THE TROPICAL AGRICULTtJRiST. 
[June 2, 1902. 
been presented to His Excellency the Viceioy 
and his reply is anxiously awaited. The ex- 
port duty or cess ia asked for at the rate of one 
fourth of a pie per pound, the iiitinitesinial equiva- 
lent in sterling being one-twelfth pare of a farthing. 
On the total export, however, this as-uuies the 
very considerable proportions of about 2^ lakhs of 
rupees, or nearly £17,0.jO sterling. It is desired 
to utilise this amount for the imrpose of increasing 
the consumption of Indian tea in India and ot^ier 
countries outside the United Kingdcni, The 
memorial is a fully presentative one, being 
signed by those interested in almost 400,000 acres, 
and it is to be hoped His Excellency's reply will be 
favourable. The cess will correspond to that which 
has been in existence in Ceylon for about eight 
■years. 
The foregoing remarks will help to convey some 
impression in regard to the coming year's outlook 
which is again chiefly dependent upon the policy 
of growers, but unlike last year they can count 
upon freer working markets in all parts, occasioned 
by more or less moderate stocks, and no locking 
up of capital in London to any great extent. 
Home stocks appear somewhat heavy on paper, 
but last year's figures were exclusive of the heavy 
clearances from bond made in anticipation or 
the Budget, which were held by dealers and 
occupied their attention for many months. The 
present position, however, should not be re- 
garded as any inducement to free plucking and 
increasing of supply: such action would be 
extremely unwise and the industry would im- 
mediately lose all the advantage gained during 
the past twelve months.— Indian Gardemng 
and Planting, April 24. 
It is interesting to compare our Ceylon 
figures with the above : 
Imports (without Specie) 
Exports ,, 
1901 
K. 
104,050,030 
85,977,410 
KI9U,027,440 
of value in Exports 
while the reverse is 
suspect the Customs 
are more liberal in 
TRADE AND NAVIGATION OF 
BRITISH INDIA. 
FOR THE 12 MONTHS, 1st APRIL 1901 
TO 31ST MARCH 1902. 
TOTAL TRADE TEN TIMES THAT OF 
CEYLON. 
LARGE EXPORT OF PEPPER, CHILLIES 
AND GINGER TO THE VALUE OF n 
MILLION RUPEES. 
COFFEE KEEPING UP ;-EALLING-OFF 
IN EXPORT OF RUBBER. 
On 20th instant we received from the Go- 
vernment of India, its full Customs Accounts 
for the year ended less than two months ago. 
This is expeditious work. The grand total for 
the Import trade is ... R 1,0 1 1,189,172 
and Export trade ... l,d2D,565,619 
Grand total .... R2,336,754,791 
But the above includes gold and silver im- 
poi ted (over R 196,000,000) and exported {over 
R8l,O0O.O00)— and deducting these, the total 
of "Merchandise" was as follows:— 
K. 
I.nporls... ... 814,705,376 
Exports... ... 1,208,336,706 
Total 
So that our annual Ceylon trade is less than 
one-tenth that of India, This is a wonder- 
fully good ctiniparison however, when the 
population and size of this little island are 
contrasted with that of the big coiitineut. 
One curious point is the preponderance 
in the case of India, 
found in Ceylon. We 
valuations for Exports 
India than here ; for, 
of course, the rates applied here are nominal 
and below real values. At the same time, 
Ceylon is still to some extent, though slightly 
now, a distributor of imports, and therefore 
gets more than she consumes. 
Among interesting details is the fact that 
India imported 12^ millions coconuts last "year" 
against 17^ in 1900-1. Of betel-nuts she took 
9^ million lb. in 1901-2 from Ceylon valued 
at 111,517,521. The Sti'aits gave India seven 
times this quantity ; but the value is less 
than three times. Can the Ceylon betel- 
nut be worth more than twice that of 
the Straits, although the very name " Penang ' 
means the home of the betel-nut Who 
will clear up the mystery.— Of Cloves, Pepper 
and other Spices, India also imports, but 
only to a fraction of her exports. Here is 
a grand show in this 
Ceylon is far behind, 
own wants) : — 
department (in which 
even in supplying its 
SncEs— 
Cardamoms 
Chillies 
Ginger 
Pepper 
Other sorts 
Total 
1901-02 
lb. 
144,792 
9,806,416 
5,758,616 
13,589,172 
514,814 
1901-02 
R. 
225,493 
958,719 
1,302,323 
4,801,554 
120,180 
29,813,810 7,408,269 
We may as well also give the full official 
return for tea exports :— 
19C1-G2 
Tea— 
To United Kingdom 
,, Russia 
,, Canada 
,, United States 
,, China — 
Hongkong 
Treaty Ports . 
,, Persia 
„ Turkey in Asia . 
,, Australia 
Other Countries 
Total 
lb, 
159,014,075 
1,624,580 
1,059,483 
1,080,293 
1,111,192 
225,452 
2,530,546 
2,626,130 
8,575,036 
1,8.38,145 
1901-02 
R. 
73,905,206 
537,496 
412,125 
385,736 
418,767 
48,939 
1,141,549 
1,008,133 
2,913,010 
723,932 
179,684,932 81,494,893 
Total 
K2,023,042,082 
Tea .'ihowed 175,038,127 lb. exported in 1899- 
1900; and 190,305,490 in 1900-01. 
It is interesting to note how wonderfully 
well the export of coffee keeps up 
255,042 cwt. in 1901 2 (of which curiously 
enough 100,777 cwt. went to France) against 
246,431 in 1900-01 ; and 281,533 in 1899-1900. 
Cinchona Bark, Caoutchcuc (Rubber) and 
