270 
tHE TROPIdAL A6RI0ULTURI8t. [October i, 1891 
UNFAVOURABLE REPORTS ON TEA. 
A writer in the Indian Planters' Gazette has an 
amusing passage, thus : — 
You wiil lind that, as a rule, the agency firms des- 
cribe and report upon your eamples fairly aud as 
compared with other teas actually being made. The 
appetite for fine quality has, however, in several 
instances (there is one particularly bad ofiender in 
London) led to a practice of reporting upon samples 
as compared with what one would imagine woula be 
the quality of Utopian produce, sapposiog that pro- 
vince grew tea. This firm habitually made the teas 
out many degrees worse than in reality, with singular 
contempt for the intelligence of their Managers, to 
whom they kept up a standing cry of wolf. Now this 
is not a way to treat a tea-house sirdar. 
Their vocabulary did not run from "very good" 
to " very bad," but from about " moderately fair " to 
" infamous." The results were that the reports simply 
misled you. 
One especially awful report I got, I remember, was 
such that even the esperience'ot several seasons failed 
to reassure me that there was not something 
really wrong with the teas at last, but when 
the sale report arrived they oame out fifth upon 
a list of eighteen. Aud the mystery to me has been 
ever since, what (with the English language at its 
present strength) could the Agents havefouadto say 
to the maker ot number eighteen teas. The only 
possible solution is (to my mind) that they had re- 
coarse to vulgar French abuse, and reported somewhat 
in this fashion. 
Valuations and Characters of Bankpore Teas. 
Grades. Descriptions. Values. 
1 Criminally irregular Broken 1 
fs^^Snfstsr^^*^- 
liquor. J 
iKevoltingly ill-twisted Ball-Congou i 
kind. Shameful outturn. Horrible >- Id. 
liquors, J 
„ . - „ ■ C Leaf and liquor indescrl- ( « , 
Pekoe Souchong ^^^j^jy^^^^jjj'^l,!^ j Od. 
Bro. Souchong} vilain mon6tre,| .^^^ 
General Eemarke.— Cr€ nom de pommedeterre Cor- 
bleu. — 
(Sd.) OiNNONADE & Co. 
Disgrace Church St. E. 0., 
7th October 18 — 
THE BRITISH BORNEO COMPANY, 
(LIMITED.) 
The ordinary half-yearly meeting of the share- 
holders in this Company was held yesterday, at the 
Cannon-street Hotel, when Mr. A. J. tscrnttun occu- 
pied the chair. — The landed property of the Company, 
the report stated, now amounted to about 104,000 
acres, all of which was covered with valuable timber. 
A large portion ot the land was suitable for growing 
tobacco, oo:See and sugar, and should the develop- 
ment o( Borneo continue in these products, it should 
be saleable for planting purposes in the future, more 
especially as it was easily aooegsible from Saiiakan, the 
capital. As suitable virgin land was getting toaroe in 
Sumatra, the attention of the large Dutch companies was 
being attracted to Borneo, and it was hoped that they 
would commence there. The general manager in Bor- 
neo had been dismissed. The Board had des- 
patched a special representative to Borneo, who was 
of opinion that, wiin a suitable manager there, and 
more shipping facilities, their trade with China 
alone would show a sufficient profit to pay the Com- 
pany. The Board did not think they were warranted 
in_ ptocteuiiig with the cultivation of tobacco, utst 
year, on account of the low price of tobacco and the 
high price ot labour in Borneo. The report then 
entered into details with regard to matters complained 
* Minus. 
of in the island. — The Chairman expressed regret at 
the character of the report which was submitted, 
and he attributed the unfortunate position "they were 
in to the late manager, who had failed to appreciate 
the resoonsibility of his position. To this fact, and 
the existence of exceptionally serious circumstances 
in Borneo, they attributed their position. The coun- 
try was very slow in development, which was partially 
dne to the want of appreciation on the part of the local 
Government. They were seven or eight weeks' sail from 
their property, which obliged them to trust very much 
to their representative. On some of the contracts 
entered into by their late manager they had lost 
several thousands of pounds, and their loss had been 
increased by a want of adequate supervision. They 
had had great difficulties with the labour question, 
which was seriously felt by all the trading companies 
in the island. Their timber was most valuable, and 
the markets of the world were open to them. He 
moved the adoption of the report and statement of 
accounts. — Mr. J. J. Dunn seconded the motion, and 
also alluded to the great value of their timber ; but on 
the trading account they had lost about 5,000?.— Mr. 
E, V. Williams suggested that a drum-head court 
martial should be held upon the directors sud 
immediate punishment infiicted, because of the 
miserable tale of mismanagement which was die- 
closed by the report. They had found a scape- 
goat in the person of their late manager, but the 
real fault lay at home. He hoped the Shareholders 
would keep in touch with each other, and act in such a 
way as to enable them to bring pressure upon the Di- 
rectors, and give them a chance of redeeming their 
character.— Mr. O. P. Bennett, who bad visited Borneo, 
gave an account of (he valuable stores of timber which 
they possessed, and maintained that in China alone 
there would be an unfailing demand for what they 
could send. — Several Shareholders expressed their 
great dissatisfaction with the state of affairs as dis- 
closed by the report and statement ot accounts. One 
or two suggested that a Committee of Shareholders 
should be appointed ; but to this exception was taken, 
on the ground of the difficulty of controlling an estate 
S3 far from London. Another proposition was to 
adjourn the meeting for two months for fresh accounts 
to be prepared. Ultimately the Shareholders agreed to 
receive and adopt the report and statementof accountp, 
the Directors on their part agreeing to prepare fresh 
accounts, showing the position of matters down to 
June, and to call another meeting in a few months' 
time.— After some formal business the meeting ter- 
minated, — London &tandard. 
HONOIiULU AND HAWAIIAN VEGB- 
TATION. 
Honolulu is situated under the lee of a range of 
mountains about 4,000 feet high, that almost entirely 
break the trade winds and as a consequence the cli- 
mate is sweltering in the day time, but the nights are 
cool and pleasant. 
Trade is somewhat depressed on account of the 
MoKinley bill. Sugar is the principal article of export 
and the price has gone down so much that they say 
there is no profit in it. Heretofore they have been 
making from 40 to 90 per cent on their sugar and it 
goes hard to have to come down to 10 to 25 per cent, 
which they will have to do. The quantity exported 
amounts to 125,000 tons for this year and they have 
been getting $100 a ton. It costs about $50 a ton to 
manufacture it and after the freight is addeil, left 
them a large margin of profit. 
It is now thought that some of the poorer plan- 
tations will have to shut down entirely as they can 
get no one to carry them on. The average yield is from 
three and one half to four tons per acre. Some 
plantations or parts of them yield as high as seven 
tons per acre. There are not many places that will 
yield that however. 
There are two methods of estraotiag the lugar from 
the cane, the old roller process and the more recent 
dif asioa jptooess. All tbe aew mills now beiog erected 
