AUG, 1, 1901.1 THE TROPICAL AGRICULxURIST. 
119 
yon get nothing for nothing and very little for 
a ha'penny. Apparently 1 want to propose that 
the Cess shall pny itself and thus ci>st nothing. 
Bat in this case we gain hy unity and effi(;iency. 
The infrefactof union amongst lea owners with 
a suffi<:ient capital at their backs, will, to bt^gin 
wiili, torce the buyers to pay the Cess. The first 
two pies increa-e in prices wiil jiay for the Uess. 
That snni of money, instead of being distributed 
amongst the producers, will he collected for the 
general good. It will buy averageins. which will 
be sent forward to create a demand. When you 
give your surplus to the dealers they reserve the 
best tea for their ordinary customers, and they 
send forward the lowest classes to create a, demand. 
I liave thus shown that, by pretending to pay 
a Cess of two pies per pound, ive shall force the 
buyers to pay it, and we shall be able to extend 
our markets with average tea at cost piice instead 
of with low-class rubbish at doul)le that price. 
Our average tea will be placed on new markets 
at 2\ annas at Calcu*'ta, say 3^ annas anywhere 
in the vvorld, and the present low-class tea bought 
in Calcutta at 2 annas is placed on those markets 
at about 4 to 5 annas. Does it not follow that 
better tea at half price would do moi e to create 
a demand than worse tea at doubie the price? 
To put it in a clearer light, we coulil transfer 
the profit from the liuyer in Calcutta or London 
to the pockets of tlie actual tea dealer in the new 
market; and he, having placed the new tea ao a 
big profit, would go to Calcutta or London and 
get more of it. 
In armed conflicts the one who can show over- 
whelming force is not compelled to xise it ; it is 
only necessary to send a commissioner or two to 
take possession of the desired territ^ory. 
In our case we can show an overwhelming force 
by paying a cess of 2 pies per pound on the first few 
invoices of tea, and we compel the buyer to 
refunil that, and to go on paying this heavy cess, 
which we use in r^covering that territory which 
the force of circumstances has made over to him. 
We shall recover the two annas per pound of tea 
which we do not get now, and which is due to us, 
and which the bujer and consumer have taken 
from us. 
I have provided for the greatest difficulty, 
which is the storage of the reserved tea, by 
proposing that the reserves shall be ke|>t (sealed) 
on the gariens till required. We cm expert so 
much loyalty from managers that they v\ ill hon- 
estly reserve the tea, and not fill up the chests with 
bad tea or sand. 
Even if all is granted there will be a minority 
who will refuse to reserve any tea. They will 
benefit by selling their whole crop at the improved 
rates. The only method of preventing this illicit 
gain would be to impose a Cess at a rate that 
would cover the gain in prices, and to r fund the 
surplus funds to those who subscribed to any 
generally approved movement, but i his of course 
is not practicable, 
I fear that I exhibit a daring which may be 
considered folly in lighily mentioning sums of 
20 lakhs of rupees per annum, bur I have en- 
deavoured to show that we shall not actually have 
to pay it ourselves, and the^-e sums are small 
compared with the amount of gain to be obtained. 
Our Indian crop, when it reaches 190 millions, at 
on eanna per pound represents 118J lakhs of rupees, 
and an actual expenditure of 20 lakhs would be 
cheap for such a return. And then I have stated 
that 'we shall be able to recover two annas per 
pound, which comes to 2.S7i lakhs. 
Ytu in Ceylon spend ahout two to three lakhs 
of rup-^es per annum, and you do not get the 
buyers to pay it, because Itidia has no Cess and 
the prices cannot be forced up. Let us suppose 
that you get a return of 200 per cent, on your 
expenditure, that is to say, you profit to the 
extent of 20 or 30 lakhs of rupees; that is real 
good business, but what is the use of this paltry 
pr. fit, divided amongst all tea owners? 
It seems to me to be useless to stMiggle unless 
we, the tea makers, get the absolute command of 
the situation, and I reckon that 20 lakhs in India 
and 14 to 15 in Ceylon would effect this. 
Unlike the simile used above, we send an iusut- 
ticient force to capture the dedred territory, and 
that force is cut np, and we remain vanquished ; 
we remain the absoluie slaves of the buyers. Tliey 
will allow U'j only sufficient food to keep us alive. 
By using ten times our present force we shall 
conquer and make up tor lost time, and the tea 
world will belong to us ; and China and Japan 
will retire into their own borders. 
This scheme of mine surpasses even Mr. Mac- 
kenzie's aspirations. You could let him handle 
millions of pounds of gfyocZ tea. Several years ago 
I (" 1874") advised you to make " Green 'Tea," and 
to send big lots of tea to A. o erica to sell for what 
they would fetch ; but Mr Maeke-'zie would not 
dare to he years ahead of his time. 
I understand that your Associations are feeling 
sore with him, but in |)Oint of tact you set him 
to an impossible task ; you wanted to get a return 
of one anna per pound on your tea for an expen- 
diture of two lakhs of rupees, — Yours, 
A. COOKE. 
GuTTA Percha. and RUBBER.— There can 
be no doubt; that in these we have two 
products, the demand for which is bound 
to go on increasing for many years; while 
it is very doubtful if the present supply from 
the natural forests of South America, Africa, 
the Malayan archipelago and India can be 
maintained. Planters in suitable regions are 
bound more and more to study all available 
information about Rubber, &c., and to go in 
for the cultivation as far as possible. In this 
connectior. we call attention to an interest- 
ing suggestive letter from our correspondent, 
Mr. Godefroy-Leboeuf, of Paris, accompanied 
by a very fine sample of rav7 gutta percha. 
due to some process not yet generally known, 
although the tree is a well known one in 
the Straits. *in other respects, the informa- 
tion of our correspondent is interesting, as 
when he speaks of rubber-yielding trees 
suitable to a dry climate and soil, such as 
prevails in Algiers and Tunis, and which 
might therefore be of service in Northern 
Ceylon. We hope to hear more on this 
subject. A great deal of information respect- 
ing Mimiisops balatn is given in our Manual, 
•• All about Rubber." As to gutta yielding 
trees, we fear there are few in Ceylon— none 
yet grown by planters (?) we believe— though 
the late Dr. Trimen did much to promote 
the growth of the he~t (Dicho/isis guttn) in the 
Peradeniya and Henaratgoda Gardens. We 
should be glad to'have any sample of "gum " or 
"latex" to send to our correspondent in Paris. 
