488 THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Jan. 1, 1902 
PRODUCE AND PLANTING. 
Referring to Ki^iif^hung tea, the British Consu 
at Cliieiigmai, Siaiii, says ;—" Tlie import of this 
tea to Chienifmai and Moulniein is a novel one. 
The Yurinanese purcliase the tea chiefly in cir- 
cular bricks for convenience of pack transport in 
the town of Kenghun" which is the centre of a large 
tea-growing cliscrict. This tea bioughh south is 
of an inferior kind, being the older shoots of the 
' mieng,' or tea plant. It is steamed like 
rice in copper pots, with a cloth over the 
mouth of the pot and when sufficiently 
steanjed is turned out and squeezed in the 
cloth till fairly dry, when it is ready for sale. 
The weight of one of these pudding-like bricks 
has been found to be 1 lb. 12 oz. The price in 
the Kenghung market is from 6d to lOd per 
choi (3 1-3 lb ) ; in Chienginai, from rupees 
(Is 8d) to 1^ rupees ('2s) ; and in Mnulmein, from 
2 rupees (2s 8d) to three rupees (is) The tea 
is rather strong to European palates, but is ap- 
preciated by Burmese and Shans, who steep it in 
water before using. The best class of Keuhiing 
tea does not come south, but is transported i-.i 
cubes to the Yangtze, where it finds a better 
market. The medium class is taken by Talifu 
muleteers to Mandalay tor Burmese consumption. 
This same ' mieng' grows wild ou all the hills 
sound Ohiengniai, and there is a large local 
consumption of the leaf, not as a beverage, but 
is a quid for chewing and eating." 
The Mexicans grow coffee, but they do not 
'i^'ink much of it, and as for tea, the rural Mexican 
"^'arcely knows what it is. They have their own 
fermented drinks, and very deadly they are. 
There are three beverages which in Mexico super- 
sede wine in the tasce of the common people, and 
convert thousands of fine men and women into 
wrecks. These are pulque, mescal, and agurdi- 
ente. Pulque is the favourite drink of the res- 
pectable class who are not satisfied with ordinary 
wine. It is regarded as an exquisite luxury. 
The Mexican writers generally glorify this con- 
coction. It is peculiar to the country, being the 
product of a magnificent plant of the aloe tribe, 
the Agave Mexicana, which is amazing in its 
sugary richness. A far more deadly drink is the 
famous mescal, another fermented extract of the 
auiaryllidaj or aloe tribe of plants, For the rural 
Mexican this mescal is the most precious of all 
potations. It is distilled from a very different 
species of the aloe— very different from the ordi- 
nary pulque-producing agave. The mescal plant 
is a kind of century flowering giant cactus ; that is 
to say, it shoots out a magnificent spike of bloom 
only after an interval of many years, — H <£• C Mail 
Nov, 29. 
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO. 
The report of the Colonial Secretary of 
Trinidad for last year shows considerable 
prosperity in the colony, in spite of the ex- 
port of sugar being the smallest for 20 
years p;ist. The revenue was greater than 
in any of the previous five years, and was 
much in excess of the expenditure. The pub- 
lic debt at the end of the year was £918,472, 
or less than 18 months' revenue, and more 
than three quarters of it represented directly 
remunerative public works, especially the 
railway. Luge harbour improvements are 
in contemplation, and a complete system of 
roads, connecting the settled districts and 
opening new country, is about to be carried 
out. The margin of taxable capacity is 
large, for the taxation is light and is mostly 
indirect. The imports amounted to 2i 
millions sterling, and the exports to a little 
more. Cocoa, sugar and asphalt are the 
staple exports. Of the countries sending im- 
ports Great Britain sent about a third last 
year, Venezuela and the United States about 
a fourth each. The transit trade, which 
forms about a quarter to the total trade 
of the colony is almost wholly with Vene- 
zuela, Even the heavy additional duty of 
80 per cent on imports from Trinidad, im- 
posed about ten years ago by Venezuela, has 
not killed this trade, thanks to the natural 
advantages of the position of Trinidad. The 
island, too, is favourably situated for com- 
manding the trade of the rich Orinoco 
valley, which is now being in some measure 
developed from Trinidad. Cocoa is now 
the staple product of the colony ; the area 
under its cultivation is nearly twice that 
under sugar, and is extending daily. Cocoa, 
however, is not, like sugar, a manufacture, 
and a given quantity of it represents far less 
expenditure on wages than is the case with 
sugar ; but it maintains a large number of 
peasant proprietors. As to the sugar in- 
dustry, the old system of a boiling house 
attached to each plantation has passed away; 
the planter is now primarily a manufac- 
turer, and cane farmers have come into 
existence who do nothing but grow the cane 
and then sell it to the mills. The farmers 
are in many cases peasants with only a 
fe w acres cultivated by themselves and their 
families. The population is about 272,000, 
the East Indians numbering about 78,000. 
" Throughout the bulk of the population 
the proportion of African and Euro- 
pean lilood in each individual is un- 
ascertainable. The oldest Creole families 
of European extraction are of French 
or Spanish origin, and a Corsicau ele- 
ment has contributed many Italian names. 
A French patois is the common language 
in the north of Trinidad, and in certain 
places Spanish is generally spoken. In Port- 
of-Spain there are always Venezuelan, Spani- 
ards, and many Portuguese shopkeepers. la 
the country the shops are frequently kept 
by Chinese." The report states that life is 
easy in the colony, the demand for labour 
is in excess of the supply, and so wages 
are high ; the Creole labourer values leisure 
above all things, and so Bast Indian labour- 
ers are imported. These almost invariably 
remain at the end of their term, and swell 
be ranks of free labourers and peasant 
proprietors, though they are entitled to he 
restored to their own country if they so 
desii'e. The Indians are always thrifty, and 
there is no intermarriage between them and 
the negroes.— London Times, Nov, 26, 
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