S40 THE TROPIOAL AOnmtJLTURIST. [February i, 1892. 
possess a comparatively la ge iuJigenous popalsition, 
which supplies ricf.and otber food stuff to the ccolics. 
Apparently tbe averege rate of wages in less 
popular dietticts ought to be much higher 
than in districts where food is cheaper and 
easier to be had. This may seem a hard sajing 
to the planters, who may object that it is in these vi ry 
districts that the expense and difficulty of importation 
Uecome a crushing charge. " Whence," he may tjot 
unreasonably ask, " am I to recoup myself for the 
expense of importing fresh supplies Perhaps tbe 
best reply is to turn to the Immigration Keport lor 
concrete instances. We look up the wage lists at liage 
17, »nd confiue onree'.ves, for simplicity, lo men's 
wages Blore. IntheSurma Valley the average wages 
of men under the Act, taking? five sub-divisions from 
west to cast (the gardens lurthest east beii g more 
remote and probably less popular) is as follows : — 
R4-3-1, R6-IO.7, K3-14-10, K3-12-1, and finally in 
Cachar E4-8-6. But Ihese figures are cot so interest- 
ing flsthos^of the Assam Valley proper, where the 
local conditions vary far more widely in different 
distriotf, and where, in Upper Assam, the coolie popn- 
latiou bears a far larger proportion to the indigenous 
people. Lakhimpur, at the head of the Valley, 
has an immigrant population of over 70,000 
out of a total of about 300,000. The average 
wage in this v»lley, going ageiu from west to eatt, 
is— Kamrup, E3-15-2; Darrong, R5-8-8 ; Nowf^ong, 
R4-13-5 ; Sibsag.ir, R4-14 4; and Lakhimpur R5 4-4. 
It is plain out he face of it that wages do not increase 
by leaps and bounds as we travel into districts v»here 
the coolie is expensive to get and hard to keep. 
But the figures hardly show how equal the wages 
are throughout the Valley. In the districts of Upper 
Assam the average is plainly kept up by (he high 
wages paid to exceptiona'ly useful cooiies. While in 
Lower and Central Assam the highest wage^ paid lo 
any Aot coolie did not exceed R8 iu Sibaagar so much 
as R15-4 and in Lakhimpur so much as R13-1-6 was 
earned by exctptionally good men. It may be taken 
roughly that the average rate of wage is about R5 some 
coolies earning two or threo times as much, the mejanty 
earning less. Now in 1890, the district of Likhimpur 
imported7,668adultcoolieB (a much smaller numberthan 
that of the previous year). This probably rep.e- 
sented an expsndiiuro of not less than R.3,83,400, much 
of it spent on useless and unsatisfactory coolies. Now 
the annual strength of Act and non-Act adults and 
children in that district in 1890, was 72,128 sjula. 
Assuming that eich and all of these earned an average 
of R5 a month, the total expeuditure only comes to 
K3,60,640, ■ la otber words the wnges of all the exist- 
ing labour force for a momhare leis, and probably 
much less, than the cost of importing the year's supply 
of new coolies. And we must bear in mind that old 
and seasoned coolies are infinitely better worth paying 
thjn raw and unhealthy now-comers. This U proved 
by the extremely high wages paid in individual oases. 
It can hardly be denied that the effect of the labour 
law is to keep down wage5. Not only are coolies not 
under the Act better paid as a rule, but the Act by 
reducing competioion hasa tendency to keep down the 
wages of even free men. Is the advantage so ob- 
tained compensated for by the t.emeudoua drain on 
the labour force, which would probably be enormously 
lessened if more money were spent on the coolies who 
are already on the gardens. The question is per- 
haps one which can only bo authoritatively settled by 
professional planters, but tbe suggestion is one which 
we think it behoves tbem to consider. We suggest 
that the ultimate effect of the labour law is to inoreaso 
the expense of importation, and that the money would 
be better spent in conserving the coolies who are now 
in Assam than iu paying arkatis and contractors in 
Madras, the North- Western Provinces and Ohota 
Nagpur for looking for fresh labour. We are aware 
that Urge suras of money are spent on lines, wells, 
hospitals. But what the coolie likes is good wages 
To higher wages Assam must coma at last; even rail, 
way communication will not avert that uooessilj. At 
present enormous suras are spent on importing labour, 
and otber sums of which wo havouo account are spent 
gu mamtaioiog useletia and uuprofitablo bauds. Oould 
not 8 portion of this be diverfe i to stop the drain of 
seasoned and time-expired lab /ur? We have not gone 
into details : we have drawn our figures from (he 
published oiEcial report.", our arguments from an im- 
ptiEt al and nnintere.'.ted consideration of the Govern- 
ment ctalisUc. Planters will be able to supply de- 
tailed criticism of our conclusions. — Pioneer. 
« 
EABK AND DBUG REPORT. 
(From the Cliemist and Druggist.) 
London, Dec. 9. 
Quinine. —No further transaction are rfportcd today 
At the auctions 3,000 oz. Brunswick quinine in tins were 
offered. No one was heard to bid, except the broker 
himse'f. He declared loudly, amid some laughter,, that 
the lot was sold at 9d jier oz. 
London, Dec. 10. 
Quinine.— Remains in an exceedingly dull condition. For 
German brands in bralk 9d per oz is still the nearest 
quotation, and w hear of small sales (about li.OOO oz.) at 
that figure this week. " It may luterest yuu to Itnow," 
writes a New York correspondent, "that quinine is in a 
very bad wav here. A well-known L/ondon dealer has 
been sending one of the German brands here on con- 
eigninent (•lU.oOOoz), and is selling it for any price it will 
bring. Nobody appears to know what his object is, but 
we think thit he wants to get rid of the stufi at any 
price, as the market is going lower, and he cannot sell 
It in Loudon. The price he is selling at today nets him. 
the parity of S^d, less 5 per cent iu London. That is, 
if we bought at 8^d, less 6 per cent f.o.b. London, and 
sold here at 18o, less 1 per cent usual New York terms, 
we would come out even 

The Pehuvian Mining iNDU&TEYis likely to i-eceiva 
a filip by the important discovery made by Don 
Pedro Felix Piomy, an emiusnl mineralogist of Lima, 
and Mr. H. GuiUaume, the Consul-General fcr Peru 
at tSouihampioa, has done well in calling attention 
lo the same in the English papers. A large number 
of silver mines in Peru have hitherto been unpro- 
Quoiive by reaaon or ino silver ores being mixed 
with zinc, known as the " blende," hut Dr. 
Remy has discovered a method by which the 
Sliver can ba estracttd from these ores, with the 
retult that miuee which huve hitherto been looked 
upon as worthless are 007." likely to turn oui most 
valuable pioverties. — Colonies and India, 
Uuca Peoddchon in Java. — Aocoraing to a recant 
report of the director of ihe Botanical Gardens at 
Buitenzorg the esperiuieutiil cultivation of Eryth- 
roxyloii holivianuvi has be&n entirely abandoned 
there. Ihe influence of light, of manuring and of 
trimming uuoa the cocaine paroeutsge of the leaves 
is now ceing studied at the gardens, but the 
experiments are noii jet sufficiently advanced to 
enable oonclusiona to be drawn from them. So far 
it can only be biated that the experience at 
Buitenzorg lully oorroboratea the conclusion arrived 
at by JMessrs. Zimmer & Co., of Frankiort, that 
ihe new leaves, jubt developed, are far richer in 
cocaine than the older leaves. Accoiding to Van 
RombU'Tg the percentage is from 2-3 to 2-4 in the 
lormor and fcom 07 lo 1-75 in the latter. But 
Erylhroxylon boUvianum only contains 0 55 per cent 
cocaine, investigations (fruilleas so lar) are aiao 
being made to find a simple method for the pre- 
paration of cocaine. — Chemist and Druggiet^Dec. 12th 
How TO Bend Folwers by Maii^.— Cut them 
early in the morning and let them stand in water 
Bome hours before packing, so as to absorb moisture 
enough to prevent ihem withering, in which case 
they will not need to be sprinkled after they are 
in the box. Pack in a light wooden box lined 
with cotton batting and covered with tissue paper. 
Lay the flowers not on top of each other, but in 
rows side by side, the blossoms of each row on 
the stems of their neighbours and as olobe as possi- 
ble ; cover with paper and cotton ; see that the 
lid of the box is secure fastened, and remember 
to write on one corner ' Out Flowers," as that 
will insure the package being carefully and quickly 
handled.— i/arjOijr's Xomg Feopk, 
