492 
tHE TROPICAL AGRiCULTURlST. 
(January i, 1892. 
New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition.— Sub- 
mitted letter to the Goverument Agent, Western I'ro- 
vincp, dated.lOth November 1891, transmitting to Lim Bill 
of Ladisg duly endorsed in his favour for a case said 
to coataiu fancy goods referred to in the extract of 
the letter received from Lord Onslow, Governor of 
NewZsaland, and requesting an acknowledgment which, 
however, up to date has not be u received. ' 
PuEE Ceylon Tea.— Read letter from Mr. Gee. J. 
'Janeson submitting proposal for introducing and 
■ pushing the f-ale of pure Ceylon Tea in Manclics er, 
and the Lancashire districts gfneiaily. lies; Iv- 
ed :— " That tl e Standing Committee of tto 
Tea Fund would recommend to the General Com- 
mittee of the Planters' Afsociation of Oeylon that Mr. 
Jameson be recognised as an ageut cf tho Plantern' 
Assooiation of Ceylon for the salo of pure Ceylon 
Tea in Miinchester, and the Lancashire distric'.s 
generally." 
The Standing Committee of tbe Tea Fund then 
adjourned. 
A. PHILIP. 
Secretary to the Planters' Association of Ceylon 
NOTES ON PRODUCE AND FINANCE. 
, Losses in China Tea Trade— Apropos of our 
remarks on this subject last week, ihe Financial New 
says :—" For a long time the Chiua tea trade has been 
in process of displacement so far as England is con 
cerncd. Although our consumption of tea bas enor- 
mously increased during the past ten 3 ears, it ia 
mainly Indian tea that we consnrae. China h is ba 
to Bend its produce to Pvussia, althcugb mostly by way 
of Mincing Lace ; but now there is a curious cbatiEe 
apparent in the course of this trade. Bithf:r Eussia 
is importing less tea — which is doubifnl — or it is 
importing more from China direct. It is said that the 
losses of Buglish speculators in the Cbina tea trade 
have, thanks to this cause, been enormous during the 
past twelve months. Tbe figure is even pat as high 
as £750,000. 
Last Week's Tea SAiiES. — " So far as it relates to 
Indian tea," says the Orocer, " the prtcess of dduniog 
the market with enpplies seems to go on apace, tor, 
notwithstanding the unbeaid-of quantity put forwar l 
since the early p&rt of October, the to'sl amount 
offered by auction dnrinK the present week bfs era- 
braced no leas than 39,830 packf ges, which, strange to 
Bay, and despite the excessive prepondt ranee of inferior 
qualities, have been taken off, and that, too, wiihout 
signs of such exhaustion on the part cf the dealers in 
their tfifor's to clear the market as weie apparent a 
sLort time back. With such an enormous supply ks the 
above to handle in two nr three days, it is no ma'ter 
for surprise that thrre hnp been eodo 1 neveuness in 
prices ; but, admitting tbat the tendency here i'ud 
there has been rather cgiirsi the feller, it has been 
chiefly for pcor low stulf which hardly deserves the 
epithet of tea, sr.d wi'h these and one or two other 
nnimpoclant cxceptioiiS tte anctioLS have had a 
tolerably favonralle result. The grades thai have 
seemed to eogape most attention have been lea'y 
Ptkoes, which nt 9d and over are nnmistakablj cheap, 
and the only wonder is tba*^ the tra 'e ia the oruutry 
are not fully avrake to the discovery. Real'y fine teas 
aro searoe, and realize firm rate?. Small' r fupplies 
of Oeylon tea have come as en nrmised relief to the 
market, and (he iircgularity of lasi week's prices 
has disappeared. Qnoiatioris have shown no recover^', 
s. llers having to buy in wl en offers were too low to 
accept, and common graden ronstituting tbe chief 
supply, tend to prevent any arprcciablo imirovsmeut 
in values, especiallj' as Iniliau le '.s c f a similar char- 
axitar tntir sharply into compctitiou. The Frothier 
Marlcetn Iteoiew sajs :— '' Thero has been no falling-off 
in the demand for I'idian tea. The quantity broa^bt 
forward has n t been excessive, and theie was a 
hardening t :ndeuey at the earlier caleH f- r the goo 1 
(omraon porta. 'Iliepe teas offer better value tbau 
ioc ft coiisiderablo time pasl, and Ibo tr.nlo are not 
hIow to take advantage of Ibis, as is shown by the 
freedom with whieh they are tiuying. A sliahl; i heok 
in the demand, however, is not iminobable diiring , 
next month, but if the importers regnla e the fup- 
plies, and avoid weighting the market too heavily, 
prices may remain steady Tbe medium kin'ie of boih 
whole and broken leaf have been well bid for, at 
steady, and in some cimes rather firmer, rates. The 
fineft kinds continue to sell readily, hnd as they are 
cot too i lentiful, they command high prices. 
TitE Coffee Mabket.— Ditcussing the position of 
coffee, McBsrfj. Wilson, Smiihett and Co. say:— "The 
position cf Ibis article liasaitered but slightly since the 
(iiae of ( ur last. The attention cf thfj trade is still 
fixed o:: tbe political cr sis in Braz:', as iu the event 
of serious disturbances tl ere, which would delay tbe 
shipment of Rio andcf Siintos coffee, (he long-coni inued 
scarcity would rxUnd iniothe New Year ; aud with 
exi austed stocks i:> every port a rapid sppreciation of 
vaiu 6 would probably take place. It is expected that 
difference will be peaceal ly arranged, aud cocfidnce 
seems more general ; the most ree.ent daily receipts are 
also on a larger sra'e. I'l tl.is market great scarcity 
prevails, and all grades show a further advance. The 
speculative markets have shown excitemi nt during the 
past fortu'gh' , but bnsinets was of small extent, 
although quotations fluctuated coEsiclerably. — //. and C. 
Mail, Nov. 27. 
TUB RETICULATED OR SPONGE-BEARING 
CUCUMBER. 
Under the name of " Luffa," or " Cucumber Sponge," 
we now import iu compressed bales, from Japan and 
Egypt, the reticirlated skeletons of two varieties ot 
what Ebn Baitar, the Arabian botanist, twelve hun- 
dred years ago described as the "Luffah," taking his 
title from the Egyptian name of "Luff." Dr. .John 
Veslingius, of Holland, in 1638, in writing a work 
upon the plants of Egypt, as a sequel to that of 
Prospero Alpini, describes, with two engravings, the 
Cucuniber-plant that now furnishes the commercial 
Luffa of Egypt, under the title oi Lv f'a Arahurn or 
(Jticniiii.t reticn/aftis yEgi/jMuf:. The Japanese and 
Egyptian commercial varieties so closely resemble 
each other that the pictures of Veslingius, which 
were taken from plants grown by himself , are excellent 
representations of the Japanese Lvffa roacroccirjja. 
Had he cultivated the Japanese variety, which comes 
to maturity much earlier, he would not have fallen 
into the error of describing the seeds as white instead 
of black. From a very early period the reticulated 
skeletons of Luffa Arahum were used by the Egyptians 
in their bath-rooms, and it is probable that the 
Japanese did the same with, that of the L. macrocatya. 
Sponge-bearing Cucumbers may be found in a large 
number of hot countries, and vary in size from that 
of a plum to three feet in length. In some the 
skeleton is very thick and strong, and capable of 
being made of use in the household, but in the majo- 
rity the netting is thin and delicate, and can only 
be regarded as a curiosity. Like ordinary Cucumbers, 
some are edible and are grown for the table, while 
others are more or less medicinal, and are nsed as 
domestic remedies. As the reticulation forms at a late 
period, the Luffa, when of an edible sort, can readily be 
cooked as a vegetable when young ; the rank odor of 
the fruit would be an objection to its use with us, but 
this has not avrtiled much against the tomato. 
But little attention has been paid by botanists 
either ancient or modern, towards collecting, arranging 
and describing the class of cucumbers which is 
distinguished by bearing a subcutaneous or a com- 
plete internal skeleton. Under the name of Blomor- 
dica, Cucumis, Pepo and Luffa we may find several 
varieties described in old botanical works, chiefly in 
Latin, Dutch and French ; and may also discover 
that several, as the Luffa Pctola, L. acutanrj^da, L 
/Kfjiiptica, etc., have been very correctly represented 
by large plates. 
The Luffa is fully entitled to membership in the 
Cucumber family, and is in no sense a Gourd, as 
it lias sometimes been called. It is monoecious, 
having separate staminate and pistillate flowers, of 
vv'hich the former are much tire larger, or more 
conspicuous ; and the leaves much more closely 
resemble iir form those of oirr common cucumber 
than do many in Egypt, Palestine and India, upon 
