206 THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Sept. 2, 1901. 
[We give the best information available 
at the moment, as follows : — 
Tea Exports to North America in lb. 
From! 1896. 1897. 1898. 1899. 1900. 
India 5,258,773 5,663,244 5,971,701 8,487,443 0,958,370 
CEYL'N 4,364,510 5,698,696 7,636,995 8,289,376 9,173,824 
China 30, 146,000" 67,000,00G§ 5S,nOP,000§ 44,307,271t .'i0,901,974t 
Japan 62,C64,OO0t 45,000,GOO§ 42,611,9C9 40,000,OOC§ 36,000,000§ 
India and Ceylon are given for the calendar 
years; but the China and Japan 'seasons' 
end with April. The total imports into the 
United States for years ending June 30th 
are given as follows by the American 
Grocer :— 
1896 ... 93,340,248 1b. 1899 ... 72,834,816 1b. 
1897 ... 112,907,548 lb. 1900 ... 84,843,491 lb. 
1898 ... 67,697,295 lb. 
To this must be added the imports into the 
Canadian Dominion and Newfoundland, 
about 25 million lb. a year. Altosrether, 
it is estimated North America requires 
annually 28 to 30 million lb. of black teas 
at present and 65 to 68 millions of green and 
15artly fermented teas. The V Commissioner " 
has also declared that the duty of 10 cents 
per ton lowered the consumption of tea in 
the United States by nearly 25 million lb, 
per annum !— Ed. T.A.] 
THE SPENDING OF THE TEA CESS 
FUND AND THE CEYLON IMPORT 
DUTY ON TEA. 
Dear Sir,— I am sure all we planters are much 
indebted to the Ceylon press for tlie keen in- 
terest being -taken in matters that so closely 
concern us in connection with the spending of 
the Tea Cess Funds, especially as regards 
America. 
From 1894 to end of 1900, the total sum collected 
by the Cess aggregates clo.se on one-and a-half 
million rupees. 
It would be interesting and in.«tructive, if the 
" Thirty Commil tee " were to issue a pamphlet, 
to all who contribute to the Cess, showing roughly 
how and where this sum has been spent, and 
the results of such expenditure to end of 1900. 
For e.\ ample, if such as the following information 
were put clearly before all interested, it might 
result in the "Thirty Committee" receiving 
valuable suggestions for their future guidance : 
such as : — 
Summary o£ Tea Cess Expenditure with results 
for year ;- 
Country. 
Proportion oE 
General Ex- 
penditure. 
Salary of Commis- 
sioner, &c. 
Total 
Expenditure. 
Sums spent by 
Do. 
Increase during 
year in lbs. Cey- 
lon tea sold. 
One such schedule for each year since the com- 
mencement of the Cess, and one general schedule 
"howing the totals for the 7 years. Anotlier sche- 
dule for fjreen tea would also be necessary. 
Now that tlie Cess has bcfen in existence for 
several years, there is something to go on, but 
I, like a good many other planters, am not suffi- 
* Excludinf; Formosa teas, f Including Formosa. 
J Including Formosa. § About. 
ciently well posted up in the TeaFund figures to pass 
any opinion on future expenditure. If the "Thirty 
Committee" were a little more liberal in distri 
Luting concise information to all, as regards ex- 
penditure and results, good would I feel sure, 
come of it. 
There need be no ocoasion to publish full de- 
tails of subsidies made by our Commi.ssioiif-r and 
the Committee, although I, for one, doul/t the 
necessity for "secret payments." The "Thirty 
Con'. mit tee " must judge whether such payments 
have given results good enough to justify their 
continuance. 
The Committee is composed of the best men in 
Ceylon, but they are likewise the busiest, and 
cannot spare the time to go into details. So I 
think they should appoint a managing Secretary, 
to devote his whole time to the collecting of in- 
formation as to how and where fund money 
should be spent. 
Tlie salary of .such a Secretary or adviser would 
he money well spent and so would his travelliugr 
expenses to Russia or America, or to any country, 
where it might be necessary for him to visit 
personally. 
The taste for Ceylon tea is gradually becoming 
universal, so I think the time has now come when 
the efforts of the " Thirty Committee" would be 
greatly benefitted, if Goverment were to ippoint 
an Inspector to prohibit the sale and export ot 
all tea below a certain standard to be fixed by 
the Committee. 
I also think the import duty on all British-grown 
tea into Ceylon should be abolished, and every en- 
deavour made to make Colombo a large tea dis- 
tributing centre, the market for foreign lands. 
M'hy force the foreigner to go to London or 
China ! Give him a market sufficiently large and 
representative in a port so favourably situated 
as Colombo is, then we shall see foreign markets 
for British-grovvn teas increase with leaps and 
bounds.— Yours faithfully, 
ONE OF THE NEW ORDER. 
Upcountry, 19th August, 1901, 
ON RUBBER, FIBRES, AC. 
Paris, la 21 Juillet. 
Dear Sir,— I meant by Insulinde (INSULINDK) 
not Insulande, the Cduntiy constituted by the 
islands Sumatra, Borneo, Java, etc. — to answer to 
your demand of last CO. June 28th. 
Formol for the conservation of latex is 
Aldehyde formique with 60 per cent of water. You 
obtain Formol at 40 per cent— 2 per cent of Formol 
is sufficient for the conservation of latex. For con- 
servation of flowers and fruits it is preferable to 
alcohol ; it does not ciiange the colour of the sam- 
ples nor the colour of the nose of the black bearers 
because these cannot drink this substance. 
That the process of extraction of rubber is indus- 
trially adopted, any of your readers when in Paris 
can see if they call at our Co.'s office, 3 rue Scribe, 
near the Grand Hotel. One block of rubber weighing 
105 kilos has been made entirely mechanically with 
barks of Landolphia Emdelotii, perhaps the best 
rubber plant for dry and almost unfertile soils. 
I have received some time agu from the 
oriental coast of Africa a sample of a new 
Sanseviera or I b-^lieve so ; and as CeyloH 
is the paradise for S.4NSEVIERA, I believe this 
plant will be an interesting one for you. Yoa 
will see by the adjoining design that the leaf is 
respectable one, fully six feet long, weighing 
