Xov. 1, 1901.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
3.31 
New Guinea. Tiie Pearl Shell of the Tm- 
briHiid Isi^ii'i, wh eh is fished almost fxclusi^ ely 
for its pea\l?, belouf/s tu this sjitcie!-. Tlie fishing 
is ciirritd on enliiely tiyilie natives, in0 2ini,s., 
and I he live -hells are imrchased in bulk by the 
traders. 'I'hey yield quaniiiies of pearls mostly ot 
inferior value. The shell has hi en pxportetl and 
sold as Lingiihin sniiiU qaaiilities. The external 
coh)ur of ihe Trobiiand t-hell is as in the Persian 
Gulf form, but the naore is more smoky and 
leaden in lu-tre. I have occasionally lound iso- 
lated examples in other localiiies in Eastern New 
Guinea 
New Zealand Gould (M fuco.ta). 
Ja/pan. Keeve {M Jiicaia) (locality doubtful). 
A 1,500 YEAR-OLD TURTLE. 
The largest turtle in the world rejoices in the 
appropriate name of .Jnmho. He weighs a trifling 
300 lb., and is credited witli having celebiated a 
modest 1,500 birthdays. He was brought to San 
Francis-co fiom the Galapagos Islands last year, 
and had to be carried by his proud, but exhausted, 
captors over no fewer than eighteen miles ot the 
lava lieds wiiich characterise certain parts of these 
islands. "Junibo' is ov(-r 5 ft. in length and is 
a valuable property. It i~ estin^ated that he is 
likely to live .500 years longer, and be is valued at 
neatly £1,000. He seems none the worse for his 
cruise or change of air. If "Jnml>o"_ shnu d live 
out his allotted number of years there is no know- 
ing what dis)i(.sition will eventually be made of 
Yixm— Daily Express, Sept. 12 
.fy^ 
PRODUCE. PLANTING, AND COMMER- 
CIAL NOTES. 
Commenting on the table published by Mr George 
Seton, giving results of Indian tea comp-^nies dnringr 
the season 1900, the " Financial Times" says : '■ It 
will be observed that despite fin increas-e in the ou'put 
of tea amouiutng to ne rly 10 ppr cent.' the pi ofit per 
ib hiia fallen to nearly one-half of what it was last 
year, the working cost being little nnder that of 1899. 
There is, however, one encouraging featare. Over- 
production is admittedly the r!<ot of the evil, ond it 
is tberf'fore »r»tifjin.; to find that notwithstanding 
tbefftilme of the scheme to effect a combined reduction 
in the output, there is evidently a disposition on the 
part of the companiea to follow out this piinciple 
individually. A glance at the figarPR representing 
the acreage shows that the increase in the area 
planted is only a little over 1 percent. This can only 
be cegarded as a very moderate proportion to meet 
the depreciation in the gardens, and goes to show 
that the differt-ut manngements have fully realised 
the folly of laige extensions. As to the outlook for the 
current season, it is as yet too early to express any 
reliable opinion. "We at e informed that in ail dis- 
tricts, with a few exceptions, there mas a consider- 
able shortage in the tea crop at the end of Aiipnst, 
owing, to a large extent, to the weather, which 
curtailed the pickings, and this be nt the case it is 
certain that unless this falling-ofi is made up by the 
end of September the crop will be materially re- 
duced. It must not be overlooked, howaver, that 
there was a large surplus from the last season at 
the end of May, and the question is as to what 
stocks are held in private hands. _ The opinion 
expressed by an authority is th-^t it is now but 
smH.ll, and "in that event, if there should be, 
as is not unlikbly, a shortage in the current 
crop, it is not improbable that we shall see 
better prices at Mincing Lane before very 
long. This view is corroborated by Messrs. 
Gow, Wilson and Stanton in their weekly 
report, issued yesterday, but, at the same 
time, they emphasise the warning that as 
young tea from (he recent extensions of tea planta- 
tions in India is n iw coming into bearing, every 
eff >rt will be required on the part of planters to 
reduce the output. lu the meantime it is interesting 
to note thaf. ine dire -t export of Indian tea to places 
outside the United Kingd.iui for the first half of the 
year was largely increased, no fewer than .0,774, 600 lb 
having been shipped, aa compared with 3,344,200 lb in 
the corresponding period." 
A wri'erin the " Trade Press List," published at 
Boston, LT.S.A , seems more scornful than hopeful ou 
the subject of tea-growing in the Southt-rn States. He 
says : " For over a bundled years different individuals 
have used the United States Agricultural Depart- 
ment as a nursing bottle to draw funds from the 
Treasury, to let tbem pose as tea-planters. Secretary 
Wilson has lately stooped over in a statement, ' we 
are succeeding admirably in producing tea in the 
United States.' As a f-id, supported by the Treasury 
of the United States, it is a very pretty occupation, 
but, from a commercial stand-point, the quality of 
the stuff as yet produced, makes his remarks rank 
nonsense." — //. und C. Mail, Sept. 20. 
LONDON-INDIAN TEA COMPANIES, 
We have received MrGnorge "Teton's annual table 
setting forth tiie rasu't* for the season 1900 of thef 
working of forty-five Indian Tea Companies regis- 
tei edin London. There is nfi more caret ully compiled 
or, within its laiige, nmre valuable compilation of 
Iiiilian Tea Company statistic-: than this. Year 
aft^er year Mr Seton's ligures enable lea share- 
holders and the trade to follow the c urse of busi- 
ness and to estimate future probabilities. For the 
past year we regret to say the ligures in the 
table confirm aM that has been advanced in 
our columns about the unsatisfactory posi- 
tion of Indian taa cultivation. Running through 
the totals but omitting a comparison of the total 
oipital, because this year debenture issues have 
been added in the table to the share capital figure* 
lieretofore alone aiven, raising tlie total by nearly 
£800,000 to £8,760,000, we find (ir-t of all that 
lO.GiJO acres ailditiotia! matured ganlen were har- 
vest d in the past season, the total having risen to 
162,690 acres. This involved, however, a decrease 
of 8,491 acres in the are»)i of immature gardens 
under cultivation, so that the aggregate increase 
of cultivated area was rather less than 2,200 
acres. From the plants on this arrouud 79,272,489 
lb. of tea were gathe'ed, or 6,982,320 lb. more 
than in the season 1899. That this increase was 
not the product of the small not increase 
ill the aeieage, is proved by the fact that 12 lb. 
per acre more tea were harvested last season 
than in the previous one, the 1900 total beinff 
437 lb. per acre. In the present .state of trade 
that additional output was not any benefit to 
the eomn.anies, whose working expenses alone ran 
up £149,397 to a total of £2,136,407 so i hat, even 
had the price obtained for the leaf averaged as 
much as in the preceding year, the net results 
would have been unsatisfactory. As it was, the 
average price receded 0-i3d per lb. or 17 per cent 
to 6-47d. 
Taking the lower average jnice and the some- 
whac higher working cost together, it'foilowcd 
as a matter of c ursi; that tlie pioHt fell off 
£245,lii0 to £279 5.54. It was in fact 0-89d per lb. 
iouer, althou,i:li the gross income teil ofi" only 
£95,703 to £2,415,961. This reprtsented a de- 
cline of fully Id in the lb, and the ratio of 
expenses to receipts rose to 88 per cent, compared 
with 79 per cent the year before. T^his again invoL 
