132 
tME TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[August i, 1891. 
oxalic acid, potasli, and soda), clipped into merchant- 
able shade, and short ond baled for shipment. The 
Mallory steamers for New York always carry a great 
quantity. There is a large market in England and 
France. Since Turkey forbade diving in the Archi- 
pelago, the best "Turkey" sponges have come ttom 
the Barbary coast. There are now more spongers ia 
these waters than ever before, yet the supply was 
never so great, — Ifew York Tribune, 
THE CEYLON TEA INDUSTEY, 
To the Editor of the " Manchester Guardian." 
Sir, — Referring toyour articleon Ceylon in youri-sue 
of today, the following figures will testify to the wonder- 
ful development of the Oeylon tea trade: — 
Percentage 
Annual of anaual 
1885 
1886 
1887 
1888 
1889 
189i) 
Shipments, 
lb. 
4,411,578 . 
8,111,137 . 
13,!:00,545 . 
24,381,296 , 
34,048,085 . 
46,901,654 . 
3,699,559 ... 84 
5,689,408 ... 70 
10,580,751 ... 75 
9,666.789 ... 40 
12,853,469 ... 37 
1891 (Efltim.) 63,000,000 ... 16,098,446 ... 34 
The annual percentages of increases in sbipraeats, 
nearly all of which come to the London market, can- 
not fail to impress everyone taking any interest what- 
ever in the development of British-grown tea generally. 
The fortunes of Oeylon tea-planters are now closely 
interwoven with those of their brethren in ludia. To 
a very great extent the movemeots in one market are 
quickly reflected in the other. The analysis of the 
Board of Trade returns for the United Kingdom 
published lately in their annual review by Messrs. 
■William, James, and Henry Thompson shows the 
fluctuations to have been as follows, viz:— ■ 
Percentage Oonsntpption.- , 
Feb.. 
Dfic. Jan. April May. 
1890. 1890. 1891. 1891. 1891. 
Indian 52i ... 67 ... 53i ... 51 ... 45 
Oeylon 18 ... 17* ... ia| ... 20 ... 28 
China and Java 29| ... 25i ... 28 .. 29 ... 1^7 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
The same authorities are also respontible for the fol- 
lowing fi^;ures : — 
Home Consumption of Tea in the United Kingdom 
for 12 months ending May 31st 1891. * 
Indian China Ceylon Total 
lb. lb. lb. lb. 
98,381,000 63,246,000 41,189,000 192,816,000 
In addition to which there was re-exported from the 
United Kingdom for the same period, as per Board of 
^'inlian China Ceylon Total 
lb lb. lb. lb. 
2.327,200 28,052,800 1,426,000 31,806,000 
Indian like Ceylon tea nearly all fiuds its way to the 
London market, the direct demand for other markets 
being yet very small and of singularly slow growth. 
The demands made for thete strong teas for export 
from the United Kingdom is also small as yet as 
evidenced by the re-export figures above While 
admitting that today Oeylon holds by far the better 
position with respect to other growths, yet it has been 
attained only by a sudden lowering of prices, and 1 
think that 1 cannot be rightly charged with taking 
a too pessimistic view of the near future when it is 
admitted by the best authorities that Oeylon exports 
will again increase this year so very largely. India 
and Java will also very appreciably increase their 
shipments to the London market, leaving, in fact, 
no room for weak China and Japan teas. Indian 
exports this season to London are estimated at 
112 000.000 lb. The London Produce Clearing-house 
daily quotations are. however, evidence enough that 
tha "Kood old daya" for tea are not considered likely 
to return in a hurry. Every additional Id per lb. 
loit oa preeent low prices weans incaloulable things 
to the British tea planter?, who, happily, still con- 
tinue to be ble&t with a cheap silver exchange, failing 
which their protpects would, even now, become 
5omewbat embarrassing. It will be astonishing if, at 
present prices for Briiish-grown tea, China tea bhuuld 
still be taki;n in preference by any who are not pre- 
judiced in its favour. — Yours, &c., 
One Inteebsted in Ceylon. 
Oolwyn Bay, June 15th, 1891. 
DIVING. 
The Sikbe-Goeman Diving Dress. 
The Siebe-Gorman diving dress as we see today in 
the tank at the Naval Exiiibitiou is th" development of 
the yiebe costume invented in 1-37. The dress is used 
in ail parts of the world, and all sabmarino operations. 
The diver must, therefore, be a practical man, able to 
turn his hand to any trade. Pier construction, wreck- 
raising, submarine mining, the cleaning and repairing 
ot ships, work in collieries and tunnels — in all saoh 
operations the diver is required, 
How Deep in the Deep. 
Mr. Gorman has drawn up from niK large experiences 
a valuable paper on tliu art of diving. Here, forinstance, 
ia a table which shows the pressure on the square inch 
at a given depth of water : — 
feet. lb, feet. lb. feet. lb. 
20 ... H 90 ... 39 150 ... 65i 
30 ... 12| 100 ... 43§ Limit. 
40 ... I7i 110 ... 47i 160 ... 691 
50 ... 21i 120 ... 524 170 ... 74 
60 ... 26i 130 ... 56i 180 ... 78 
70 ... 30i 140 ... 60i 190 ... 821 
80 ... 34| *204 ... 
It is obvious that the least fi»w in the oonstrucfcioa 
of the dress would be fat&l to the dii'er, and Mr. 
Gorman is very proud of the tact that no diver has died 
owing to faulty manufacture. The air pipes are tested 
to bear a pressnre of 100 pounds to the square inch. 
Sponge and Pbael Fisheries. 
Within these last ten to fifteen years a large com- 
merce has sprung up in the above fisheries, and this 
can only be attributed tu the use of the diving app^^- 
ratus, which is now daii r becoming of greater impot- 
tance for those purposes : formerly naked divers only 
were employed, and the result was only ttie recovery 
of a limited quantity, as the diver could not remain 
bnt a few seconds to cnllect, and then only in reach of 
his arms' length ; now the divers remain from two to 
four hours under water, collecting in that time what 
would have rtquired twenty naked divers. In the 
sponge fishery iu tho Mediterranean waters there are 
employed over three hundred sets of diving apparatus, 
without reckoning the fisheries at the Bahamas, Ber- 
muda and oft the coast of Australia and other parts of 
the world. The pearl fisheries are rapidly becoming 
of the greatest importance, not only for the pearls, but 
also for the shells, the last-named of a certain species 
fetching from £7 to £8 the cwt. The pearl oyster 
(classified as the Avicula niargaritifera) is an oyster 
slightly larger than the European congener, and is 
valuable for the pearl it bears, the shells themselves 
being of no commercial value ; these are found more or 
less iu all parts of the world, but more principally on 
the coasts of Oeylon, West Australia, Fiji Islands, 
Malacca, Straits and some parts of the coaBts of the 
West India Islands. The pearl oyster (Melcagrina 
nmrgaritifera) is valuable for the shells only, a pair of 
ihem weighing about two pounds. These are found 
in great quautiiies all over the north coast of Austra- 
lia, and in the Malacca Straits and coasts of Guinea 
large fisheries are now being conducted with ooneider- 
ablo success and profit ; and, as the diving apparatus is 
now being more and more introduced into these 
fisheries, we may expect them to become a very impor- 
tant industry. 
CoEAL AND Amber. 
Ooral has received as yet very little advancement 
from the use of the diving apparatus, and the fisher- 
men seum at present bound to their ancient style of 
* The greatest depth any diver has descended. 
