384 
rNP tt^OPlGAL AGRiGULTURIST. 
[December i, 1891. 
ita own, hut wo'ilJ deprive the Indian product of 
an important chpapening and diluting agent, and force 
it to stand om its own merits. Unfortunately, Foochow, 
in the rash aiter fortune, has for years pas'; paid 
kas and less attention to quality. E<sj and fometimea 
fabulous rtturuB stimulated over-produotion, over 
production depresne 1 p-ices, and ilepressed prices further 
depr. Bsed quility !o suoh a point that younger rivals 
could step in, and with the aid of snientific appliances 
which ensnre more uniform manipuUiion andresulta 
and greater ind-.pendence from seeaons and weather, 
wrest f om China the last of its ancient mo iopoliee. 
The outlook is gloomy indeed. Many of the old 
famous districts are s ocked with old used up trees ; 
the present generation grown up in a time of pros- 
perous over-production, lack the experience, carsful- 
nese, and patienca of the old tea planters; and with 
depressed prices, depressed markets, and annually 
dfclining demands, where is the ctimulua to cnme 
from for that improvement which alor.e cin reeonqupr 
tbo lost positioT ? In this emergency it is gener-.lly , 
felt that the Giivernment alone cm help; without 
it» intervention, aid, or permission, no change can be 
effeo'ed an i it is therefore with anjiijua int 're.>.t that 
ita action is lo 'ke 1 forward to by the tea morchan's 
of thi« port. In 1889 the lossi^s of tbe native teamm 
were cotnputpd at. 1^3,00 1,000, and this y ar their 
looses ara held to be even greater than last vear. 
Wliile 'he year 1889 was disastrou'i to both Chinese 
and foreigQ merchants, of which latter no less than 
seven firms either cloHed or failed, the p'ejient year 
his fallen heavily upon the ChiaeRe chiefly, and, in 
the consequeBce, h s witnessed the withdrawal of 
four native tea merchants, and the failures of seven 
opium merchants, two tua hotigs, and two piece good 
firms — fiiteeo firms in all. In sympathy with this 
general depre«sion, the valu!2 o' foreign house p-oporfcy 
has declined enormouslv, a large nuaibar of offices 
and warehoise" are standing empty, a^d r^nta have 
declined lully 50 per cent.— i. and C. Exvres». 
The uses of the electric light appear to be endless. 
The Weit American proposal is to gather f nit after 
nighifall, eleciric eights being utilised for the needed 
illuiuiuation. "Thpre is carta. nly no reason why this 
should not be do le," say« an exchange, " Fruit that 
is gfithered duriug daytime is so heated that it needs 
to be ct oled oB" before i' in packed in cars for Eastern 
shipment. Tnis would be obviated by gatberiutr the 
fruit at night. T' e pickers won d donbtlessprefer the 
night work as well, the absence of the extreme heat 
of the sun lelt during the day toi. g most grateful. 
There are times, too, when the fruit ripens so rapidly 
that much is lost which could be saved were the 
gathering to go on continuously day and night."'— 
MUdura Cultivator, 
Mb Robbktb on the Quality of Cevmn Tea.— 
Meeting Mr. Koberls, whose authority upon all 
questions connected with your teas you knew I set 
Buch a high value upon, he told me in reply to 
my qaery as regards the low prices of late obtain- 
able irom your teas that, although, uadoubtedly, 
the quality of those o£ late sent home had been 
yerv inferior, yet that it would ha a mistake to 
assign to that reason solely the unremunerativeoess 
o£ the rates obtained :—" We are too apt," he 
said," to aesign lh.;SQ bad times wholly to quality. 
We overlook the many olhor ooaditions which affect 
tbo market. Tightaees in money, for instance, 
will often restrict buying for a time, and there 
are a thousand and one other causes which may 
operate 1 3 depress prices. Sfll, youv planters should 
not send fcuoh a large bulk of bad stuff as we 
have recently received. It hangs on hand dread- 
fully Fortunately the later shipments have greatly 
improved, i»nd at the present moment there is 
little or no reason for grumbling at the quality of 
the Ceylon teas reaohiug us, and the market for 
these is now improving and Boema to have a steady 
upward tendency, though I should not like just 
at present to speak with certainty as to ita oon- 
tiuUftnoe." '-London Vor, 
Low pruning is advised by somefruitgrowers because 
more of tbe fruit can then be picked by standing on 
the grounii, which is cheaper and ea-ier. Whea trees 
are low pruned there are also few windfalls, 'he tree 
gets a better growth, is less liatile to blow over, and, 
the ground being shade ' around the root', ic growg 
faster. L w branf-hes kpep the gronnd mo'«t -ind ia 
bettpr condition for cultivation.— i)/i?f?i/,!-a Cidtivator. 
Tea and Coffee in Sakaw/k. — Consul Trevenen, 
reporting on a visit to Sarawak, made by invita- 
tion of the Rajah of Sarawak, states ;— There are 
115 acres under coffee, and 50 acres un !er tea, 
while 70 acres more are being planted wi'h the 
latter. These plantations, like all experimental 
cultivation in Sarawak, ere Government estates, 
and are owing to the initiative of the Eajah.— i, 
and C. Express. 
Th-. Government Botanist, Madras, hag been 
directed by Govenment to submit a programme for 
the botanical servpy of the several Districts and 
provinces assigned to him in the general soh=me 
for a botanical survey of India, with an estimate of 
the cost of carrying out the survey. Mr. Lawaon will 
prepare his programme in consulation with D . King 
of tbe Calcutta Botanical Gardens, and Dr. Trimen, 
Director of the Botanical Gardens in Ceylon. — M. 
Mail. 
Hop Tea, — Represent'itives of the Press were 
yesterday invited to Maidstone to inspect the works 
of the Hop Tea Company, the foreign patents of 
which have been acquired by the Hop Tea Foreign 
and Colonial Syndicate (Limited) The Company 
eliim that by mixing the hops with Indian and 
Ceylon tea the flavour of the tea is not only 
improved by giving it a malty aroma, but that 
hops, being a sedative, counteract the too exciting 
efiect of the tea upon the nerves, and while pre- 
vanting waste of nervous energy promote intellectual 
activity.— i. d; 0. Express, Oct. 16tt). 
A PhoT' gbaph recently reproduced in the North 
Western, Lumberman showed a redwood plank of extra- 
otd'u-iry eizt- , m aburicg sixteen feet five inchf-s in width 
b> tw- Ive feet nine inches in length aud five iuches in 
thickness. It wis cut from a tree thirty-five feet in 
diameter and thrpe hundred feet tall, being hewn out 
of the stump after the tree was out at about twenty- 
eight feet iibuve he ground. A locomotive, attachpd 
to a block and lackle, was ncaned to lower it, aud two 
men were occupied tor a m^^nth in roughly preparing 
it for shipment. The price of this labor, added to the 
cost I f tra.isportbiion, amounted to somp $3 000, after 
the plank hid been taken by water to San F.auoisco. 
The tree stoo I in Humbildt County, C'tlifonda, and 
the plauli, after being ' Xhibited in v .riooua citie*, will 
probably be a featura of the Worl jV F»ir at Ohicago. 
A specially construcrpd car is required for its trans- 
port tion — Garden, and Forest. 
Capacity of Toddy-yielding Thees. — A series of 
experiments have been conducted by the Madras 
Abkari Deparment to test the yield of the various 
toddy-yielding palms. The experiments show that 
the sago palm heads the list with an average yield 
of 130 gallons per year. This pahn is only tapped 
in the Malabsir District, and the agency tracts of 
the Northern Circars. The coconut palm yields on an 
average about 70 gallons a year, and the yield is 
continuous. In Malabar, the land of the coconut, 
the quantity is grea er than anywhere else ; 
then follow Coimbatore, Trichinopoly, South Canara, 
Tanjore and South Arcot. The yield of palmyra 
and date palms is about 90 gallons a year, but varies 
considerably in different locaUties. In Palghaut the 
palmyri yields about 90 gallons in a season, while 
at Tuticorin and Kuttanguli it is only about 15 
gallons. In the case of dates the yields at Villapuram 
is 59 gallons, while it is as low as 8 gallons at 
Mogaltur, the extreme dryness of the country around 
Tuticorin and Mogaltur being aocountaWe for th< 
diSetence.— Jfff<?r«.s Math 
