March 1, 1902.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
603 
NEW FIBRE COMPANY. 
COFFEE, TEA, OIL SEEDS AND HEMP. 
f Retfistered in Scotland, J 
Dacracheera Fibre Co., Ltd., (4,997).— Registered 
at Edinburgh January 8th, with capital £25,000 in £10 
shares, to acquire the businesg carried on as " The 
Danracherra Fibre Company," in the Manlvi District 
of Sylhet, Assam, India, and to carry on the business 
of growing, manufacturing and selling coffee, tea, 
oil seeds, sisal, Mauritius and other hemp, seeds and 
suckers, etc. Ihe subscribers are : — Shares. 
•J Hunter, Sarona Valley Sawmills, Sylhet, 
Assam, India, timber merchant ... 1 
E Thomson, Dondonald Road, Kilmarnock, 
engineer .. ... .• 1 
J D Mackintosh, Bank Place, Kilmarnock, 
solicitor ... .. ..1 
J Barr, 39, Dandonald Road, Kilmarnock, 
engineer ... .. ..1 
J Boyle, 87, Dundonald Road, Kilmarnock, 
drysaiter ... . . ... 1 
B Gemmill, 6, Portland Road, Kilmarnock. 
manufacturer . . ... ... 1 
O Morrison, Spotland Lodge, Kilmarnock, 
confectioner ... ... ..1 
The number of directors is not to be lesa than 3 nor 
more than 7. — Investors' Guardian, Jan. 18. 
ro ALL CEYLON TEA GROWERS. 
CROP OF 1902. 
The following circular has lately been issued by 
the Ceyl')n A.ssociation in London : — 
Dear Sirs, — 1 am directed by the Tea and Pro- 
duce Committee to send you a copy of the following 
Resolution which was passed unanimously at a 
meeting held this day : — 
RESOLUTION. 
" That this Committee, viewing with grave concern 
the disastrous results that would follow an excessive 
crop of tea in 1902, strongly urge upon producers the 
necessity of restricting outturn as much as possible 
by a system of more carefal plucking or otherwise 
and to avoid more especially the production of coarse 
tea, which did so much harm to the industry in season 
1900." 
The above resolution having been unanimously 
accepted by my Committee, I am desired to give 
you their reasons for the conclusions arrived at, 
which are shortly as follows : — 
In their opinion the experience of the past two 
seasons has conclu.sively proved — 
(a) That the coarse plucking resorted to in 1900, 
resulting in a plethora of common undesirable 
Tea being forced on an already over-anpplied 
market led to a lower level of prices than has 
hitherto been known. Pekoe souchongs were sold 
as low as 8Jd, a price which must have been well 
under the cost of production. 
(b) That on the other hand, the more careful 
plucking resorted to in 1901, combined with 
climatic influences, restricted the output to such 
moderate limits that the market immediately 
responded. 
Messrs. Thomas Cumberlege and Moss, in their 
circular of the 3rd inst., make the following 
statement : — 
" Of the 187,000,000 lb and 145,000,000 lb respectively 
produced in India and Ceylon during season 1900-1901, 
the last 12,000,000 lb from the former country and the 
last 8,000,000 lb from the latter were at a moderate 
estimate the actual cause of an aggregate nett loss to 
producers of over £1,000,000 sterling; this, on the face 
of it, is an absurd situation, and it is not to be doubted 
that by individual or collective action some means 
^ili be found to prevent its recurrence," 
76 
It i.?, therefore, abundantly clear that it would 
be a disastrous policy to revert to the system of 
coarse plucking resorted to in 1900. It would 
mean that the end of 1902 would see the industry 
again in a position of great depression equal to or 
worse than that at the end of 1900. 
The position of British grown tea has not, for 
some years, been so strong as it is now, and this 
is owing to the certainty of a considerable shortage 
as compared with the crop of 1900. 
Assuming that the home deliveries increase in 
the same proportion as they have done during the 
past twelve months, and with the natural increase 
in demand from abroad, it is obvious that the tea 
growers have now an opportunity such as they 
may not have again for years of putting the 
industry once more on a sound and profitable basis. 
An appeal to the same effect as the above is being 
issued by the Committee of the Indian Tea 
Association to all Indian Tea Growers. — Yours 
faithfully, Wm. Martin Leake, Secretary. 
♦ 
BALATA FROM THE LEAVES. 
As it is possible to obtain gutta percha from the 
leaves it was of interest to try also to obtain balata 
in a similar way. A sample of the leaves was ob- 
tained from Venezuela through Mr Englehardt, of 
Cindad, Bolivar, on the Orinoco, and on this sample 
the Colonial Committee, at Berlin, experimented. 
The results of the tests were, however, disappoint- 
ing, as the product gained was of no practical use, 
The leaves were cut into small pieces and macerated 
in chloroform, which gave an extract containing 
10'7 per cent, of the total weight of the leaves when 
the chlorophyll and the valueless resins were re- 
moved by alcohol. The insoluble matter represented 
5'1 per cent, of the leaves, and was a substance 
only slightly elastic, light in colour, brittle, and 
not at all tough. If this substance represented 
balata it was apparent that the process had des- 
troyed its most valuable qualities. — India-Rubher 
Trades' Journal, January 20. 
^ — 
DISCOVERY OF A NEW TEXTILE 
FIBRE. 
According to the BuUett'm of the Bureau of 
American Republics, a new fibre known as 
arainina, has recently been discovered by Dr Silva 
Telles of the Polytechnic School of Sao Paulo, 
This libre is obtained from a variety of plants com- 
monly known in Brazil as carrapichos. It is 
almost white in colour, very fine and flexible, and 
is from two to three yards in length. It has beea 
called ara««'?ia owing to its almost metallic lustre 
and wonderful flexibility. The plant from which 
the fibre is derived is strong and vigorous, and no 
special care is required in its cultivation, being 
perfectly adapted to uncultivated lands. It grows 
wild throughout the entire western part of the 
State of Sao Paulo and is being cultivated on a 
large scale on the plantations in the vicinity of 
Campinas. 
Articles made of this fibre was recently exhi- 
bited by Dr Telles at the Polytechnic School, Sao 
Paulo. These included cords, twines, ropes, and 
canvas suitable for cotl'ee bags. 
It is predicted that this discovery will revolu- 
tionize the textile industry. . 
