February i, 1892.] 
THE TROPICAL AQRICULTURUST, 
S33 
CEYLON TEA IN PAEIS. 
No doubt our readera will, equally with our- 
selvea, have fhftred in tho surprise exprcsaed by our 
London oorreBpoudont (page 29) that Mr. Lough 
should, after having sought and obtained the 
agency for (Jeylon teas in Paris, bava soemod not 
only to coincide in, but to fully endorse, the 
wisii of some of the sharoboldors of tho Palais 
Indien Tea Houses Company that their sales should 
be coufined oxchi?ivoly to Indian grov/ths. This 
matter appoera to have been promptly taken up 
by the Tea Committee of the Ceylon Association 
in London. At first sight, tliere could seem to 
be no doubt that Mr. Lough had been guilty of 
a breach ot faith in the statement ho had mads, 
and the Committee was not slow in ouUing him 
to aooount for it. Wo know that very grave 
objeotioa was taken to the selection of Mr. Lough 
for the Paris agency, and that a very unplensant 
oorresponrtenoe between our local Association and 
that of London resulted, Had the matter re- 
mained unexplained, we must have held that the 
objections raised were most fully justifiod. 
But Mr. Lougb, in replying to the questioning 
addressed to him by the London Association 
Committee, has stated that his remarks at his 
Company's meeting were not in any way intended 
to apply to Ceylon tea. What it was desired, 
he informed the Committee, was to exclude from 
Buoh sale the toas of China, Japan, Java, and 
other similar teas of Far Eastern growth. We 
must, of course, accept this explanation, but can 
only express our regret that Mr. Lough, when 
speaking as he did at the meeting of the Palais 
Indien Company, had not been more explicit. Had 
he been so, and in aooordanee with the intention 
he has now expressed, he would have saved him- 
self from a most unpleasant and by no means 
groundless suspicion of having contemplated a 
most unfair procedure. From the prospectus of 
the Palais Indien Company forwarded to us, we 
learn that the object of the formation of the com- 
pany was "to promote and develop the use and sale, 
knowledge and appreciation, of Indian, Ceylon, and 
other teas, in Paris and other places on the Con- 
tinent of Europe, and in the United States of 
America, Canada, and other parts of the World." 
This is a far-reaching project enough ; and it is 
only fair to point out that the professed object 
did not limit the pale of teas to Indian varieties 
only. In deciding to restrict their sales to Indian 
teas alone as expressed at the meeting referred to, it 
would seem to us that the Company so far departed 
from the conditions under which it was registered, 
that it would have been feasible to have called 
in question the legality of its further operations as 
a registered concern. But it is needless for us to 
pureue further such an argument. The Company 
— in oonsfquonco, it may be presumed, of the 
objections raised by the London Cfylon Committee, — 
has approached tho latter body with proposals to 
obtain tho co-operation wtth it of our local Tea 
Fund Committee. We should say that, should such 
fubion be determined upon, a company must be 
registered upon a now basis, and possibly with 
largely increased capital. We can imagine many 
among us entertaining a doubt whether, in the 
event of a joint enterprise of the kind being under- 
taken, Ct^ylon, aa tho lesser vessel, may not 
run a chance of being pushed to tho wall. 
However, wo think we may safely loave the arrange- 
ments which should render us sate against such 
injustice to the nkill and caro of tho gentlemen who 
are nogotii\ting with the ralais Indien Company on 
behalf of tho Coylon Aasooialion in London. Tho 
names ol those uentlomon as given in out Londou 
letter should form a sufficient guarantee that our 
interests will be well looked after and secured. 
Knowing as wo do, how good a footing the Indian 
Company hes already secured in Paris, it 
is evident to us that, if it can be done, 
it will be best to work in co-operation with it, 
if possible, rather than to start a new and 
seperate venture on our own aooount. We by no 
moons overlook the possible difficulties that may 
have to be faced in securing that Ceylon teas shall 
enjoy their full and due share of attention. If 
Mr. Lough, as the Superintendent of the Paris Tea 
House, carries out faithfully the engagements he 
has entered into in accepting the position of our 
recognised agent, there should exist no doubt that 
this would be secured ; but aa man is but fallible, 
it will certainly be necessary that our London 
Tea ! oramittee should closely scrutinize all the 
operations, and insist, ab initio, that the teas of 
both India and Ceylon should be offered to customers 
in certain defined proportions. Of course such 
customers may have, and may express, their prefer- 
ence for one or other of the two varieties, and their 
taste in this respect will have to b e consulted and 
deferred to. But apart from this, there should be no 
favouritism shown by Mr. Lough to either kind of 
tea. Let each stand or fall by its merits, and wa 
have no fear that Ceylon will not take its proper 
'place. It is on this account that, notwithstanding 
the difficulties we can foresee, we hope that the 
arrangements now under discussion may result in a 
consequent working advantageous to the growers both 
of India and Ceylon. But the leaders of the Tea 
Fund and of the Planters' Association will rightly 
claim a voice in any decision that may be arrived a*. 
COFFEE GROWING IN BRAZIL: ITS 
BRIGHT PRESENT AND DOUBTFUL 
FUTURE. 
Mr. Scott Biecklaw's latest instalment of the 
elaborate and deeply interesting notes on the 
progress of railways and agriculture in Brazil, 
with which for years back he has enriched our 
columns, will be well received by all intelligent 
readers, vvhile it will be difficult fot many 
of our planters who spent the best parts 
of their lives in the culture of coffee, to 
repress some feeling of envy as they read of the 
prosperous extensions of that culture in virgin 
soil, where three-quarters of a tan per acre are 
yielded, where railway facilities are present with 
a sufficiency of labour, and where leaf fungus (of 
the fatal kind) is unknown. There seem to be 
scarcely any bounds m Brazil to the area of 
suitable land in a suitable climate, while, hitherto, 
capital for railways and to enable the planters 
to procure and pay for labour has been readily 
available. But alaa I Brazil, which under 
monarchical government enjoyed peace and order, 
must needs follow the example of other South 
American States, and submit to a dictatorship 
under the specious guise of a republic. The parallel 
is complete in anarchy and loss of credit, intrigue 
and civil strife. Mr. Blaoklaw, of course, being a 
stranger in the land, says nothing of all this. But, 
his valuable communications are continued, we fear his 
next instalment of notes will bear a difl'erent aspect 
to the sunshine of the present, — the picture being 
marked by the shades of the arrest and deca- 
dence o£ enterprise, from the absence of capital 
and tho labour which capital alone can command. 
There is no doubt a certain amount of ospital 
in tho country itself ; but its possessors will be 
just aa unwilling to incur risk, in tho present 
unsettled state of government and politics, aa thQ 
