Mav 1, 1903.] THE TROPICAL 
AaRlCCLTtJRIST. 
77a 
pliasies the necessity for this in a marked degree. 
It was uot au edifying spectacle for crowds of 
natives to witness, lur a credit to those engaged 
iu it. 
PRODUCE AND PLANTING. 
Mr. J. Ferguson of the Ceylon Observer 
writes : — Certainly it is well to rub in the labour 
view of the question, and the figures given are 
very much to the point, but presumably Sir M. 
Hicks-Beach and the majority of thinking people 
at home are aware that natives are employed in 
large numbers on Indian and Ceylon tea gardens, 
and that these will sutler if the industry be 
restricted. The Secretary of State for India and 
his advisers can hardly be ignorant of the fact 
either, although the figures given by Mr. Fergusou 
may came as a surprise to them. [Our contem- 
porary forgets that the London Times editorially 
asked by what right the Viceroy of India and 
others interfered in the financial arrangements 
of the United Kingdom. We think our figures 
give the best reason and justification.— Ed. C. O. 
The annual general meetings of (he following 
tea companies have been held in Colombo and 
dividends declared: Castlereagh Tea Company 
of Ceylon, Limited, final dividend of 3 per 
cent., making 8 per cent, for the year ; 
Drayton (Ceylon) Estates Company, Limited, 
5 per cent., making 8 per cent, for the year ; 
Uvakellie Tea Co npany of Ceylon, Limited, 
7 per cent.; Paimerston Tea Company of Ceylon, 
Limited, 2^ per cent., making 5 per cent for the 
year ; Yataderia Tea Company of Ceylon, Limited, 
20 per cent. Discussing the 
INDIAN TKA CROl' 
for 1901-02, and commenting upon the estimates 
of the Indian Tea Association, the " Grocer " 
says : " To form some approximate idea of what 
was about the quantity of Indian Tea grown in 
19Jl, we must take into account the amounts 
that were probably raised in the ' private ' 
and other gardens, which, we venture to say, 
were of too great imi)ortanoe to be entirely 
icrnored. These, it is not unreasonable to 
assume, could hardly have f=illen below 10,000,0001b 
of tea, equal to nearly as much as was gathered 
of the last season's combined crops in the Dar- 
jeeling and Terai districts. This quantity, added 
to that returned for all other ceiUres of tea cul- 
tivation in India, would bring the grand total 
crop for 1901-'.>2 up to 175,263,453 lb, as against 
188,937,257 lb (including every kind and place of 
growth) for 1900-01. Here is plainly shown a 
difference or deficiency of over 13,703,0L'01b in the 
crop now coming to a finish. Treated another way, 
by reckoning the yields in regions where precis 
returns are easily obtainable, the decrease is almost 
as great, viz., fully 12,413,000 lb. Such au abridg- 
ment in the general supply of tea from one par- 
ticular source in a single season could not tail, 
as we have seen, to exercise a very favourable 
influence on the market for importers, raising 
prices for the common sorts by 2 1 per lb from the 
lowest point iu their favour. A well-kuowu Minc- 
ing Lane authority observes that ' the producer 
has it largely in his power to make or mar,' It is 
certain, atany rate, that, if ^tjrowers are again placed 
in the position they occuuied in 1900-el, when they 
liad to force a quantity out of all proportion to con, 
suming possibilities down the ihroai of the trade 
they will again feel the inevitable result of 
transgressing the laws of supply and demand. 
Tfjie heavy extensions carried out about the 
middle of last decade aie only just coming into 
lull maturity, and under normal weather the 
approaching crop may easily be got out of hand 
Speaking generally, no disturbing feature mar 
the outlook ,if only the market is not over-fed 
The use of tea is becoming more and more com- 
mon throughout the civilised world, and some 
compensation may here be found for the low 
prices which have accompanied excessive supplies, 
and no doubt aided the openir.g of new markets. 
The grower has, however, sown freely to his cost : 
let liim now ))ay attention to the reaping. To 
judge from Ceylon figures the determination to 
limit quantity is being well sustained. India 
shonid in the coming season see that she also 
follows a like policy."— 77. & C. Mail, April 4. 
PEPPER IN WYNAAD. 
Wynaad, April 15th.— Considerable uneasiness 
has been felt, during the past year, at the blights 
which have worked a certain amount of damage 
amongst the vines in parts of the district, and 
hitherto no specific prophylactic seems to have 
been discovered. On the other hand liberal culti- 
vation including the application of plenty of 
farmyard coiiip .st, has been followed by most 
satisfactory re.-ulis on the vines raised through 
fields of Arabica coffee, and on one estate the 
yield this season where such conditions obtain 
has been phenomenal, and is estimated at con- 
siderably over 12 cwts. of the dried spice per 
acre. When it is borne in mind that 5 cwts. per 
acre is deemed a good pepper crop, the above 
return will appear to be the more striking. Ou 
the garden referred to little, if any, disease has 
shown itself, though the property has been under 
coffee and pepper for somewhere about 30 and 20 
years, — Madras Mail. 
RHEA FIBRE SYNDICATE. 
A Company is being formed under the name of 
the Bengal Rhea Syiulicate Company for the 
purpose of supplying machinery and aiding the 
))lanter in the cultivation of rhea. This beautiful 
fibre, unlike the alop, which is grown only iw 
ropage, can be used for a variety of purijose.s, from 
the manufacture of a silk pocket handkerchief to 
a hawser, and as it has been conclusively proved 
that it can be successfully grown in this district, 
rhea should have a future before it in Behar. 
The Syndicate's object is to facilitate the cul- 
tivation and manufacture of rhea and, although 
they are fully engaged for some time to come, 
applications have been received to extend their 
terms 'o a number of othei- concerns, should the 
Syndicate decide to increase its capital,— //ici?t«w- 
rianters' Gazette, April 28. 
— $ — ~ 
A Possible Rukber yiioldinu Plant. — The 
Governor of Zanzibar has sent seeds of Taberaiue- 
■montaiia nsanihareiisis to the Agri-Horticul- 
tural Society of Madrns, with a note that the 
fruit attains the size of an ordinary melon and ex- 
udes a juice very much like rubber. Air. Ca- 
vanagh notes that the whole plant appears to 
contain a graat amount of white milky fluid which 
flows from tire slightest bruise on the bark, or 
from a cracked leaf. About sixty per cent of 
the seeds have germinated, and are looking strong 
and healthy. — Indian Gardening and Planting, 
April 17. 
