320 
SPECULATIVE DEALINGS IN INDIAN 
TEA. 
It is now almost a yearsiuce the London Produod 
CleariDg House commeuced to register future deal- 
ings in ludian tea; aud we believe tbfit if the opicion 
of the tea dealers in the Loudon Miiiket couhl bo 
gauged, they would, with pothups cue or two exotp- 
tioDs, unhesitatiogly express their regret that this new 
element of speculation wiib ever inlrodueed. Ooinioiis 
vary no doubt as to the ethics of " future " donlin^s 
in produce, as well as in stocks r.nd shares; but ivo 
are not at present concerned with this view of the 
question, which we imagine every man must sfettle 
for himself. It is our business to collect iuformi- 
tion from every reliable source, and focus it so that 
our readers may form their own judgment, and act 
as they ttiink best. And it is because wo see at 
present soma symptoms iu tho market of s disposition 
to make what are called " bear " sales of Indian tea 
that we venture to draw the attention of those inter- 
esfed to the necessity of combined action to avoid an 
undue distorbauce of valuoe. 
There are those who say that (here is n moral 
difference between a "bull" jjurchase and a "bear" 
sale; but as wo said before wo are not concerned 
with tho ethics of the question at present, and we 
will merely say that the conduct of a " bear " after 
having sold what he never possessed is generally 
directed to circulating injurious reports and otherwise 
seeking to batter down the value of stock held by hon& 
fide owners — in short, ha tries to depreciate other 
people's property to make thereby a profit for himself. 
It is somewhat unfortunate that just now the large sup- 
plies of Indian and Ceylon ten have tended to depress 
the legitimate market ami rendered tho " boar" game 
more easy. It is an open secret that some of the 
brokers in the mai ket are operating for themselves in 
this direction. And it becomes, therefore, most im- 
portant for pl'.uters and importers to consider whose 
advice they nccept as to ho v nnd when they should 
offer their imports. It is manifest that if the market 
is overdone wi*-h nearly 20,000 packages in one sale and 
only 5,000 packages the next, there will be more or less 
irregularity in the prices, which will injure the interests 
of those imporleta whose teas are offered iu the Inrger 
sale. It is known that the shipments from Calcutta 
were very heavy for the last fortnight of August 
and the first fortnight of September, »nd raturaUy 
the " bears " are jubilant at the prospect of cover- 
ing their shorts in the anticipated punie and utter 
demoralisation '•^hich they reckon on if all the 
wtight of tea is put upon the maiket with unreasoning 
haste. There was last season an attempt made to regu- 
late tho supply in public sale, so that it, should not 
excaed 15,000 packnges in one day or 35,000 p iokagea 
in one week. The 35,000 total for the week has not 
yet been reached this season, but this week nearly 
20,000 packages passed the hammer on one day with 
ft manifest tendency downward. No time should there- 
fore be lost iu coraiijg to somesimilur arrangement, as 
importers cannot ha constantly iu the salerooms watch- 
ing the fluctuations of the market or the nature of the 
buying ; consequently an " automatic feed regulator " 
(as somebody styled it last season) seems in every way 
a desideratum. The situ ition is no doubt somewhat 
peculiar as regards heavy supplies of Indian and Ceylon 
teas, but they aro both steadily displacing China teas. 
The stocks of all kinds of tea on Aug. 31 were only 1£ 
milions great' r thiin last year. Shipments have prac- 
tically ceased from the Chinese ports for this season, 
aud it is exceedingly probable that the hoaie and 
shipping demand will ha quite equal fo taking off every 
pound of ludian and Coylon tea that comes here this 
season, specially at the low rates now ruling ; but tho 
supply should be regulated. — //, and C. Mail, Sept. 18th. 
Mkssrs. Gow, Wilson & Stanton's Tea Oircolar. 
— la tho circular dated Sept. 25tli, our readers are 
roqueslel to note the following correotion : — The 
total IndiLH avcnige for tlio week should read, 
2H,15l pkgB. at '.i:]d ; the Sylhct and Ca^har aver- 
ago should road, I0,71.'') pkga, at SJd. 
A NEV>^ MATERIAL FOR TEA PACKING. 
A new material for liniDg tea chests has long been 
t liked of, and it is now introduced. In an advertise- 
ment which appears in our columns, plai t-rs and tea 
importers are informed that tho new material "costs 
half the price" of tea lead, that it ''answers the pur- 
pose admirably," and that it h.as been "tested and 
approved by experts." Our representative called upon 
tee mak;TS, Messrs. Edward Saunders & Sons, Liaiited, 
of 81 and 83, Cannon Street, and from tliem we learn 
that in addition to the advantages thus claimed for 
this new materia', it is impervious to damp, will bear 
boiling without iojury, it does not break nor crack, 
and, of course, ia very much lighter than lead, weighing 
bub one-fifth the weight, an important matter where 
freit;ht is concerned. The makers claim that they have 
been tcstiug its thorough efficiency for years and now 
that they have proved tho new material, they place 
it in the market with con&dence. — H. and 0. MaiL 
How Leaf di.sea.se ha.s IjE.ssened the PEODur- 
TioN OF CoFFSE IN Java, notwith.standing the advan- 
tage of rich voleanio soil, ia shown in the following 
figures, giveu by Dr, Burck, in his paper BUggesting 
remedies : — 
Average yearly 
production 
In 18C4-186S 
„ I«69-1873 
„ 1871-1878 
„ 1879-1883 
„ U81-1888 
Samarang 
Clicribon. Madiven. 
o2,7U:Jpikuk 2-l,fi00 pikuls 00,300 pikuls 
h\,5bO ,, 22,-500 „ 61,700 
49,200 „ 22,700 „ 58,600 „ 
■50,-500 „ 24,600 „ 66,100 „ 
27.3tO „ ll,7ijO „ 33,27.5 „ 
Coffee and Cinchona in Java. — According to in- 
formation received lately the coffee crop in Java will 
be much more than in the preceding year. The Go- 
vernment crop will bi abr.ut 365,000 piculs, against 
about 160,000 in 1.S90 ; and from privsta undertakings 
in the east portion of Java the report of larger crops 
are given, which will be above the estimate. An in- 
tcrcs'iug statement shows the increase of the cinchona 
bark cul ivation in Java by private planters. The fol- 
lowing figures exhibit the exports from Java for the 
last five years: — 
Private Govern- 
ment 
lb. lb. 
1890-91 ... G,386,561 ... .5.53,2i55 
1889-90 ... 4.57!),7S7 ... 541,481 
1888-86 ... 3,599,-535 ... 815.506 
1887-88 ... 3,124.924 ... 617,101 
1886-87^ ... 1,569,842 ... ti(J0,433 
— L. cf- C. Express. 
Indian Tea of Low Quality. — We suppose 
it is the generally good quality of Ceylon tea which 
led to such severe denunciations on recent descents 
below standard. But, due to similar eau.9es no 
doubt, Indian has also been of inferior quality and 
has sold at prices as low as the lowest Ceylon. 
Confirmatory of this statoraeat, we quote as fol- 
lows from Shepurd & Co.'s circular of September 
25th :- 
ladiau. — Offerings have exceeded those of the pi\- 
vions fortnight by some 4,000 packages. The general 
quality of supplies fails to .sh...w improvement", and 
prices for all common aud ordinary liquoring Teas have 
been giadnally tending downw.'irds, so that quotations 
of 5id, 7d and 8J have now been recordeil for the 
lowest giades of Souchong, Pekoe and Broken Pekoe 
respectively. Gojd medium to fine kinds are generally 
well competed for at .".bout previous rates, aud for a 
tew parcels of very choice Darjeeling Tea long prices 
have been obtained. 
Wo take this opportunity of correcting a mistake ia 
a paragraph on Ceylon toa which had sold at 5*1 
inserted in yesterday's paper. The extract was from 
a Melbourne letter, 
