692 
THE TKOPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[April 1, 1902. 
varieties grew to the cover 9 feet from the ground, and 
the Sumatra, stalks bpnt over and grew to a length 
of 10 feet or 11 feet. The occasional v/'iid and rain 
storms of the summcn- did no serious damage to the 
ohbeae cloth. The leaves were picked or ' primed ' 
wben they were thought to be ripe, strung on strings, 
cured in the usual way, and then fermented in a pile or 
' bulk.' Whea ready for market, samples v^ere taken 
from the sever.al primings, except the first which 
included only inferior bottom or sand leaves. Each 
ban was a single string of leaves just as it was 
strung by the girls, and therefore represented the 
general run of the leaves and not a selection. After 
taking samples this little broken lot of Sumatra leaf, 
from only one-sixth of an acre, sold for 3s per lb. The 
samples were sent to a number of leading dealers 
and manufacturers, with the request to examine care- 
fully and give their opinion of the quality of the l«af, 
and to alao state fully its defects. 
These reports from men who are in touch with tho 
present condition and requirements of the tobacco 
trade, and who had no personal interest in the crop, 
settle beyond dispute the quality of the Sumatra 
tobacco which we raised. The experiment has 
demonstrated without doubt that eumatra leaf of 
excellent quality can be raised under the conditions 
of soil and climate which prevail in New England. 
It remains to be seen whether such tobacco can be 
economically raised in New England : that is to say 
on a considerable scale at a profit, To determine 
these points will require further experiment. 
Farmers may be advised to undertake to raise Sumatra 
tobacco under shade at present, i« only a small way 
and purely as an experiment, which will not seriously 
injure them, even if not successfal. — Mtlhournt Leader, 
Feb. 15. 
A LARGE BLOCK OF "PEARL." 
Wellington, Feb. 27.— A large block of 
pearl, weighing 12^ gr., has been found in- 
side a cockle at Port Q\\db\m&vs.— Adelaide 
Observer. 
LIQUID FUEL FOR TEA DRYING 
MACHINES. 
The experimental stage in the burning of petro- 
leum as a fuel has passed, and the recent deve- 
lopments of oil fields in many parts of the world 
have placed this commodity within easy reach of 
many consumers. It has been used with cons- 
picuous success in the manufacture of tea. For 
stationary boilers, the problem of raising steam 
effectively and economically has been solved by 
the use of oil. The combustion is so complete 
and the heat generated so great that the system 
presents a direct saving as compared with coal 
or coke, to say nothing of indirect economies, 
such as cleanliness, ease of handling, absence of 
stoking and saving in labour, complete absence of 
smoke, economy of space, no ashes, and an even 
temperature and constant even pressure of steam. 
As a steam producer, oil has no rival. A con- 
siderable portion of the heat value of coal eoes off 
in smoke and cinders, while the entire calorific 
effect of the oil is obtained, and one ton of oil 
hiis been proved by many careful tests in actual 
congumption to be equal to twice that amount of 
the best Welsh coal. — Tea. 
The Roebebry Tea Company.— A dividend 
of ^) per cent was declared at the meeting 
held on tlie IStli , March, and this we consider a 
very good result indeed in view of the hard 
times through which Tea Companies have 
had to pass recently. 
CEYLON AND INDIA AS TEA-GROWERS 
AND TEA-RIVALS. 
" Let it always be remembered th;>t 
Ceylon and India are rivals, and deadly 
rivals, in this tea-growing business and 
alwciys will be, so long as both countries 
have tea to sell." The logical inference fit'om 
the foregoing proposition is surely that Oeylon 
should begin a campaign decrying Indian- 
grown tea just as China and Japan teas 
have hitherto been condemned for their in- 
feriority to Ceylon tea ? But our good friend, 
Mr. William Forsythe, from whose letter 
we have taken the above extract, is neither 
logical in his argument nor correct in his 
figures. While regarding India as a " deadly 
rival," he yet urges her planters to get a 
tea cess. One would suppose, that being 
a rival — it would be very much better for 
Ceylon that India should have no cess and 
no means of advertising her produces ? But the 
fact is Mr. Forsythe sees that any step 
forward, gained for Ceylon, is so much 
ground gained for the tea industries of both 
countries. Whether we will or no, Ceylon 
has to act more or less in co-operation with 
India in winning a way into markets where 
China and Japan teas still have a home. 
Far better, therefore, in place of treating 
our neighbour as a deadly rival, frankly to 
urge her to co-operation and endeavour to 
work shoulder to shoulder in conquering 
the Russian and the European markets and 
in advancing yet further, by means fair to 
all dealers, in the American Continent. 
If it be the case that Mr. Forsythe. like 
his typical countryman, is spoiling for a 
fight and inviting a champion from India to 
tread upon his coat, we fear that he will find 
that he gives himself very much away in the 
figures for which he has made himself respon- 
sible. Where, for instance, has begot a million 
acres of tea in India? — when, as a matter 
of fact the total area cultivated does 
not cover much more than half this extent. 
Then again the Indian champion's turn come.s 
when he asks Mr. Forsythe to explain how 
it is--that of the 22| millions of Ceylon tea 
taken for foreign markets in 1901, in excess 
of Indian tea, by far the larger proportion 
— perhaps as much as 80 per cent — was taken 
for countries in which there has been no 
expenditure of cess money or only an in- 
finitesimal beginning. Wo refer to Austra- 
lia and Russiii. We believe the Australian 
Colonies and New Zealand took 11 millions 
more Ceylon than Indian tea. That will 
leave only llj millions of the excess to be 
accounted for. Russia accounts for a good 
deal more than half of this quantity. So 
that in reality the wonderful '"advertising" 
enterprise of this little island is represented 
by not much more than four or five million 
lb, of Ceylon tea in excess of ludian tea 
taken by countries where the cess money 
has been expended. Will our good friend 
Mr. Forsythe kindly give consideration to 
these figures in his next letter and inform 
us what answer we should give to an Indian 
critic who might turn round and say : " I find 
that your advance in the aiport of your 
teas has been far larger to countries where 
