June i, 1892.] 
THE TROPSCAL AGRICULTURIST. 
929 
to advauoing prices, the market again clo-iug 
strong with a tendency to a fun her upward 
movement. The pliberal supplies of Ceylon tea now 
coming forvfard, which were expected to check the 
advanof in Indian growths, have so far had no effect, 
Bnd it ftppenrs probable, with a furihsr curtailment of 
good Indian graden, which is almost certain to tnke 
place later on, the rise estnblisheii will be increased. 
Fur the common descriptions the demaud has slightly 
improved, hut the qu-.niity pUiced on the market has 
been amply eufaoient to meet the enqairy, and conse- 
qaently prices have been bHrely maintained. Ttie 
deliveries for the past month were unusually large, 
as will be seen by the fij^ures below, bui, owing to 
larger imports, tha surplus stock has not been mate- 
rially reduced, and is still about 6,000,000 lb. in excess 
of the preceding year, although only cbou' 3,000,000 
lb. larger than in 1890. The demand for Indian tea f. r 
other markets is st adily increasing, but the rate of 
progress is cot sufficient to relii v - ibis market of the 
additional supplits promietd in the coming ensuing 
seasons. It is understood, however, that greater effurts 
will be made to produce tea that will more efff ct-vely 
meet the requirements of an export demand. There are 
two important things to bo considered, especially for 
the development of the export demand from America 
and Canada, namely, the bize of the leaf and of ihe 
packages. The former should correspond as nearly as 
posMble with the leaf of China Gongou, and a 
good proportion of the tea should be pac ked in 
half-chests, containing about sixty pounds. There is 
little change of any kind in the position of Ceylon teas. 
A fair quantity h^8 been offered, but tbo iniiifference 
of the dealers to go further into stock has been about 
balanced by the apparent willingness of brnkera to buy 
over, and consequently there is no quotable ch»r^e on 
values. The quality of the teas has been fairly ma n- 
tained, as the present standard now goes, but it is 
seldom, if ever, possible to match the thick juicy teas 
which were the rule rather th in the exception two 
seasons ago. The imports for the month were otdy 
710,0261b. in excess of last year's, but the stock still 
stands at a rather high figure, namelv, 16 686,854 lb., 
as against 11,779,720. lb. on March 31, 1891 The ox- 
ports from Colomho, acoi'rding to the late.st advices, 
dated March 7, were 11,228,061 lb., or nearly 1,000,OUO 
lb. in excess of last year." 
Another Coffee Substitute. — According to a 
German paper the fruit of the wax palm ( Corypha ccri- 
fera, L.) is being us^d in Brazil aa a coffee substi- 
tute. The fruit of this tree is of a stony coDsistencj, 
which, however, disappears during the roasting 
process to which it is subjeotod for the pur- 
pose of manufacturing it into " cofTee." The 
following figures show the constitution of tbe Brazi- 
lian fruit before and after roasting : — 
Crude fiuit. Rousted fruit, 
per cent. per cent. 
Water ... a-37 .. 376 
Albuminoids ... 5 82 ,, 6 14 
Fat ... 10 57 ... 14 06 
Sugar and dextrine 167 ... Vib 
Starch ,.. 247 ... 5-46 
Other non-nitrogenoua ex- 
tract snbutances 23'01 ... 27'79 
Woody fibre ... 4431 ... 38'45 
Aeh ... 2-06 ... 2 24 
Substances soluble in 
wfttor ... 1217 ... 13-50 
—H. and G. Mail, April 15. 
Indian Tea and the Chicago ExirinmoN.— We learn 
that the subscriptions to the propo.sed Tea Fund in 
support of till) above, and other opportunities for 
pushing Indian tea, are coining in satisfactorily, 
although somewhat slowly. It is hoped that the 
response to the cironlar wo pnbli.shed la.st week will 
be general, ns it is only in that way that the 
effort can bo successful. Tlio Government of India, 
we boliove, are prepared to follow the example of 
the Ceylon Government, and sub.nidizo the plaiitern' 
elTorts. The aupointmont of a S|ieciiil comuiissiout r 
direct from Oaloutta, approved of by tb« Uuvucomout 
ot Iiulia, who would lake char e of the arrange- 
ments, would be geneially welcomed. The sooner 
this is done the better, as we understand that Mr. 
Griulintnu, the commissioner deputed by the Ceylon 
people and their Qovertimeut, has already reached 
London en route to Chicafjo. 
The «ilvbb Question.— It was very unlikely that 
Su Fr >nk Adam'.i v ews on the silver que.sti n, aa ex- 
presse i at tiie recnt meeting of the Kmi India As- 
sociation, would meet with g- neril approval in India. 
We notice hat {he Bnmhay Gazette invites those who 
believK that ti e finnBCes and the export and import 
trade of In ia may with advantage be left dependent 
u pon "the whims and intrigues or Washington politi- 
o ans" to lakei ito account the contingency of the United 
States suspending tli'ir purchases of silver, and re- 
marks that the cotJiplaceuoy with which Sir Frank Adam 
declares that the loss due to tbe decline in exchange 
is temporary, falls only on individuals, and is actually 
very ^m»ll, is worthy rather of the doctrinaire than 
"practical man of business " Tha serious fall in the 
gold price of silver has i<one too far to please even 
those who at one time believed that the lov» p ice 
of silver was a splendii stumulus to trade, although 
planters have very littie fault to find with the posi- 
tion. From Bengal we learn that it is difficult to re- 
member when the exchange question so cins derably en- 
gro.'-sed attention as it has done of late. Any lapid drop 
unrelieved by a partial recovery has always tended to 
disorganise trade inevery uirect^ou, and this is the more 
marked now when each disappearing thirty-second 
means a larger percentage than when we were higher 
up in the scale. Toe effect of the fall in silver, and 
the constant and violent fluctuations in price upon 
the B>istern banks is shown very clearly in the state- 
m'-nt made by the chairman of the Ghartereu Mer- 
cantile Bank of India London, and China, at the 
meeting cn Tuesday. The credit balance is only £18,279 
or rather under 2^ per cent, upon the capital. The 
directors have decided to carry this amount forward 
to the next half-year — a prudent course. As it ia not 
put to reserve, it is still available for dividend at any 
future time. The sh riiikage in the bank's business is 
shown by tbe fact that the cash and bullion amounts to 
£2,100,000, and securities freely convertible into 
cash are put at about another million. If, as the 
chairman said, trade were good, and credit generally 
established, the bulk of that money would be in 
circulation and making profit for the bank; 
]No Cause fob Complaint —But it is an ill wind 
that blows no one any good. Planters, as a rule, 
have no objection to the low price of silver. Speak- 
ing at the annual meeting of the Standard Tea 
Company of Ceyhui, reported in another column, the 
chairman, Mr. Alex. Brooke, said : — " Exchange is 
favourable to planters, and seems likely to continue so 
for awhile— at least, if there be no Government tin- 
kering with silver.'' Thus, what is a matter of general 
distress to many members of the Eastern communities 
is a boon to employers of labour, who pay in silver and 
realise in sterling on this side. 
Last Week's Tea Sales,— Of last week's tea sales 
the Grocer says:— The only public sales of Indian tea 
held this week were on Monday last, when, prepara- 
tory to the market closing for the Easter holidays, do 
less than 13,580 packages were offered, which met a 
reception similar to that accorded these descriptions of 
teas for many weeks past, that is to say, while the 
sma 1 proportion of what maybe called fine qualities 
with strength were readily taken at firm rates, the re- 
mainder, consisting of poorer and commoner sorts found 
a dragging demand at cheap and here and there at 
fd. to id. per lb. lower prices. Calcutta advices, dated 
March 23rd, inform us that " the tea season is now 
over, and the market closed.'' In Londo i the only 
arrivals this week have been the " Piudiiri, " with 
24,9001b., and the "Coromandel," with 65,340 lb! Nearly 
14 0110 packages of Ceylon tea hive been offered, and 
the market still retains a quiet toue. There han'been 
little disposition to carry stock over the holidays, 
which has toni'ed to depress prices. SaltvH have been 
on a libevil scale since Christmas, and the trade will 
bo heartily glad of a short interval of rest.— i/", 
C. Jluil, April 22uJ, 
