April 1, 1902. j THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST 
695 
you have spent no money in advertising, 
namely Australasia and Russia, than ui 
America to which most of your money has 
gone. To say the least, it surely requu-es 
some explanation, before you continue blow- 
ing yout trumpet as to the great advantage 
which has been reaped by the action of the 
tea cess " ? , . , 
"In any case when dealing with this sub.iect, 
be quite fair, and show the figures not in 
the totals for all 'foreign countries', but 
with some discrimination as to countries 
exploited with cess money, and those where 
not a cent of such fund has been spent. 
Nothing can get over the eloquence of such 
figures as these : — 
TO AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND. 
Ceylon Tea exported in 1901 = 20,650,000 lb. 
India „ ., 9,167,795 „ 
Excess for Ceylon :— 11,482,205 „ 
TO RUSSIA. 
Ceylon Tea exported in 1901 = 9,609,734 ,. 
India „ „ =(?) 3.000,000 „ 
SHADE-GROWN LEAF TOBACCO. 
That the issue ot shade-growing is still keenly 
canvassed, there is no denying ; it is equally evi- 
dent, too, that opinion is veering towards con- 
viction that the new industry has come to stay 
— even though it may never revolutionise present 
conditions. The action of the special conimit^tee 
in fixinsi May 1st as the date for the auctioneer- 
ing of the Tariffville crops has caused Consider- 
able disappointment and much grumbling among 
growers who were await;ing the results of the sale 
before venturing into the business themselves. 
The only object of the Government and special 
ex|)erts who have the matter in charge was to 
secure a thorough and reliable test of this tobacco ; 
that when it came to be offered to the public it 
would be in the primest condition that care and 
the time limit would permit. This sale will be the 
most important test the product could be subjected 
to, and considering the intc-ests at slake it was 
but wise 10 tuke all necessary precautions against 
premature cure and all the other incidental ills 
that tobacco falls heir to. To paraphrase the old 
Scottish pi o verb, the proof of the puduing is in 
the eating of it, and, of course, no amount of 
interested expert opinion will be taken too seriously 
until the tobacco itself has been thoroughly tested. 
That test it will be subjected to in May next, but 
in the meantime the subject is wor^h examining 
in all its bearings.— ToSncco Leaf. 
^ 
CHINESE CASSIA LIGNEA. 
A warning to German traders has recently come 
from China. The export-houses at Canton, both 
Chinese and European, have complained a good 
deal with regard to two principal articles of export 
— viz., cassia ligcea and bristles. The sales in 
both these articles are on condition that good 
average of the season is shipped from China, 
Now it has been =iaid during the last two years, 
for example, at Hanibnrg, nearly every shipment 
of the said articles has been found unsatisfactory, 
and has been arbitrated on. This has, of course, 
given great trouble to the agents of Chinese 
exporters, and if there is not found a remedy it 
is expect;ed that the German markets will lose 
the business aitosether in favour of Trieste. — 
Chemist and Druggist, March 1. 
BOLIVIA AND ITS NEW TERRITORIES, 
The United State's Consul at Para has trans- 
mitted to the Department of State a report on the 
recent settlement by arbitration of the boundary 
between Brazil and tBolivia. Under this settle- 
ment a large area of territcy has been translerred 
from the former to the latter country. The re- 
port was made by the Hoij. Florian Zambrano, 
High Commissioner and Financial Agent to the 
Bolivian Government, in answer to questions sub- 
mitted, and the Consul says that tlie extent and 
value of the lands transferred to Bolivia, together 
with the desire of that Government to encourage 
colonization by means of subsidies, land grants, 
exemption from duties and taxes, and other 
special privileges, give the decision of the Commis- 
sion a great importance. The part of the commu- 
nication which deals with concessions to capita- 
lists and colonisers will probably be found of in- 
terest to those who contemplate the opening up 
of relations or setting business terms in the ter- 
ritory in question. " The Government of Bolivia,'' 
it says, " grants large tracts of uncultivated land 
to capitalists who intend to colonise ourterritoiies; 
admits free of duty and other taxes all machinery, 
factories, tools, and agricultural implements, and 
protects and gnarantees the personal safely, work, 
and property of all foreigners. In the high region, 
or rather the plateau of the Andes Mountains, 
there are rich mineral deposits. In the middle 
region wheat is cultivated and also the best Indian 
corn, potatoes, grapes, &c. On the great eastern 
and north-western plains coffee, cocoa, sugar cane, 
and many other tropical products are cultivated, 
and rubber, vanilla, &c., are extracted. There are 
also many gold mines and placers of incalcula- 
ble richness. The rivers which the treaty with 
Brazil now incorporates into Bolivia are the Acre 
and Yacu with their affluents, the Upper Purua 
and Upper Jurua and their affluents. The rubber 
exported from the Acre and its affluents alone 
reaches 3,500 tons per annum. The total export 
of rubber from the other rivers just named amounts 
to another 5,000 tons (.er annum, and is increas- 
ing yearly. 1 am told that many rubber planters 
from the Acre wish to sell their plantations. The 
Government of Bolivia has decided to establish 
and subsidise a line of foreign steamers to ply 
between European ports and Para. There is no 
contract yet for this project, and the Bolivian 
Government is disposed to accept the best pro- 
posal which may be presented." — London Times, 
Feb. 24. 
Plant Trees, — brethren, in your mission com- 
pounds, in the unsightly spots and ungainly 
corners ; and plant valuable tiees Avhile you are 
about it, A friend told us last week of a tree 
said to be about three hundred years old, stand- 
ing in one of the historic cities of Bengal, for 
which the present owner has recently refused 
R4,500 ! Unfortunately, the owner does not 
happen to be a missionary. The tree is a 
choice species of mahogany, every inch of tha 
wood of which is of value. The man who planted 
it probably never dreamed of the enrichment 
he was providing for a far-down-the-line desceu-« 
d&nti.— Indian Witness, 
