244 
THE TROPICAL AQ 
RICULTURI8T. 
[October i, 1891. 
The actual saTing by purchasing the equivalent of 
7 per c*nt. ioBteaci of 100 tcuB ot C per cet.t. R143, 
a Paving rot to bo despised iu those hard time.". 
Tho most cariful and oonfcientious ranker of oil 
c«kes CftH only guarantee that they fhall contain a 
certain per cent, of amroonia, if he supplies more it 
is only light thnt ho should bo paid for it, or he 
can divide hia cakes iuto clasfcs to suit his ouatomerB. 
On the other hand the oocsumer has an equal right 
to ask for the cake be likes best, and is prepared 
to pay for. 
In some cssea where carriage U difficult it would 
pay the pUioterto give a rup-^e or even two per unit 
ton more for a high clfiss oilcake with 9 to 10 per 
cent. Ammonia. White castor cako of this quality can 
be produced, though Macadam gives tho averar)(fo 
for castor cuke in gre»t Biitain bs 5^ per cent- 
Hughes gives 9 45 per cent, as the highest for whit"^ 
CBstor, but the sample h»d 11-57 per cent oil in it 
which could with advantage to the planters be 
rednoed to 5 per ocnt, or lees. 
WlI.MAM PriNGLE, M.S. CI. 
Bangalore, Aug. 24th, 1891. 
. « 
TEA, COFFEE AND CACAO. 
In Brtioles which we extract from the 
Home and Colonial Mail, the Grocer, and 
tlie Financial News, there is much interesting dis- 
cuseion regarding the three products named above. 
The decline of coffee consumption in Britain has 
DO special copneotion with the decadence of 
coflee crops in Ceylon. Tho article is dearer 
(calculating by bulk of infusion), more difficult 
to prepare, and far more liable to adulteration, 
than t'-a. We are not so sure, however, that the 
Financial News is correct in tracing no connec- 
tion between the increase of speoially high 
quality cacao from Ceylon and the largely inoreosed 
use of this fatty and nourishing article, Linn<Tus's 
" food of the gods," in Britain. The British 
householder who is choice in his tatte and able 
to gratify it knows a good article when he 
Bees it. And that Ceylon oaoao is, beyond all 
question, the beat in the world,— due largely to 
extreme care and the application of soientifio prin- 
ciples in its preparation, we believe, — is evident 
from the comparative prices in the British market 
in 1690. We give the ascending scale :— 
Grenada ... 69/ to 63/ per cwt. 
Trinidad ... 68/ to 70/ „ 
GuayaqaiU Arriba) 90/ to 97/6 „ 
Ceylok ... 119/ to 125/ „ 
the latter rising ak one time during the year to 
133/ per owt. With such prices and advancing 
consumption, surely the few who are growing oaoao 
Buooessfully are to be congratulated. For growers 
of tea, too, who dread a repetition of that over- 
production which rendered the cinchona _ enter- 
prise unremunerative, there is comfort in the 
articles we quote. Tea is not only easier made 
and cheaper than coffee, but our Ceylon pro- 
duct, equally with the Indian, gives a greatly 
increased number of cups per lb. move than is yielded 
by China tea. Caylon tea, with all the attacks on 
it by foes and the pessimism of friends, is 
beyond question, the favourite tea in the market, 
and is likely to benefit speoially by all advances 
in consumption of " the cups that cheer but 
not inebriate " in Britain and in " now markets." 
In the groat leading market of the world, it will 
bo Bf-en, the consumption of tea, under the influence 
of reduotiono in duty and cost price, has increased 
in four decades thus : — 
lb. 
In 1860 oonanmption was only 77,000,000 
In 1870 tho quantity rose to ...112,000,000 
In 1880 there was an «<1- 
varioo to ... ...160,000,OCO 
While in 1891) there was a sudden 
•pring to ... ...194,009,000 
Much of the advance is traced to the reduction of 
duty, and there can be little doubt that the end of 
1891 will see the round 200,000,000 lb. exceeded, with 
an advance up to the thrre hundred millions of lb. 
by the end of the decade and the century. 
Such a result in Britain, where the consumption 
of tea has now reached 5 lb. a head, — equivalent 
to at least 7 lb., considering the greater strength of 
Indian and Ceylon tea — and proportionate advances 
in other markets, depend, of course on the preser- 
vation of peace, for which we have material as wt U 
as moral reasons to pray. Preparations tor war 
havp, in truth, become so awful in their immensity 
end their destructive character, that while on the 
one hand there is danger of an outbreak being 
precipitated, there is on the other the dread which 
even the most unecrupu'ous must feel at letting 
loose forces so far-reaching and calculated so repioly 
to decide, not only the fortunes of campaigns, but the 
destinies ot nations. 
NOTES ON PEODL'CE AND FINANCE. 
Indian Tea in Paeis. — If Icdian tea is io make its 
way in Paris funds aro necee.savy for the purpose. 
That a coffee drinking nation can be induced a'l at 
once to change its tas'e is not at all likely, but there 
is a very good prospect indeed that the coosumptiou 
of tea will steadily increase if the Fale is persistently 
pushed. The qnostioa is, Shall the enterprise languish 
for want of monty ? 
TuE Position of Tea and Tea Companies. — The article 
in %he Financial I\'cu;s on th\s so.;je t. which vveqaoted 
last week, has called forth Ecme con-. ^50 : 'ence i.-. t' o 
paper. "J. 0." writes :—''A-i j.ii uol rs ish 
that all your itformalioii thjukl le as acour.-.te as 
possible, perhaps you. will vUow me to point out that 
in quot'Dg tea shares for 1890 soma allowanca sboakl 
be made, to the extent of say, two per cent, for the 
advance in the value of the rupee. AVith regard to 
Ceylon companies, I may mention that while the 
Ceylon Tea Plantation Company has paid 15 p"r ceut. 
for five successive years, other Ceylon companies hive 
paid 20 p'-T cent and 30 per cent. It is quite correc': 
to say that Cejloitia has the bad reputation of not 
keeping; but I think ycu wil find, on enquiry 'in the 
Lane,' th-.t this refers only to parcels made during 
unfavourable weather. I eaw Eome broken Pekoe ii 
week ago sampled against some of la^fc year's crop from 
the same estate, which was decidedly ioferior !o the old 
leaf of 1890. I sm not one of those who btlieve iu the en- 
ormous estimates for future Oeylon crops of tea, but the 
quality be only fairly maintained, I am confident that 
the new markets opening; up in Russia and the United 
States will absorb all tbe leaf which Coylon can produce. 
Allow me to asaaro jou that I am not interested in Cey- 
lon tea or tea estates." " Wiry Leaf " writes : — " I 
am glad yon have again brought these inrestments under 
the notice of the public, for really Buch concerng seem 
to be about the only ones that would not be injured or 
ruined by strikes, as iu the case of r.iila, tram?, steam- 
ships, docks, &c. Indeed, tea and milk, and perhaps 
ginger-beer, will be the only things left to drink soon. 
Coffee is not in favour, and is 90 per '■f^t chicory, 
and cocoa is similarly adulterats* ome months 
ago you icserteel one or two letters from me under 
my preatnt nom de phone, in which I called atten- 
tion to different tea companie.", especially British 
Indian and Eastern Assam. The former, at the 
close of the se»s:n, July, 1890, wa.s £1,600 to the 
bad ; but now— July, 1891 — not only is this wiped ofF, 
but about £2,000 paid in dividends, and £400 carried 
foiward. The Eastern Assam in 1886 was £10,000 
to the bAd, but has made a profit each year since, 
and there is every reason to anticipate that not only 
will the small remaining balance be wipeel off this 
year, but a dividend is not impossible. 
Last Week's Tba Sale.— Tbe quantity, Bays the 
Produce Markets' Beview, of Indian tea brought forward 
baa been larger than last week, tbe proportion of the 
lower desoriptioDB giving » poor infusion being consider' 
