October i, 1891.] 
THE TROf^iCAL AGRICULTURIST. 
259 
among the villages an'l servo to improva the 
dietary ot the poorest classes. In thn absence of 
sta istios, wa may form some idea of she cxtf.a- 
sive trade in siiltttd and dncd fiih, which is eav- 
i-ifid on in the Pre idenoy, by a r^f renos to the 
report of the Department. It will iheve 
be saen tha5 the qnandty of salt us'd for this 
purpose is i-noiraous. and that thi,< tvadi in cr.ed 
fish !8 an inoveasing one. It is wll kaown that 
the fiesh of fishes diffard in diff.rcnt stasons of 
the y-'ar, and that thsre are liiues, in the 
spawning season, when thc-y are not very fit £or 
human food. But in l^dip, among our fijher. 
men, no notice whatever is taken of this laot, 
thty catch ail they can, great or sruall, and at 
every season of the year. We are of opinion that 
among the mon-Europ an community, not a little 
illhealth is due to the want of attention here. 
The destruction of spawn in our estuaries is com- 
mon ; we have ourselves seen nierj day after 
day capturing them by thousands for their food, 
and have found remonstrance v;ith them of no 
avail. As a result of tiiis, ad Jed to the fact 
that multitudes of fishes are caught loag before 
they are half-grown, the fish-supp y is not nearly 
BO plentiful as it might be, ana the mi'tter is 
of bufficient importanca to justify a little Govern- 
ment interference. For our fiafa-supply, as aa 
article of food for pour, is worthy ot all pos-ible 
attention. In the country the right of catching 
the fiih in tanks is usually sold by auction, and 
purchased by the cas^e villagers for a triiiiag 
sum, An instance oneiirs to ud of a village in 
the uhinglepuu district where, after purchasing 
for four rupees the right in question, as they 
know how to do, the caste villsgars immediately 
resold it for nearly a hundred rupees. If Govern- 
ment were to throw tuoh tanks open to the 
poor, that they might increase the food- supply, 
tliis v?ould be a great boon, and the jobbery to 
which we have r-fered would ' be brought to an 
end. At any rate, wa think that some cogni- 
sance should be taken of our South Indian 
fisheries, which are of such importance to the 
people as a source of food, and if S'.imething 
can be done to regulate them, so that they 
may become more profitable and yield a sti.l- 
more abouudaat supp'y. Government will have 
its reward. — Madras lima. 
NOTES ON PRODUCE AFD FINANCE. 
Inceeased Oonsumption of Tba. — AVe gave some 
figures in our last iasuo whica Buowed the incrsnsed 
cocBumptiOQ of tea ainco the reduction i,f the duty. 
The (Jommissinr.ors of Customs point out that the 
extent of the loss which the Ilevenue has sastaiLied 
by the reduction in the duty of 2cl per lb., when 
compared with th» preoe^lin:; year's receipts, is uot 
60 ijreat aa had been anticipated, tho increase of ocu- 
sumptiou having bceu very murked. Theyross revenue 
from tea in 1889-90 was £4,490,695. Lns! year it 
was .£3,416,802, au actual loss of £1,073,893. Tho 
quinitity 'if tea on which duty was paid in 1889-90 
was 179,G'2O,O0O lb. In the yeir ending March last 
the qiiuitity was 202,633,0(X) lb., uu increase of 
23,013,it00 lb. It is cu i us to note that in 1835, 
wh"n tho duty ranged from la CI to 3s, according 
to tli'i qiuUity of the article, tho aiuouut netted by 
thfi II' venue from this source stood aimost ioiily at 
tho Sftrau li,t;uro as at the present moment, whau all 
kinds C'f li a pay ordy 4d. 
Tub Ameiucan Tea Mahket.— It is pointed out by 
a Philadolphian con-osponOeut, for the benefit of those 
interestfil in the Ameiioan tea marko*-, that the taste 
of coijsuinors in tlu' United Sratea is fickle. Twonty 
yonrx agi) tiio rago iu the S'.atoa was entirely tor 
Fi'ochows ; then haHkot-iired Japaua and China greo i 
teas followed in order, nothing olse being in domaud 
for a time ; to be again succeeded by Araoys and 
eventually by F.irmosas. At the present time the 
[j )pu!ar taste si e .;is to be n tuniing to its first love, 
Foocdiow o.ilon^e, 'o the prejudice of Amoys and 
Foraiosas. Tbt- cla'-viiges appe.tr to occur exactly about 
five yo:ir-i aport. We trust ttat Indian and Ceylon teas 
will have th ir turn. 
Thb Rivalry of Indian and Ceylon Tea.— In his 
reporf, on '.ue traiie vt India, Mr. O'Gormor calls at- 
tsntton to tho competiti. n of ini'ian and Cejlruin the 
tea marksf, oi ruther he points oat figures which in- 
itioato ihrs poui ion. H« says that " while the United 
Kingdom iooit fro.n Inih'a in 1890 over a hundred 
miliiou pounds of tea aud only seventy-four millions 
frum (-hma, it had also takoa foi ty-tv.'o-arid.a-hiilf 
milii n pounds from OeylOij, a remarkably Isr^e quan- 
tity considering ihe reeor-it comutncemeut cf te.i cul- 
tivation iu that islind. Oaylon, Mr. O'Couor points 
out, h is certa nly greater advaiit vg-^s in its greater 
tit-arness to Buytand and to Au.stralia ttan Calcutta, 
and iho constquent smaller f eight that has to be 
paid, i 1 the close proxicaity of f eta gardens to 
the po t of rli p nent, in tte abumtanr, and cheap 
Ihhour supplied to it from the aojacfn' ports of Southern 
In'lia, in climate oond tions, and m the exce lent 
quahty of most of the tea produce!." This is all 
tiue enough, ani t a planters are quite aware of it. 
ihe riv'Iry i ecw -n India ^nd Ceylon is, hi.wevnr, a 
frif'nidy ore. The m dn tdei. bem>; to keep China 
tea v.\x\ cf the ma ket as much as possible. 
Tea Shares.— The following letter sigtied Z. ap- 
pealed in the Fbmncicd Nev>s of yesterday's d:te; — 
" Your UEeUiI and accurate article on the po-iition 
of the taa companies has attriicted a good do^l of 
attention, and I hope yoa will fsllow a little dis- 
cussion on the subject, m the interests of those 
who are already oonC' rned as proprietors, as well 
as of thosa who would like to have a pecuniary 
interest in the busiuefs of tta production. There is no 
qui. stion as to tha highly pn.'fitable ua'uro of the 
industry ; it is really much more so than the figures 
o-f the few companies quotad show, bpcause a Jarge 
proportion of the btst estates, tiiough worked by, 
companies whyse shares cm be obtained by those in 
tiie trade throujih private irenty, aro uot known in 
the general market. The indusrry is also subject to 
muoh lees risk than is generally supposed ; failure of 
crops over any but a most limited area is unknown ; 
cultivation anti manufacture have now almo,st reached 
the level of a science ; while the u.ncertainty attach- 
ing to value which existed in the early days of Indian 
leas as au article of corcmerce is a thing of the past, 
sating that it has taken the leaditig p'.jsition in the 
market, almost extiiiguishing (he tradt. in China tea, 
as far as this country is concerned, aud has quite 
cut-stripped in point of quality its only serious 
rival, Ceylon.** This being i,so, the question arises 
why Indian tea compsuios attract so little attention 
from tho investing public, and, with the exception 
of the Financial iVero,s, from the financial Press. 
Is it not because those v/ho manage the comphnies 
impsrt eo little information absut the course of 
the year's operations V Some of them only commu- 
nic'nte wi'h their sh-^irehrddcrs once a year ; many 
only twic.i a year, while those who issue monthly 
returns of tho quantity produced give no information 
respecting the re;ihs;*lion of the crop. Investors do 
not dke to be kept in the dark like this, and the 
reticence of managers is the more unaccountable 
inasmuch as the ii dustry is carried on in the light 
of day, tho crops grown above ground, and mostly 
sold in the public auction room, while for bonoitr- 
able and hnsiiiess-like management they can challenge 
comparison with any industrial undertaking. Another 
drawback seems to be tha sliare value ranging from 
£5 to £20, decoraiuations disliked by the small in- 
vestor, who calls for a £1 share fully piiid. But 
possibly the chief obstacle too free market in the 
shares lie.s in the f ict that there are too miny sma'l 
companies, oacli with separata mauagemont ; their 
* Ceylon planters will certainly not admit this, — 
Ed- T. a. 
