IFeb. 1, 1904.1 THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST: 
567- 
tinted Balas ruby, which is composed of alu- 
mina and magnesia, coloured by iron or chro- 
mium. When of fine colour it is a valuable 
stone. Spinels are derived chiefly from Ceylon, 
where they are found in alluvial deposits. 
Red tourmaline is sold as Siberian ruby, and 
garnet is sometimes passed off as ruby. Topaz 
of a pink colour is sold as Br.iziliau ruby. 
Similarly cyanite, a silicate of alumina, fnand 
in Brazil and India in blue crystals, and 
cordierite, found in blue crystals in Ceylon ^ 
and characterised by its dichroism, are some- 
times sold as sapphires. 
Chrysoberyl is a beautiful greenish yellow 
precious stone of great rnrity. It is the third 
hardest in the series and consist of alumina 
and glucina. Cut en cabochon, the less trans- 
parent specimens give one of the stones 
termed by jewellers "cat's eye." Zircon, 
hyacinth, and the green-coloured jargoon, are 
silicates of zirconia. They are the heaviest 
of all precious stones, and occur embedded 
in granite, basalt, and lava, and in alluvial 
beds in Ceylon. The transport moonstone, 
mined in the Kandy district of Ceylon, the 
apple-green Amazon stone, the Norwegian 
Bun stone, and the iridescent labradorite, are 
forms of felspar owing their value as orna- 
mental stones to certain effects of light. 
DOLOSBAGE AND YAKDESSA PLANTEES' 
ASSOCIAIION. 
ANNUAL REPORT. 
Yonr Committee has pleasaie in eabmitting the 
annual report for 1903. 
Season. — The past season has not been a favourable 
one for crop, owing chiefly to the prolonged sonth- 
west and failure of the north-east moufioons. The 
market at the same time was considerably above 
that of 1902. 
Tea Crop, 1904.— The estimate of crop for 1904 is as 
follows : — Acreage in tea. 14,576 ; acreage in bearing, 
14,161. BUcktea, 5,002,C001b.;greeu tea 160,000 lb; 
native leaf, 240,000 lb.— Total, 5,402,000 lb. this being 
372 lb. per acre, against 389 lb. in 1902. 
Labour. — The labour on most estates in the district 
was very short during the first half year, but the 
shortage was partly rectified dcring the latter part. 
There is still a shortage on several estates. 
Pests. — Your Committee regrets that the district 
has not been free from pests. The ' Tortrix ' has 
appaared on several estates, and Shot-hole borer is 
still prevalent. On several estates prunings were 
barnt with success, not in the hope of exterminating 
the borer, bat to keep it in check. 
MR. BLECHYNDEN TO LEAVE NEW YORK 
FOR ST. LOUIS. 
SUCCEEDED BY MR A. H. AYDEN. 
Mr K Blecbynden, representative in New York 
of Whittall& Co., Colombo, Oeylon, will presently 
leave New York for St. Louis, where he will have 
charge of the tea and coffee, pepper and spice 
exhibit at the great fair ne.'ct year. He will go to 
St Louis in a few days, return and go to Enfrland, 
and tlidD journey back again, this time to stay in 
St. Louis for some time. The departure of Mr 
Blecliyuden will be greatly regretted in the tea 
trade in New York, wliere ha was greatly liked 
personally and highly esteemed as an authority on 
tea and its statistics. His loss will be hard to 
repair. At St Louis a valuable addition will 
have been m-tde. He gained valuable experience 
at the Chicago exhibit in 1903. Alfred H Ayden 
of Colombo, will succeed Mr Blechynden as the 
repreaentative of Wliittall & Co. in New York, 
He is already in America and tlio.ae who know 
him alrendv value his acquaintance.— Yea c>nd 
Cojfce Trade Journal. 
CEYLON TEA IN AUSTEO-HUNGAEY. 
The follrwirp inlerestirg nt tice of fhe pro 
gre.^s of the trnde in Oylon tea in Centr.il 
Europe appeared— with pbotogrnphs of Mr. G 
A Marinit.'irb, Austrinn mei chant in Colombo, 
a tea pl.'intaticn in Ceylon find a Ceylon tea 
R hop in Vienna— in a recent number of the 
Vienna Salonblatt. We translate :— 
" It is due to the untiring zpal of Herr Q. 
A Marinitsch, Austrian Merchant in Colombo, 
that he has succeeded in creating in a com- 
paratively short time both in Austria and in 
Hung;iry a great demand for h's Ceylon tea. 
In 1887 this tea was introduced for the first 
time into Austria, and soon took on to such 
an extent, that in 1901, Herr Marinitsch 
opened a business on his own account in 
Vienna, and taking ns his standpoint that 
tea is no mere luxury but an article of food, 
Herr Marinitsch offered his various teas at a 
much lower price than we had ever before 
been accustomed to pay. By means of this 
reduction in price, tea has now become among 
all classes of the people a popular drink 
At first the depot was situated in a suburb, 
but a short time since it emigrated more into 
the centre of the town to the Kohlmarkt 
and we today produce a picture of the new 
premises. Herr Marinitsch is no stranger in 
Vienn.a. At the time of the Jubilee Exhibi- 
tion in 1898, he presented to His Majesty a 
magnificently bound album with photographs 
of the plants and proprietors of the Ceylon 
tea estates, as well as of scenes in the island, 
together with samples of tea packed in boxes, 
manufactured of woods indigenous to Ceylon, 
each little cnse moreover being made of a 
different kind of wood. On this occasion 
Herr Marinitsch w.is received in audience by 
His Majpsty tht Emperor. The great stride 
made in the export of tea from Ceylon is 
demonstrated by the following dates. In 
J883, the export ot Ceylon tea amounted to 
scarcely a million pounds ; by 1903. this had 
grown to 162 nulliun pounds, and this result 
is due especially to its own excellent qualities, 
for it has scaioel/ been paralleled by other 
countries. One speciality of Herr Marin- 
itsch's businfbs is the manner of packing. 
The tea is inriported only in the original pack- 
ages, though the quantities and prices vary, 
and never, as is the case with other teas, in 
large open cases, so that it is unpacked here 
for the first time : thus the full aroma and 
all the other peculiar qualities of the Ceylon 
tea are perfectly maintained. But one point, 
which especially recommends Ceylon tea. is 
the fact that, whereas of other teas two 
heaped teasnoonfuls, are, or at the least one is 
reauired. of Ceylon tea a half-tea spoonful 
suffices to prepare an excellent cup of tea. 
♦ 
Tea-growino in Kamerun.— The Government of tha 
German Colony Kamernn, Africa., has planted, we 
learn, a large trnet with tea shrub?, as past"esperi- 
ments have proved the soil and olimate of that Colony 
favourable to the cultivation of the tea plant. 
