July i, 1891.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 
3 
an American Ceylon Te I "corner" on a lirge ecalo. 
AVhat his reception has been I can gather pretty well 
from the opinions those iaterviewed have expressed to 
me in conversaiiou on the subji'ct. Judging of it in 
the form in which he lias submitted his project, Ihey 
do not hesitate to pay that it is unworkable and un- 
desirab'e. The result of nn interview with him is a 
rather favourable impression of his personality. He is 
quite young and somewhat of the " masher " in his 
get up, and cockneyieh in his speech. In America 
only the best of everything was tolerated, and that 
wkg wh}' China tea was taking a back-seat and 
Coj-lon leaf coming to the front. Quality made all the 
running in their great country, and that was the 
reason why thay wished to place the article in a 
favorable position in their market. In England cheap 
teas are wanted because the bulk of the public are 
not wealthy, but too often the reverse, whereas in the 
great land of the Stars and Strices, where marvellous 
developments are taking- place, the great bulk of the 
population ai-e well-tu-do, and, being that, they can 
afford to buy good articles L.nd will have none other, 
and that is wny Ceylon tea has come into favor with 
them so rapidly. They numbered sixty millions of 
inhabitants, and they could and woul I bay sixty 
million lb. of Ceylon tea if they could get it. They 
have hi herto been gretit consumers of coffee, but the 
berry has risen bo much iu price that very many 
were taking to toa iu preference when they could 
obtain it good* His estimate, he said, had been sub- 
mitted to trade experts and pronounced perfecUy 
sound. Now his idoa was th tt, by judicious combin- 
ation, they could buy up these sixly raiiliims ot Ceylon 
tea, and, by having' it all packed on the spot where 
labor is cheap, in neat, attractive, and oriental looking 
packsts much outlay would be saved and if in addition 
they could procure the eanction of the Coylou 
Government to ^tamping each packst wi h the oflicial 
seal or arms of the authorities, by payment of a 
small royalty, the toa would make rapid way in public 
estimation with snob a prestige as the stamp would 
give. They should not want for fuods, of which they 
could command any amount when the arr.mgements 
for obtaining sole command of the island produce 
were finished ; the strongest financiers would be with 
them, and the capital required could bo had in a day. 
Mr. May was assured that there would be no difficulty 
in purchasing- crops in advance on contract if the 
rates suited, without tesort to the device of a "cor- 
ner", but he did not consider that mode of making 
the arrangement iu question would be sufficiently 
" comprehensive ", and preferred absorbing- the entire 
tea interest of the i-land — how c"uld estate owners 
possibly object ? CUims on their properties could be 
arranged for, and, though there would perhaps be 
some having an interest in the existing state of things 
by shipncent to Europe and Australia, that matter 
conld be easily arranged. There is, I think, no doubt 
but that Mr. Elwood Blay is thoroughly in earnest 
and a full believer in the practicability of bis " corner"; 
but as to how many others ho will succeed in bring- 
ing to his way of thinking is another matte- 
— London, Cor. local " Timcs." 
4 
How TO Secure Americans for " Pure 
CeylonTea." — There are two places where, away 
rem their own Continent, Americans most do 
congregate, namely Paris and Cairo or Egypt gene- 
rally. The Indian Tea Association have been before 
ua in Paris and greatly may they continue to flourish. 
But why should our Toa Fund Committee not 
take some active step to promote the free sale ot 
pure Ceylon tea in Cairo, Alexandria and Port Said ? 
If once it be known that the Comujittee want an 
agent for Egypt to sell only " Pure Ceylon Tea" 
in its towns, the right man will no doubt quickly 
turn up- 
* This hefird'y agrees with tho previous statement 
about the buying capabilities of the American people. 
— Ep. 
DEVELOPING THE ZAMBESI REGION. 
Tho Britifh South African Company have engaged 
a praetioal botanist [A.. Whyte, lately 
of Nuwara Bliya. — Ed. T. A,] who has 
had over twenty years' experience in the 
cuUivation of produce in Ooylon, to proceed to 
heir territories in Z'imbasi and superintend the 
development of their vegetable resources. The 
gentleman in question, with whom we had an inter- 
view a few days ago, leaves early in May for 
Zinzibar, whence he will proceed by way of the 
Zambesi to bis destination in .the neighbourhood 
of the Shire Highlands. His attentions will be 
directed not only to the collection and export of 
such native produotis as are likely to find a market 
in Europe, euoh as rubber, gums and gum resins, 
oleaginous plants, and so forth, but ho will also 
try the aoclimatisation of tropical and subtropical 
products. Coffee is already cultivated with succeBS 
in Zambesia ; tea is going to be tried, but the 
company are alive to the danger of over-production 
in this article. Cocoa and tobacco are thought to 
hold out greater hopes of success. As regards drugs, 
needless to Eay, cinchona will not be tried. Opium- 
aulture has been experimented in before in Mozam- 
bique, the result being a signalfailure. Cardamoms 
and vanilla Hre among the first drugs to be tried, 
and the authorities have promised to lend every 
po-sible as?istarice in prcuring plants and giving 
advice as to cultivation. Nov/ th- fa trained bo- anist 
ia about to proceed to tho country ot tho strophan- 
thns, v/o may o:xpect tho speedy elucidation of the 
mystfry still surroui.ding the botanical classifiuation 
of the drug, The first season or two, however, are 
likely to be taken up with preliminary investigations 
of the climatic eoaditions of the country, meteo- 
rological observations, &o. Native labour will be 
employed in the first instance, under the supervision 
of overseers from Zanzibar, Ceylon, and British 
India. — Chemist and Druggist. 

MICA IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 
An experienced prospector sent out by a number of 
gentlemen in Adelaide last December has discovered 
■A large deposit of mica of superior quality amongst 
the ranges about sixty miles from Farina. The place 
is called by tho blacks 'Miltj Mdcaua,' meaning 'big 
mica, or great lot of mica'. It is on a steep mountain 
creek, which is so plentifully strewn with large pieces 
of mica that a person is continually expecting to come 
upon the .source of the supply, but he has to travel 
about a mile and a half before the creek cuts sharply 
through a dyke of fully 150 ft. wide, and expos-d on 
either side to a height ot 200 ft. The reck in which 
it occurs is a compact felspar with veins of quartz 
and mica throughout it. He reports that there can 
bo no question aboui the abundance of the mica. The 
rock is solid, and requires a few shots in it before 
largo pieces can be got, but with proper means he 
thinks he can send down a large quantity of very fine 
piecfcS. He has found a good roid for drajs into the 
mica over a saddle in the range, and he says that drays 
can be taken within fifty yards of the place. The cost 
of o:irtiug to the railway woul I not exceed £4 per ton. 
The Government geologist also reports that several 
prospecting parties are looking for or obtaining mica 
in the distrioi; of the Alice Springs. The mica is 
Kenerally found in coarse granite dykes associated 
with qaartu reefs or blows, scattered through the rocks, 
and also iu bunches and layers. It is uncertain in its 
occurrence, and the small surface outcrops are easily 
worked. Wheu these have been worked out, shafts 
will have to be sunk in the granite and gneis-sio rock, 
and the bunches and irregulor layers of mica sought 
for by drivers nud crosscuts. The mica outcrops are 
tolerably numerous, but it is only iu exceptional cases 
that tho plates are of a size considered worth working. 
