THE THOPiCAL Adf?lCULTU}^!ST. 
[June I, 1891. 
ciation — will be provided at a moment's notice. Waii- 
rtsses Will be iu attendance, and every effort used 
to make 'The Ceylon Kio^k" a favourite and 
convenient resort for ladies or gtntlemea v?hen in 
town. TLe atleudants wili be instrueied to give everj 
information — if solicited as to iho class, price, and 
quautuy of tea used, acd the Asfociation trutt that 
this attempt to provide for the couvenience of tlitir 
prSNeut and prospective cuatomtirs will be heartily 
iLvailed of. 
Ebchewmg all those ftttempta at presumptions 
and impertintnt coercion adopted by various 
aspirants for public patronage, with vliich 
all are now so familiar, the Association refrain 
even from following the example of that aged 
and eminent tadoi^t Sir Edwiu Clark, ll.d, v. k. b., 
r, E. c. P. (M.I. L.K..), tor however desirous they may 
be to introduce and maintain their teas in public favour 
they dale not presume to dictate in a matter con- 
cerning which all are equally qualified to judge. All 
thty do is to from time to time place the public in 
postesuion of certain i'acts — concerning which all tea 
experts are perfectly and unanimously agreed, — ai d 
acquainted with which every one con safely be lett 
to use his or her own ditcretion and taste. 
The soil of China has uunng many centuries been 
subjected to a continuous drain — witbout any op- 
portunity for recuperation — of all the ohtmic i coii- 
stitueuts essential to tne production of good tea, and 
is now so thoroughly impoverished as to be iucap. 
able of supplying the world with anything more 
than a mere weedy, sicklj-lookiyg representative 
ot what should be a succulent and licakhful article 
of diet. Ceylon, on the other hacd, endowed with a 
rich and generous soil bcarcely tested as yet, aud in 
the hands of .'■kiltul and scientific cnlturibts, who can be 
relied upon not to exhaust, tar lets " kill the goose 
that lays the golden efeg," is producing a tea so brim- 
ful of alt that is appetising and invigorating that it is 
Bcarcely astonishing to Itarn that old gentlemen unac- 
customed to its strength have, like the poor old 
doctor Sir Edwin Clark, aotUilJy become slightly 
intoxicated by its use. Ihe Association trusi 
that the good citizens ot Duuediu Will not 
fall into the OMiegious bluuder of miotabmg the spud- 
ons article for the " Ktal Mackay"; not that wo vc- 
lieve 11 possible that intoxicaliun would result, but for 
the sake of avoiding waste, fi r tvoy oi^e st.ould know 
that Ceylon teti t/oes much f urther than China tea, and 
coustqiieuily shuuui not lb ured wah the same liber- 
ality. The world, however, Iias pa;isea judgment iu the 
matter, and the result thows the vtrUicc given-China'a 
export is yearly uecreasing, Ceyion s export is iucreai- 
ing by leaps and bounus. 
Tea in Fiji.— A Suva correspondent reports that 
the cultivation of tea is rapidly extending m the Fiji 
Islands. It has already been proved beyond doubt 
that the soil of ihebO islands is capable of producing 
a very Buperior ^quality ol tea, ana some of the tea 
grown on the late Mr. Mason's estate oa Taviuni was 
regarded as equal to the best Cayloo of the time. 
Under iSir John Thurston's capable administration 
planters in Fiji are now surrounded with but few 
of the old dithcuUies, and there is no reason why 
tea and coffee should not become as good-payiug 
lines as sugar in the islands.— Coion/cx and India, 
CiiYIiON AND InKIAN TeA rLANTEKH. — A COR- 
retpunaent writes to the Ewjlhhman uud draws 
attention to ttie lami.ntiible Wbiil nl energy which has 
distin;<uislied the indiau tta iiuiiiHtry in its competi- 
tiun with Ceylun. Every device knovv-u to the "new 
mdverti-i g " has been employed in pop \Uii.siug the 
Oi/I' n pioduot in the homo maikel.and the meiboda 
which li^vo proved bo buoochbIuI in London, are now 
being extunded to Chicago with the view of secuiing 
a prauLiciil monopoly of the Amorioun tmirket. As 
anu<juuccd some inonthH "go, the Coylun Planters' 
AiiHociatiou linH voco a couHMorablo sum for the pnr- 
poBo ot sending a loDresentmivo to iho World's Fair. 
YfbQ Btiatl CQQveit the free oiti^sena of (ho United Slates 
from their present foith in the Chinese product to an 
enli(ihtened taste for Mazawatteo ; m;il tlie looa! Gov- 
ernment has identified itself with the scheme by a 
grntit of fi80,000. There is no reaRon to doubt that 
the ing( unity and enterpriee which have procured 
for ylon tea a wholly disproportionnte plinro of 
the Bnglinh trade will be less 6ucce«fful in ChicRgo 
than in London. The Anaerican market is at present 
Isrge, anil the enormous increase of population Rives 
proniife in the future of prartically unhro ted expan- 
sion. Those who are interested in the Indiftn tea in- 
dustry will have only themaelvps to blame if they are 
shut cut in the future from 4heir due share in the 
tea supply of the New World. The c-^rrespondent 
atetes that the Indian Tea Association is now collect- 
ing funda for the purpoBe of providing an exhibit of 
Ini'ian Tea at the Chicago Exhibition, but it is doubt- 
ful ". hetber, even with a contribution of fro-n K5,000 
to KlO.OflO from the local Government, the amount 
subscribed will exceed K35,000. In view of the scale 
upon which the Exhibition has been conceived, this 
sum is, it need scarely be pointed out, hopelessly in- 
adequate. It is far less than the individual coritri- 
butiou of scores of enterpri.'-ing firms ; and if this is 
tr, be regarded as the maximum. Indian tea growers 
may be content to abandon the attempt to cotDpete with 
tlieirmore enterprising rivals inC' ylon. 
Tbopic and Semi-Tropic Fruits in the 
United States. — For the first time the Census Office 
has made a special investigation for the purpose of 
ascertaining the extent and value of the i^roduction 
of oranges, lemons, figs, almonds, coconuts and other 
tropic and semi-tropic fruits and nuts as industries 
of the United States. The material from which the 
statistics contained in the Census bulletin just issued 
are compiled was obtained direct from the growers 
upon schedules specially prepared for that purpose 
and by personal visits of special agents to sections 
of the country where these products are grown. 
From the figures it appears that in addition to the 
tropic and semi-tropic fruits and nuts grown for 
home and family use in the United States there 
were in the census year 13, .515 acres of almonds, 
677'50 of banana, 169'88 of citron, 9,864 of coconut, 
4,477 of fig, 550 of guava, 1,362 25 of kaki, 7,256 of 
lemon, 495-58 of lime, 12,180 of Madeira nut, 7,097 of 
olive, 184,003 of orange, 2,189-50 of pineapple, 171-89 
of pomelo, and 27,419-50 of pecan trees, represent- 
ing 658,566 bearing and 800,010 non-bearing almond 
trees, 577,782 bearing banana plants, 4,237 bear- 
ing and 14,110 non-bearing citron trees, 123,227 
bearing and 1,199,549 non-bearing coconut trees, 
138,186 bearing and 285,201 non-bearing fig trees, 
32,943 bearing and 120,.529 non- bearing guava trees, 
58,390 bearing and 124,522 non-bearing kaki trees, 
167,663 bearing and 498,784 non-bearing lemon trees, 
19,069 bearing and 44,255 non-bearing lime trees, 
I88,4u9 bearing and 411,24& n 'u-benriug Madeira nil 
tree', 278,380 bearing and 331,022 non-bearing olive 
trees, 3,885,890 bearing and 9,705,246 Bon-bearing 
orange trees, 21,750,000 oineapple plants, 3,279 bearings 
and 12,867 non-hearing pomelo trees, and 214,988 
bf aring and 657,980 no -beating pecan trees. Exclu- 
ding pineapples uud bananas, which are all counted as 
bearing plants, as they commeuce fruiting within a 
year of p anting it is seen that, the average number 
ad non-bearing trees is about double that of the 
bearing trees, the product of wbich in the census year 
was, as as far as reported, valued at $14,116,226-59, 
divided as follows . — Almonds, $1,525, 1U9 80 ; banana, 
$280,653-75 ; coconut, ^251,217 41 ; tig, $307,271-76 ; 
lemon, $988,099-92 ; lime, $62,496-90 ; Madeira nut, 
$l,256,9o8 ; ouve, $386,368-32 ; orange. ^j6,602,099-06 ; 
pii.^Koilc, $812,169 17; pomelo, $27,216; and pecan, 
$1,616,576-50. On the basis of present prices, with all 
iho a u bearing trees in fruitage, the next census ought 
to show a value of pro iuct of more than $50,000,000. 
As a forecast of the future growth of these branches 
of hor;iculture, in addition to the acreage already 
planted, the number of acres of land in the United 
States susceptible of development in plant in any one 
or all of the fruits and nuts natued has been ascer- 
tained, aud the aggregate figures are also given ill 
(be sdiuie bulletin.— Loudon 'Umas, April l^tb. 
