May 2, 1892.] 
THP TWOPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
of being imprifioned for criraping, in India, to start 
off with ; whilst over here it is the duty of the Im- 
roigratiou Ai^ent to baard eteamers and explain to 
Iramigrauts that tht-y are quite free and under 
DO sort of obligation to anybody unless they have 
signed contraota of service before Bomo duly author- 
ised Government oflticial. The risk is too great to be 
ran, the influx of labour is stopped, and the extension 
of agricnltural operntions ia grievously retarded. 
With the prospect of a rice famine in India and 
consequently of a large surplus population, and 
■with euch an El Dorado for Tamils as the Straits 
naiirht easily become, close at band, the attitude 
of the Madras Gocerument in this connection cannot 
sufficiently be deplored.— I am Sir, yours faithfully, 
E. V. Oarey. 
I have heard it stated that the mininium rate of 
wages, was fixed as quoted previously, in order to suit 
pugar p'anters of Province Wellesley who are eaid 
to state that, were their coolies to be paid at the 
same rales as the free labourers on coffee eftates and 
Government works, they would be mined. The ques- 
tion seems to me to resolve itself therefore into this, 
either the agricultural development of the Malny 
reiiinsiila must be retarded, or free immigration must 
not only bo sanctioned but supported by Government 
at the risk of Province Wellesley being ruined, the 
latter course I venture to think will be of the greatest 
ultimate benefit to the country, as if the fugar industry 
is being worked with such a very narrow margin for 
profit, the s&ouer others interested in agriculture have 
some say in the matter the better. — Straits Times, 
March 23rd. 
FROM THE METROPOLIS. 
March 18th, 1892. 
PBKtr ASA FIELD FOB COFFKE AND CACAO PLANTEBS : 
CINCHONA AND ME. CLEMENTS MAEKHAM, C.B., F.E.S. 
It will make the mouths of old Ceylon coffee 
planters water to read all about the virgin forests, 
rich soil of inexhaustible fertility, fine climate 
and indigenous etffte bearing up to 30 cwt. an 
acre, in the Commissioriers' Report on Peru when 
it appears. It will be out shorty ; but meantime 
the 28th is fixed for Mr. Kosb's "paper," giving 
an account of the trip, before the Eoyal Geo- 
graphic al Society; while on last Tuesday night we 
had a gathering at the Society of Arts to listen 
to a paper on " Peru : its commerce and resources " 
by F. A. Pezet, Peruvian Consul-General in London, 
Sir B. Truf man-Wood sent me tickets, and I was 
glad 1 attended. You will see the full text of 
the paper and of the discussion that followed in 
ithe Society's weekly journal and will no doubt be 
taking over all of the same that bears on tropical 
sgrioulture for the Observer snd Tropical AgricuUurist, 
Mr. I'ezet, a bright, young, educated Peruvian 
gentleman, speaking English well, but reading very 
rapidly, afforded a great deal of intormation in his 
hour ; and he had for his chairman a pereonage 
BO interesting to us as Mr. Clements R. Mark- 
ham, c.i!., F.R.s. Arriving a few minutes late, 
I quite supposed for half the time that the 
chairman was again the Attorney-General Sir 
Kiohard WcbFter, so great is the rehemblance be- 
tween them— both are clean-shaven, refined, healthy- 
looking gentlemen, past middle lite with a look 
of geniality and benevolence almost Pickwickian. 
Mr. Markham, however, soon revealed his per- 
Bonalitv, by sUinding up to point out on a 
Bplendiil map of Peru, the places, mountains, 
jivers, districts, &c. as referred to by Mr. Pezet, 
Siu Aliiujd 1)i;nt led off the discussion in an 
interesting speech, showing how much the enter- 
.prising Peruvian Corporation was doing to develop 
tho country by railway extension, placing 
• steamcr.s on Lake Titicuca, encouraging immigra- 
tion and how they looked, bh tho resuU of the 
■«eo(3Dt CommiBsioD, lev the development of on 
extensive industry on coffee, caoca, tea. [" Not 
tea," whispered in Ex-Ceylon planter beside me — 
" protest !"] Sir Alfred Dent also alluded to the great 
value from a commercial point of view of young 
Englishmen learning Spanish, which was of more 
value to a merchant than even German. 
Colonel Habeis, a white-haired veteran who had 
spent 25 years in Peru, followed with extremely 
interesting particulars and more especially dwelling 
on the rich deposits of gold as yet untouched, 
mentioning on scientific authority that there 
were many streams the sands and waters of 
which, at certain points, would yield very hand- 
some returns. 
To him succeeded Colonel Chuech, a true 
grizzled Yankee and great traveller al! over South 
America, who smidat much that was historical 
and flattering told some plain truths as to the 
Peruvians having been demoralized in the 
past, cuttirig each other's throats in revo'ution 
after revolution, everybody livirg on " guano " 
from the Government downwards, and doing no 
work, and then turning to the Nitrate fields 
which, however, as the result of an unjust war 
were wrenched from Peru by Chili. A regular 
blessing this, in disguise ; for ever since the 
Peruvian community had begun to work, develop, 
and prosper in the true sense, But as regards 
immigration, Colonel Church had to say that 
better laws and better treatments must be given 
to strangers before there would be a rush. 
Mr. Alex. Eoes came next in some well-chosen 
sentences referring to the recent explorations, the 
delightful climate of Lima ranging in temperature 
between 60° end 80° as extremes, while he asd 
Mr. Sinclair lived as in England in ell 
save the supertlucusnees of an umbrella ! Mr. 
Boss spoke highly of the progress making in rail- 
way extension, of the several routes travelled, of 
the many products available, the fine soil and 
forest land generally. 
Mr. J. Feegdson followed. I said that I rose 
because of one word that had dropped from Sir 
Alfred Dent in connection with the future of Peru, 
namely "tea." But before dealing with it, I 
would mention for the information of the lecturer 
and other of his countrymen and friends present, 
that the name of "Peru" was familiar in the 
Far East of India and Ceylon as well as in 
England acd was closely connected with one ot 
the greatest blessings ever brought to the millions 
of Southern Asia, in cinchona. It was in 1861, 
the seme year as I first saw Ceylon, that their 
chairman arrived with a few plants of Peruvian 
cinchona at Bombay — half being sent to the 
Nilgiris and half to the hills of Ceylon ; 
but no planter, while coffee was prosperous, 
would look at a " medicine plant," and so 
recently as 1869 only 20 ounces of bark were 
exported. But when coffee failed, cinchona waa 
planted and Ceylon ran up to a maximum culti- 
vation ot 5-1,000 acres and a maximum export 
of nearly 16 million lb. of bark, brmging down 
the price of quinine from 16s to 20s an ounce 
to (last J ear) la or 9d [Mr. T, J. Lawrance: — 
Less than 9d] per ounce in Mincing Lane. 
This was an inestimable boon to millions in 
India and elsewhere and one with which the 
names of Peru and Markham would ever be 
associated; but it proved destructive to the Ceylon 
cinchona planter ; and ho had to plant tea instead • 
and now we were fast becoming a premier tea. 
growing country, exporting 68 million lb. last year 
with the prospect erclony of reaching 100 millions, 
while India was also going on. Now, I would 
warn planters opening in Peru, to profit by oui 
leBBcn iu cinchona and beware vf' tea. But, 
