748 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. ,(May 1, 1902. 
let him now pay attention to the reaping. To 
judge from Ceylon figures the detei mination to 
limit quantity is being well sustained. India 
should in the coming season see that she also 
follows a like policy. As regards the producing 
of Green Tea for America and Canada there has 
not yet been anything like a .'■ufficient stipply to 
test the possibilities of these miukets. I'lie 
measure of success attained t-hordd however '^it- 
courage perseverance, bu! hfigi' 'Shipments should 
be forthc^.ming, even )i' diwpos n of at an initial 
loss, to ersau- a t '.r'.oiblr^ ie u!t. An ener- 
getic f'PFort is lw\'''<s made in ir-dia to encourage 
tea drinking au)Obgst the i;'. ive po[nilation. 
With such an enorii;')ns li';,d to work on 
there is good hope of ;i fruitful return on the 
expenditure in money and kind now being iu- 
curred in the exploitation of the different 
Presidencies. 
Manufactuee — The line we would advocate 
may be gathered from the foregoing remarks. 
Owners, especially in Assam, may feel tempted 
to go for quantity in view of the prices other 
districts, more notable lor such, have reali.red. 
May we remind them ol the result of adopting 
this course in 1900 ? If an equally goo{t crop ns 
the last one from the Dooars, Cacliar and Sylliet 
could be guaranteed, the matter might be different. 
At times shipments have included some proportion 
of dry, almost " bakey ", liquoring kinds, «, 
baneful characteristic not infrequently imparked 
in the final operation of firing. 
Packing. — Slack-packed chests, bearing no 
sign of leakage, nob infrequently come to our 
notice, and as they usually injur an allowance of 
^d per lb., are to be guarded against. Tliis is 
not claimed on the basis of irregularity of weight, 
but because the package not full and conse- 
quently liable to tiavel badly. To the blender a 
slack packed chest can luiike no diffeicnce, but 
he seldonr foigets to claim. 
Size of Breaks. — Kemain.s as before, viz,: — 
India, 20 chests, 30 half-chests, 50 boxes. Ceylon, 
18 chests, 24 half-chests, 40 boxes. Anything under 
these is a small break and is to be avoided «,s 
much as possible. Ceylon still sends a raiher 
large proportion ; this might often be advantage- 
ously reduced by fewer grades being assorted. 
Theie is practically no object in packing in boxes ; 
they cost the gaulen more in everyway, includ- 
ing freight, handling, &c., and seldom give a 
corre.-^ponding benefit in price. This also applies 
to half chests, the demand for which is more 
limited than formerly, and except in cases 
where the lighter package is necessary, owing to 
difficulties of local transport, there appears to 
be no advantage in using anything but the ordinary 
full s'zed chest for the usual run of tea. 
Total Ceylon. 
lb. average. 
1901-1902 .. 748,900— 7i 
1900-1901 . . 861,500—7 
1899-1900 .. 802,400-71 
♦ 
COTTON IN GERMAN EAST AFRICA. 
Beblin, March 24.— a conference of experts and per- 
gons interested in the cultivation and sale of cotton 
met today in the Colonial Uepartmant of the German 
Foreign Ofilco, under the presidency of Dr. Stnebel, 
htiid of the Department. Tho following resolutions 
wore passod unanimously: {\) That the oonfereuca 
notes with iuterent the report on the satiefaotory re 
suits oV'lained by the cotton expedition of the Colonial 
BcoDomic Ccmniittte f' Togo, and fxpresses its lhauks 
to the t_ ommittec. (2) Provided that the neceRS«ry 
funds are granted by the parlies interested and by 
the Governii.ent, a coinniisi-iou of af;ricnltuiai experts 
is to be dispatched, 'ar.der th-; auspices of the Colonial 
Economic Co.Timittte, lo iho United Swtee, with the 
object of studying the culiivalion of cotton in that 
country, ihe resiili. of the r investigatioBS iu to b« 
turned to account by he f stablishmeot of experi- 
mental Btatioi;s for the piivpo-e of inirodnoing in Ger- 
man East Africa the cultivation of cotton aa a uatire 
industry.— /7 tnd C Mail, iMarch 98. 
JAPx^N AND THE MALARIAL 
MOSQUITO. 
Tokio, M;iich 19.— Extersive expeiiments, 
which huvu been conducted by the military 
authoi'itie.s in Forino.sa for the purpose of 
deterniiiiing the influence «f rriosquito in 
propagivtiiig malaria, show veiuarka.hle results. 
A battalion of soldiers' completely protected 
again.vt mosquitos during the malarial season 
for 161 days, escaped the disease entirely, 
whereas an unprotected battalion iu the 
same place during the same time had 259 
oases.— London Times, March -5. 
PLANTING NOTES. 
Straits Expekimhntal Plaj<tations.-- 
Mr. Stanley Arden would s««m to have 
made a fair beginning with his important 
work at the Str.iits, tojudg* by the extracts 
given from his Report in our daily and T A. It 
was hampered at first by the want of % iuitable 
sits ; but Mr. Bailey's Selangor Rukber Syndi- 
cate came to the rescue, with an offer of 200 
acres on certain terms, and these are likely 
to be agreed to. 
Cetlon t, Japanese Grekn Tea.— The 
important information we publish eleewhere 
tonight marks a stage in the history of the 
production of green tea in Ceylon, The 
Ceylon article has been hitherto largely 
preserved from the methods of manufacture 
in vogue further east, but it remains to be 
seen vrhether, if the mai'ket held by Japanese 
greens in Canada is to be properly captured 
by us, the article from our colony is not 
to approxiinate more closely to the Japan 
pioduct than it does at present. In the 
new green tea factory in Colombo ample 
provision is made for this contingency. 
The Neem or Margosa.— The Planter 
who sent us the extract on the medicinal 
uses of the Neem from an Indian paper 
writes :— "I am much obliged to you for the 
interesting information besiring on the identity 
of the Indian Neen^ with the local Margosa. 
My ignorance has led to the publication of 
information which, I am sure, will be wel- 
comed by a great many of your readers^ I 
made the acquaintance of the Margosa tree 
on a visit to the North many years ago, 
and I know the natives believe in the bark 
as a febrifuge. The oil is one which com- 
mends itself specially to Tamil olfactories as 
I have reason to know as an employer of 
Tamil labour ; but I think I would 
prefer the rheumatics to the smell of th» 
oil ! Non tali auxilio." 
