May 1, 1902 ] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
151- 
rupees eight and ten. None of these arensed 
for cabinet purposes except for curiosity, as 
they are too heavy and apt to craclt, being 
close-grained. — I am, yours faithfully, 
A NATIVE. 
CEYLON RUBBER. 
Kandy, March 27. 
Sir, — As of general interest I herein en- 
close extract from a copy of Messrs. Kram- 
risch and Company's annual review of the 
rubber market for the year 1901, received by 
Government from the Secretary of State for 
the Colonies.— I am, sir, yours faithfully, 
A. PHILIP, 
Secretary, P. A. 
EXTRACT FROM MESSRS. KRAMRISCH AND COM- 
PANY'S ANNUAL REVIEW OF THE RUBBER 
MARKET FOR THE YEAR 1901. 
" Imports from Gsylon were agaiti iusintiificant, 
but whatever small quantity readied this market 
proved very attractive, as the quality and condition 
continued to be excellent antl many buyers were 
anxious to secure even the small arrivals, owing to 
the specially clean condition of this rubber. We 
confidently expect that, if larger imports could be 
arranged, a great circle of consumers would come in 
and pay lull prices for these grades, especially if 
the quality be kept up. It would be advisable to 
encourage the planters and others interested in this 
product in giving particular attention to this most 
valuable rubber. High prices were realised and 3s 
9fd was recently paid for tine and 2s 4d for the 
I^egroheads. It is, of couise, known that this rubber 
should practically be of the same kind as the one 
coming from the State of Amazonas, being grown 
from para seed." 
KIRIMRITIANA COCOUNTS. 
Colombo, April 4th. 
Dear Sib,— Replying to a letter signed 
"Copra", under date London, March 7, rc 
Kirimetiana coconut estate, appearing in 
your issue of 29th ult.- the largest number 
of trees yet picked from, at any one crop, 
is 18,380. This includes young trees in bear- 
ing with trunks of 4' to 8', of which there 
are not less than 3,000 to 4,000 on the younger 
plantations, and amongst the supplies— so 
that the average froni sections of fully 
matured trees is much larger. Most of the 
estate is planted 30' apart, which gives 50 trees 
to the acre, but some small portion is 
irregularly planted. There are no vacancies. 
—Yours faithfully, H. L. D. 
[The number of acres being 608, we gather 
from the above that only about 30 out of 
50 trees per acre were picked from at any 
one crop ? It is surely most unusu:il to 
plant coco palms 30 feet apart ? We had 
thought few plantations had less than 70 
trees to the acre,— Ed. T.A.'i 
CEYLON TEA IN AMERICA. 
Kandy, April 7. 
Sir, — The accompanying newspaper ex- 
tracts, received from Mr \Vm. Mackenzie, are 
of considerable interest at present in re- 
ference to Ceylon Tea in America and ara 
placed at your disposal accordingly. — Yours 
faithfully, A. PHILIP. 
Tea merchants say the action of the Ways and 
Means Committee in retaining tea on the tarifT 
list for another year is outrageous. " The plea 
that the country is so welt stocked with tea that 
it will take at least a year to work it all off 
upon the market," declares G T Matthews, a 
leading New York importer, " is ridiculous. Every 
one who knows anything about the business is 
aware that there has not been for many years 
such a small stock of tea in the country, for tlie 
reason tliat the importers for several months have 
been expecting that Congress would remove the 
duty." The Committee made a mistake in dis- 
criminating against tea. It is the one commotlity 
that should have been relieved from the tariff 
burden tlie first thing. The people have to pay 
the increased expense. 
The market for Indian and Ceylon teas is rather 
easy. Japan teas are fairly firm. There is still 
([uite a scarcity on the spot in Ceylon greens, and 
there have been quite a number of inquiries. 
Osving to the scarcity, however, the inquiry is nob 
as pronounced as it was. The price of Ceylon 
greens is at least Ic, higher tlian it was a month 
ago. There have been a few transactions here 
in China green teas during the past week, but 
there is still a pronounced .scarcity, although ai; 
the price now ruling not many transactions are 
to be expected. 
Worcester, Mass, is taking to the soft drink 
Iiabit, and the softest ilrink and the most popular 
is tea. Dealers say the sale of tea is greater than 
for years, and in every line connected with drink- 
ing and serving tea there is a boom, Tea lias 
become fashionable once mo'e, and that is the 
reason for its popularity, Itis almost a truism to say 
that fashions move in circles, that, like history, 
they repeat themselves. The latest turn of the 
wheel has brought the tea table into vogue, and 
prospects point to a long leifn of the fad. Many 
housewives have ransacked the gai rets and brough* 
out the old tea table, which now stands ia aa 
honored place in the drawingroom. The hostess 
who fails to offer her guests a cup of tea is tar 
from being the real thing, and since the revival of 
the custom the graceful art of presiding over 
a tea table is being piacticed in many 
homes. Where Dame Fashion sets the 
pace all must follow. Physicians try to discourage 
the practice of tea drinking, claiming that much 
tea is pois>n to the system and that digestion 
suffers in proportion to the amount of the herb 
consumed. To this the fashiouablt a are returning 
that the quiet and rest of a sliort half hour spent 
over the tea cilps late in the afternoon more than 
MAKES UP FOR THE DAMAGE 
to the system, and that tea properly prepared 
is not half so harmful as medical men try to 
make out. In addition to this, they say they 
are to drink tea as often and as freely as they 
wish. When fashion and the doctors clash, one 
party has to go to the wall, and it is not generally 
fashion. So tlie tea table and accessories have 
come back to stay awhile. The woman who 
owns one ot the real old-fashioned Japanese lacquer 
tea caddies is a queen among her set. The 
older the better, only it must hold plenty of 
tea and be air-tight. With the advent of the 
revived fashion comes a scientific knowledge of 
properties and constituents of tea and the 
