the 
falliug off iu the supply, For many years past it 
has been noticed by us that .'supplies and delivetiea 
exactly balance and deliveries rise or fall according 
to our receipts each month. For that reason one 
cannot take the figures according to seasons as in 
India or China. Ceylon has no season, and qua- 
lity is regulated by the wet or dry time of the 
year. About January and June are the periods of 
heavy supplies a;id inferior quality. Ceylon teas 
are fast growing in favour Vv'ith all other countries 
of the world to the dispiaeenieot of China tea, and 
now that tlie largest consumers have their own 
buyers oa the spot, shipments are being made 
direct instead of getting their supplies from the 
London market. Hence one of the reasons of a 
smaller import for 19!),S of 9 nnJlion lb (Board of 
Trade give 12 millions). Deliveries show a decline 
of about 8 million lb, made up of 6i millions less for 
home consumption and 1^ millions less for export. 
When there is a scarcity of the lower grades, 
Ci^yloa teas are always dearer in comparison 
v.iih Indian growth?, and the decrease in Oeylons 
lias been made up by the U'-e of more Indian, 
China, and Java growths ; the latter have in- 
creased 1 million lb. for home consumption this 
year, or 25 per cent. We find tliat tlse shipment of 
Ceylon tea direct to other countries for 1902 was 
45 million lb., and this year v/ill be more owing 
to the manufacture of some 10 or 12 millions lb. 
of green tea, the bulk of which goes to Canada 
and the States, Australia now takes some 18 to 
20 million lb. instead of China tea (Foochow), 
and Kussia comes a good second with about 
12 million lb,, while the demand from the latter 
is likely to grow considerably, as the taste for 
Ceylons increases. Other countries, however, 
are not likely to divert so much as Kussia 
in proportion unless it is in t'.ie form of green 
tea. It will thus be seen that we are not likely 
to get any appreciably larger supplies of Ceylon 
tea for this country for next year, at all events, 
and the home trade must not expect to see the 
low prices that were ruling a year or so ago for 
some time to come. The quality throughout the 
year has been faiily good, but there are too many 
light liquoring teas about to please the trade, and 
values in consequence often look very cheap. 
Thick liquoring and really line teas have been 
scarce, and have always commanded full prices 
and keen competition. Medium Broken Pekoes 
have been a feature, especially in the early part 
of the J'ear, and values in medium grades of Pekoe 
have been most moderate," 
TEA FOR RUSSIA. 
A circular of the lirissian Castoms Departmeub 
notifies that in the case of teas not imported into 
liussia direct froiii the couutiies of origin, bub by 
way of entrepots, such as London, Hamburg, 
Amsterdam, etc., letters or invoices from these 
ports, duly ablested by the Russian Consular 
authorities there, rie to bo taken as sufficient 
evidence of the origin of the teas in question, — H, 
<Si C. Mail, January 8. 
4: 
The FisniNG Club Rules— which are 
printed elsewhere, together with summary 
of discussion, deserve attention. Mr Hornell's 
views on fish-breeding for Ceylon, which we 
have obtained, are worthy of notice, 
and we hope Government will r-ealise the 
importance of stocking the numerous tanks 
in the island with edible fish, as well aa 
appreciate the force of the Fishing Club's 
request iox a grant lor further hatcheiies &c. 
