May 2, 1892.] THF T'^OPJCAL 
reassuring effect upon the market, which was in 
an almost demoralised etate, many in'vi ices being 
withdrawn where r.o biddingn could be elicited, and 
most of the ten that was sold showed it to be as 
cheup, if cot cheaper, than ever. This remark, of 
course, refers more particularly to teas of a common 
grade, as fill preferable kinds met a fair competition 
at full rates. The Oroeera^ Chronicle soys : — The de- 
pressed prices latterly observable in this market are 
110 doubt entirely due to the oxcesfive supplies which 
havo been unloaded upon it, without reason, during 
January and February. Last year, during tlioso tvpo 
months, 290,746 packages Indian and 106,232 packages 
Ceylon were offered in public sale, at a time of 
unusual activity end on a rising market, whilst the 
country dealers were laying in stocks in view 
of higher prices. This year the situation has 
been qwite the rcv. rse. Trade in the country has 
been depressed ; prices have been on the down grade 
— every week registered a lower range of value, 
yet the importer kept steadily on crnshing the 
market, in oxOer to got out himself ; snd it now 
appears that 295,416 packages Indian ond 133,634 
pack.'iges Ceylon tea have i een offeied during January 
and February, or 42,072 packages in excess of Isst 
yet, when the trado was booming. Yet the im- 
porter deplores the want of aniinatiou in the market 
how ai d the selling brokers write mournfully that 
no impoveraent can bo noted. There is just the 
shadow of a be' ter feeling this week end, owing 
to the smaller sales. Buyers r.re not no entirely 
disheartened, and tt^ey nrgno that once the London 
market shows a slightly improved tone countrv dealers 
would begin to operate again. — H, and C. 7!/(w7j March 
4h. 
Last Werk's Tea Sales. — The oiminishec^ supply of 
Indian tea brought forward at the public sales Las 
been sufficiei tly largo to meet the demand, and conse- 
quently the morket has thowii no iuoprovement of im- 
portance iu prices, although Iho teiideucy is slightly 
firmer, says Produce Markets' Review. The statis- 
tical position is stronger than in the prece.^ing month, 
the surplui B'ockbtin« 3,000,000 lb. fmalicr, or 7,000,000 
lb. against 10,000,000 lb. A stock, however, of 
47,000,000 lb. lit this period of the year is suffioieut to 
prevent an J material upward movement, e.'specielly in 
the lower grwdes, although these kinds are from SO to 
40 per cent below the prices of last year. The de- 
liveries for Ffebrunry were satisfactory, but even at this 
rate there will bo an available supply, with the ad- 
ditional imports to arrive, of fully five moLths' con- 
sumption. Therefore, should the coming season be later 
than usual, owing to climatic causes, there will be ample 
tea to meet requirements, although some of the better 
grades may arise to a higher level, in consequence 
of raoderat supplies. There is little change in the 
position or value of Ceylon teas. The supplies have 
been larger than for somo time past, but the dealers 
wore rather bare of stook, and have easily taken 
the extra quantity offered. The only kind of tea 
in which any perceptible change has taken place is 
broken tea worth from lOJd to Is, which may be 
noted rather easier. 
Thb Imports op Phoddce.— The Board of Trade 
Returns for February are again unsatisfactory from 
the homo trade point of view. The imports are 
valued at .£34,877,931, an increase of .£1,566,577, or 
4'7 per cont ; ar.d the exports of British and Irish 
produce at fl>J,328,753, a decrea«e of £1,141,868 
or 5'5 p'.r oi.nt. Thus, allowing for the extra day, 
the imports are about equal to those of February, 
1891, wliile the exports are nearly £2,000,000 
lower. The inoroasc of the imports is to bo found 
in articles of food, and cereals in particular. The 
consumption of ten reaoliel 17,102,349 lb., oom- 
pured witli 16,024,078 lb. There is a considerable 
falling olf in the receipts of sugar. In February 
1891. the imports from Germuiy, Holland, BeU'ium, 
Faianoo, ami iho United Slates amounted in the aggre- 
gate t.i 827,37!) cwt , but in Febninry of this year 
the aggregiuo from those couutiics is only 555,627 
cwt. On tho other hnnd, in Febtnary of last year 
AOR!OULTURIST. 83! 
11 ssia only sent 1 cwt., bnt in the same month of 
ths year the receipts thence were nearly 164,822 cwt. 
and for the two months the receipts are 314.436 cwt, 
compared with 1,201 cwt. Of raw sugar the falling 
off is chiefly found in beet. 
Cotton Picking By Machineby.— A company h»B 
been organised at Chicago, with a capital of 5,000,000 
dols., to manufaoture a new cotton-picking machine, 
which, an American newspaper eays, will do the 
" work of seventy negroes, and make an interesting 
change in the nejiro problem of the South." In. 
deed, says the authority we have quoted, " unless all 
signs fail, this company is destined to revolutioniBe the 
cotton industry.— J7. and C. lilail, March 11th. 
GIBBS' PATEiVT DEYEE AND PURE 
AIR FURNACE. 
The improvements recently effected by Mr. W. A. 
Gibbs in the design of his filter stove and dryer have 
rendered this combination popular with tea planterB, 
and given a decided impetus to the sate. The first 
great economy of the system is in the novel principle 
of the stove, which allows of the direct utilisation of 
ali the products of combustion from any kind of fuel, 
as testified by the reports of those who have adopted 
it. Another point of economy is that damp fuel may 
be burnt with advantage instead of loss. It is well 
understood that in the ordinary form of np-draught 
furnace, any moisture in the fuel used ia converted 
into stean, which wastes a large part of its heating 
value, but in this furnace the products of combustion 
being drawn down through the fire, instead of passing 
away from the surface, any water ia the fuel is 
decompnsed into oxygen and hydrogen, both ou 
which, in burning, add to the heat of the resul- 
tant air. The second notable feature of the ap- 
paratus is the sifting arrangement, whereby the 
finest tea (dhob-gari) passes oafc of the dryer previous 
to the delivery of the main balk, thus avoiding any 
over-drying of the most valuable qualities ; this pro- 
cess has proved very advantageous, and will doubtless 
be appreciated by all practical tea makers. Attention 
is specially directed to the improved sifting arrange- 
ment recently introduced by the patentee, i.e., the 
substitution of woven wire panels (of two different sizes 
of mesh) in the body of the machine for the original ex- 
tra drum on the end of the cylinder. The advantage 
of this airangement is that the tea is sifted out in two 
degrees of fineness, and any desired variation can be 
made in this respect by simply ir.serting panels of coarser 
or finer mesh; and further, if at any time it should 
be desired to dispense with the sifting operation 
the screens are easily replaced by cover plates. By 
reason of these recent improvements it is now gener- 
ally acknowledged that the Gibb's Dryer manu- 
factures a very lar^je quantity of tea under conditions 
that are remarkably economic in regard to labour 
and fuel, that the mechanism is durable and simple, 
and that last, but not least by any means, is the 
important fact that the perfect dietribution of the 
heated air currents ensure absolute regularity of quality 
without these neeeasity of skilled labour. With these 
important points in its favour it is not surprising that 
the dryer and stove are making rapid headway, and 
that planters iu India and Ceylon bear testimony to 
their value.— iT, and C. Mail. 
♦ 
THE CINCHONA BARK MARKET. 
The present ruinous state of the bark market 
is caused by over-production, not only is the market 
ovor-loaded v/ith stocks, but the present rate of pro- 
duction exceeds what is required for consumption. 
Producers, however, have tho remedy in their 
own hands, supposing that they wore to destroy all 
bark yielding under 3 per cent of quinine, or more 
than ono-third of the total production, what would be 
the probable effect on prices ? 
Tho following are tho shipments and figures roughlv 
tor IS91 : — o j- 
