November 2, i?9t.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
3'9 
FISH-CUKING. 
Daring the year 1890 91 there were 143 fish-oiiring 
yurda at work in tlie Maiiras Presidency against 142 in 
the previous year. Duriiif^ the year two new yar<1s 
were opened at Puthu-Ponani and Va'^aunpalli, and tho 
Mannapuram yar<i « ai closed, but since then livo othor 
yards at Bypilla, Konsda, Kainipsrti, Madialogam and 
Nambiankiippam have been clostd, so that the current 
year opened with only 138 yards. 1,366,412 maunds of 
liah were brouglit to tho yards to be cnr'd aa'ainst 
1,184,058 in 18S0 90, for which 196,426 maunds of salt 
valued at Rl,32 114 were sold agaiust 176,111 maunds 
valued at Kl,16,278 in the previous year. The quan- 
tity of ealt sold to each maund of fish cured was 1182 
lb. in 1889 90. The increase of 6,698 tons offish or 15 3 
per cent brought to the yardr. to be cured is a very 
satisfac'-ory deve'cpmeut of the industry in spite of a 
bad fishing season on the wbol.) of the Baat Ooas\ 
The rapid strides in tho improvement of tlie lish-cnriug 
indnatry is evidenced by the following figures oi fish 
brought to be cute J for the past five years ; — 
East- 
West- 
Coast. 
Ooast. 
T. t il. 
Tons. 
Tons. 
Tons. 
1886- 
-87 
9,52G 
20,847 
30,373 
18s7- 
-88 
. . 12,637 
24,858 
37,495 
1888- 
■89 
. . 15,781 
25,830 
4t,611 
1889 
■90 
.. 15 23'? 
28,263 
43,496 
1890- 
■91 
. . 16,4-26 
33 768 
50,194 
The quantity of salied fish n anufaotared locally in the 
.several districts in the Madrss Presidency during the 
year was 796,500 maunds, 30,787 niaaiils were imported 
by sea, and 1,592 maunds by rail, lU'iltiug a total cF 
828,879 maunds. Of this quantity 98,275 maunds were 
exported by sea and 4,614 maunds by rail, leaving a 
balance of 725,900 maunds for ootisuraption in thePrpsi- 
dency, exhibiting the fact that tho bulk of tho 3;.U-flsh 
cured is consumed in tho Presidency. In South Canara 
and i^ladras the imports by sea are in excess of the ex- 
ports, while in youth Arcot, Tanjore, Tinnevelly, 
Maduri and Melabar the experts exc^et'd the imports. 
The qaantiby carried by rail both inwards and outwards 
18 very small, but tbo latter is much in excess of the 
(orraer. The expenditure incurred by Government on 
fish-cnring operations was R52,9C3 aga'ust R45,031 in 
1889-90 or an increahc of R7,926. The increase is attri- 
buted to the expansion of operations and to the conduct 
of experiments in fi-h-cnring on a larger scale. The 
gain 1 1 Govornmrnt was 1{15, 189-12 5 during the year 
and fi toliil gain of R53,268-13 0 from tho period of tho 
commencement of the operation !. A Eories of experi- 
mental operations in fish-ouriug was c arried ont by the 
Salt Department during the year, and 2,452 maunds of 
fish were opsrated on, tor which about 397 maunds of 
talt vvoro used against 541 maunds of fish and 103 
maunds of salt in 1889-90. Govprnmcnt incurred an 
expenditure of R3, 033-10-0 and realised R3,33.5-3-2, 
showing a small profit. The experiments were con- 
ducted on an extended sc^le and were uudertalcen to 
find out the quantity of sdt required to properly cure 
fiah.—Madra.i- 'J'hiie.<, Sept. 18th. 
LONDON TEA LETTER 
(From the laidian Planters' Gazette, Sept. 12th.) 
HoNoun List. 
Jokai (Ilnkaupnkri) 
Davjeoling Co, 
Tukvar 
Hishnath 
Mini Tea Co. 
.1 hauzie 
Mortingfi 
. . 30 Boxes Fly. Or. Pek. 4 
. . 20 hlf-chts. Or. Pek. 2 
. . 13 chts. Pek. Fanings 2 
. . 30 „ Pek. 2 
. . 12 „ Pek. Sou. 1 
. . 20 „ Bro. Pek. 2 
. . 28 hlf-chts. Bro. Or. Pek 2 
. . 20 do. do. 2 
. . 20 do. Bro. Pek. 2 
. . 14 chests do 2 
Fancy List. 
2 lb. Goldon Tips 5 
d. 
8 
9^ 
2± 
Oi 
9 
4 
H. 
14 
Oi 
It nocds no excuse that the LInkanpukri 12 chests 
of PokoG Souchong at Is. 8d. should be found in the 
Honour List, considering that these 12 chests com- 
jjlete the finest Invoice of the size ever received and 
sold together from India. The Flowery Orange 
Pekoe, was simply perfection, and had a beautiful 
glaze, showing great care in manufacture. Its 
weight for bulk was also very remarkable, indicat- 
ing excellence in the rolling. In fact, it was 
os'ident, that every detail of manufacture had received 
tlie utmost poss'ble attention, and that to begin with, 
the system of manufacture had ree.ched the height 
of perf(^ctioD. There is a similarity in the Teas of 
all the Pauitola group of the Jokai Company's gardens 
which is a very striking illaatration of how far one 
capable, directing mind, can go in stereotyping, so 
to speak, a certain type of quality and appearauoe, 
in the Tens of gardens situated miles apart, and upon 
vfry dift'erent varieties of coil ; and possessing bushes 
of various juts, and of course, different Tea-makers. 
This similarity, and excellence, common to all those 
gardens under one Superintandent, whose instructions 
are tbui faithfully followed, go fiir to iudicata that 
the '■^system of manufacture,''' as long ago hinted in 
these columns, has more to do wiih the quality of 
the Tt a made, tlian all other conditions put together, 
provided tho district be a Tea district, and the bushes 
not worn oat. This is further borne out by the re- 
mombra"C?, that this very district (Sadiya Rond) 
once upon a time was spoken of in Calcutta as having 
a soil which could produce quantity, but never quality. 
Jamaica. Cinchona. — A small oonsignment of cin. 
ohona from a private plantation in Jamaica 
was offered at this week's bark sale''. This ia 
the first shipment from that island that has bsan 
put .up for auction this year. The total weight 
of it was only 67 lb., and if tha oii'er had been 
accepted thai; was made for it, the total would 
have roalieed about 173. As freights ara high 
from Jamaica, and no less than 143 6d carriage 
was paid for this little lot, cinoliona growing in 
Jamaica does not seem to bo an industry of much 
promise. — Chemist and Druggist, Sept. 12th. 
Te.a. in China. — From Foochow we have the follow- 
ing tea news under the 22nd u't. : — Tha calling 
steamers during the past fortnight have been the 
"Patroolus." "Grieneagles," "Kintuck'' and "Nomoa"for 
the German Mail, About S of a million lb. were shipped 
by thefe steamrrs, making the export to Europe to 
date tlj millioa lb. against lOi miiliona to the same date 
last j'ear. Tho settlements iu tha interval hava been 
19,000 chests Congou, wbich, looked at iu conjunction 
with tho above mentioned fortnight's export, shows 
that there must be a considerable qumlity of bought 
tea in the port unshipped, representing probably an 
accnmu'ation for the next Au9lraliau steamer to sail 
aboiut 5th proximo. Prices show but little ohnnge, 
(Jiot though the market hiH be&a, the sales have 
bton in excess of the arrivals, and with a moderate 
stock teamen have been generally firm. Common, how- 
ever, must be quoted a mace or two lower. The 
teas being settled st Tls. 8 per picul (Sjd per lb.) are 
barely up to " typo " standard on the average. Tho 
determined run on common teas at this time of tha 
y^ar is naturally having its effect on tho question 
of total supply for the season. The teamen no longer 
stand to their ."..'suranca that it will ba limited to 
330,060 chests Congou; they admit the possibility of 
its being 10 to 15,000 chests more. It is thought-, 
however, that this iiicrcaae in the estimate of the 
total yield will not yffect tho probah'e total export. 
The latest arrivals include a considerable proportion of 
tea wbich can only be oharaotetised " low ordinary 
coarse and uaw," a class ko5 wanted iu any of the 
marltets to which Foochow ships, and if sold at all, 
will only fetch such a price as will deter any large 
supply of it coming down. The arrivals of Congou 
to data are 292,000 against 339,900 ; the seltlemouts 
l'03,O00 ac;ainst 187,000; and the stock of Congou is 
89,000 che.-ts against 152,000 chests at tho correspoud- 
ing date last yor.r.— i\^.-0. Herald, Sept. 4th, 
