May 2, 1904.1 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
747 
liokl the stock, nnj it has been conclusively proved 
ilmt the trade will not iJo so, no matter how pro- 
uiisin<5 the outlook, except at a ruinous tlitcouut, 
far in excess of what it costs the owners to finance 
their hoi liu<>8. It has been said that " regulating " 
lias favoured common tea at the expeip*' ot 
medium, especially in the case of Assams. This 
is a difJicult if not impossible point on wliich lo 
arrive at a definite conclusion. It is, however, 
conceded that had large quantities been tiirown 
on the market from last autumn onwards, prices 
for common tea would have fallen heavily. The 
probability is that the large crop of medium 
Asaams would have followed suit, but at the bes^t 
we may conjecture they would have remained un- 
aflfected by the fall below. How then would 
the seller of such have been iu a better position? 
True he might have seen a wider guif between 
his produce and most of that from Cachar, 
Sylhet, &c., but this would have been a purely 
sentimental advantage. We are disposed to think 
that the relatively low value of medium grades is 
the result of a variety of causes, chief amongst 
them being (1) the admittedly lieavy proportion of 
unattractive tea from Assam, much of it beiag 
little, if at all, more useful than so-called common ; 
(2) the alteration in the proportionate demaml for 
the different grades, brought about partly by the 
ofTtake for foreign markets, now amounting to some 
120 millions of Indian and Ceylon tea the bulk 
of which is fair common leaf. An increased business 
has been done iu Calcutta foi foreign markets, 
chiefly due to the deflection of trade on Russian ac- 
count owing to the opening of the Siberian Rail- 
way, the approximate quantity being some 35 
millions, against 29^ last year. The total offerings 
on that market were, say 63 rni lion?, and there 
consequently remained (mt of the sales of 30 
millions over and above requirements for markets 
other than United Kingdom, which has to come to 
London. Under new conditions a considi'rabie pro- 
portion of this heavy balance finds its way h.orae, 
not as in past years through merchants whr.re 
object was to support the market, but now in many 
cases through hands whose interest ic is, and very 
naturally, to keep down prices. It is needless to 
say that the considerable quantity avMilabl?' for 
this purpose constitutes a weak spot atui tenets to 
nullify the policy of those who control supplies, It 
is therefore to be hoped that ihe foreign demand in 
Calcutta will grow and prosper, and further reduce 
the quantity of bought tea to be included in the 
shipments lo United Kingdom. Anything calcu- 
lated to cause depression in London reflects back 
again on Calcutta and elsewhere, and all markets 
eventually suffer alike. At the same time it goes 
without saying that Calcutta should have an ample 
supply for her most valuable foreign trade, and 
that it larger supplies become warranted they 
should be freely forthcoming. 
Prospects. — With the disappearance of the 
cloud of excessive supply which has fur so long 
overhung the industry, in the shape of the con- 
tinuous coming into bearing of large extensions, 
tlie trade appears to be entering itito a new era 
and the future is more than ever in the hands of 
the producers. It is to be earnestly hoped, therefore, 
that a policy of moderation will prevail, so that 
the long-waited for harvest, which at last would 
appear to be within measurable distance of realisa- 
tion may be gathered. With the results of the 
closing season before us we are not without the 
dread of a system of coarse and unrestricted pluck« 
iog being a great temptation, and would venture 
to warn producers from adopting such a course. 
There is a vast difference in handling a crop of 
low scaly leaf ccmmon tea and one of useful 
character. A good supply of the latter enhances 
the prospect of a large offtake for foreign markets, 
and should be easily moved, but given a market 
overweighted with really low-class tea, the 
situation might be entirely altered for the worse, 
as was the case in 1900-1. Scarcity of labour has 
been held out as a reliable safeguard against over 
production, but iu view of the large increase in last 
year's crop, it seems to be a somewhat doubtful 
factor. 
Manufacture.— We would repeat what we 
wrote a year ago to the effect that an indiscrimi- 
nate rush to turn out a tea to meet a special but 
perhaps passing phase of the market is to be 
deprecated. Gardens capable of producing a 
paying quantity per acre of useful well-made com- 
mon tea should aim accordingly, while those which 
can turn out a reall v high-grade article should try 
to make a crop Litter than ever. Assam, as a 
rule, will find quality pay best in the long run, as 
be assured there can only be one. result if every 
district ti-.rns its attention to quantity alone. It 
may suit a few Assam Gardens which are incap- 
able of producing anything but low medium, to 
endeavour to reduce the cost of production by 
plucking somewhat freer, but the number of such 
is limited. 
Packing — In view of the growing trade with 
external markets, transit to which often entails 
extra handling and transhipments, care should be 
taken that only strong suitable noses be used. 
Russian buyers are as a rule partial to the best 
kinds of veneer chests, finding th^-.t cbey can be 
used over again in their distributing trade, while 
most other foreign markets appear still to like 
ordinary well made woodea packages. 
THE CHARDrAE RUBBER PLANTATION. 
ENTERPRISE OF THE ASSAM 
GOVERNMENT. 
The time may come when the invention of some 
artificial substitute will depreciate the value of 
rubber ; but despite years of experimental labour 
by the chemists the natural product continues to 
hold the field and the demand is now keener than 
ever. It is impossible to enumerate the uses to 
which rubber is put, but while needed for the manu- 
facture of balls for pivposes of sport, golf, tennis, 
etc., and especially while cycling and motoriag 
remain in vogue, and rubber-tyred vehicles are 
needed there is no fcnr of rubber becoming a drug 
on the market. To niHiLtain the supply of rubber 
the tropical forests of many lands have been laid 
under toll, but for some years past the decline of 
natural sources of the raw material has led to the 
cultivati n of rubber yielding plants, especially 
Para and Ceara trees, in different parts of the world. 
There are about 60 distinct species of the rubber 
yieldir.g genera and botanists and foresters have 
thus had a fairly wide ^'Ad ot experiment. 
FlCUS Elastica.— In India quite a number of 
plan'.s are to be found that give varying quantities 
and qualifies of caoulchonc, but tlie chief iutligc- 
nous iree ef commercial value is that known ys 
Ficus Elastica which grows freeiy iu the damp 
forests at the base of the Sikkim Himalaya and 
eastward to Assam, Chittagong and Burma. Foe 
ages the natives of Assam are said to liare been 
