July i, 1890.] 
THE TROPICAL AORIOULTUmST, 
ii 
TEA SALES IN COLOMBO AND LONDON. 
Surely " One Who Wants to Buy ” must know as 
well as you and I do that considerably more than 2d is 
put down as the difference between London value and 
the Colombo equivalent. If he does not, this quotation 
from a valuation before me will teach him : 
London Colombo equivalent at 1/6 J exchange, 
Value Freight at £2. 
1/1 72 cts. 
At this rate of exchange 5§cts. to the penny will 
not be very tar out, and this means a difference of 
nearly 16 cts., which allows for a tolerably good margin 
of dratt and loss in weight expenses even after the 2d 
charge has been taken account of. Finally, I did not 
choose an account sale because it was an unusual one. 
I quoted from it in the first instance because it was the 
last one to hand, and when my statements were 
challenged I naturally stuck to that particular account 
for subsequent corroboration. I eliminated draft and 
loss in every case ; so, as I said before, it was as fair 
for one as for another. I allowed for no drawing 
charges because I don’t pay them ; and, if I did, as 
“ One Who Wants to Buy ” suggests, and charged for 
drawing myself, I should deserve, andprobably obtain, 
the “sack.” Shipping charges are, I repeat, about 
balanced by brokerage in Colombo. — 0. T. G. in local 
‘ Times.” 
The rise in the value of silver and in exchange 
is not pleasant for our planters who are all the 
readier to see their teas go to outside countries. 
To this end the local market, since our ap- 
peal, is being better supported, the offerings 
last week and this again being over 200,000 lb. 
The discussion continues over tea prices realized 
from sales locally and in London. Mr. Gordon 
Frazer writing to a contemporary contributes the 
following : — 
C. T. G. writes that he does not consider loss in 
weight and draft, either in bis own case or in calcu- 
lating charges on Colombo bought teas. In this be is 
manifestly wrong, as a buyer must take it into con- 
sideration. For instance, in the case of the account 
sale he quotes from, had this tea been sold in Colombo 
the buyer would have had to pay for every pound in- 
voiced, even including the samples taken out of the 
packages for the purpose of selling the tea here; yet, 
according to London custom, he receives payment for 
1 lb. less than the actual weight in each package. 
The draft allowance must therefore be taken into ac- 
count in calculating the cost of laying tea down in 
London. * * * The loss of 1 lb. per package from 
either the gross being ]ust insufficient to turn the scale 
at home, or the tare being just over a certain number 
of pounds, frequently does happen. Taken all round, 
my opinion is that London charges on a ten-penny to a 
shilling tea in cheats work out at as low a calculation 
as is ever safe to work upon, at about lid per lb., half 
chests costing rather more ; and this may be taken as 
about a basis from which to work, the cost of laying 
down in London rising or falling as the value of the 
tea is higher or lower. Of course, when freights are 
abnormally high, as sometimes happens this also must 
be allowed for. 
“ One who wants to buy” adds : — 
It will bo seen that “ C. T. G.” admits, 
as I surmized was the case, that no allowance 
had been made by him for draft or loss in weiglit. 
But is tliat fair ! I therefore really cannot see why 
“0. T. G.” should object to the amount put dowu by 
buyers here as the cost of shipping and laying down 
teas in Loudon. By eliminating draft, loss in weight, 
drawing charges, commission, aud shipping charges, he 
of course reduce.^ the cost, but how many can dispense 
with these charges ! I know lots of instances where 
1 ct. per lb. is charged for shipping and in estimat- 
ing 2d I have very often been under the mark. 
Just come back from a mill where I have turned 
out and weighed 4 chesls purchased at last public sale, 
marked 75 lb. nett. Kesult=72 lb,, 73 lb., 75.4 lb.. 
70.14 lb., total loss 8.14, equivalent to a loss of 3 per cent ! 
And “ A Direct Importer” writes : — 
“One Who AVanta to Buy” in his statistics of 
10th May seems to pay higher charges than is neces- 
sary. My loss in weight and draft is never as high 
as 3 per cent, aud rarely as high as 2 per cent. I 
do not pay f cent for shipping charges aud export 
duty, neither do I pay more than IJ per cent, com- 
mission, nor do I pay a commission ferdrawing. My 
total shipping and London charges on one of my recent 
breaks of 8670 lb. allowing 60 cents per pound for 
loss in weight, and draft 122 lb. camo to just IJd. I take 
it that if the ordinary common or garden planter can 
place his teas in Loudon, for that sum, “ One Who 
Wants to Buy ” should be able to do it for less. Has 
he ever heard of such things as “ return commis- 
sions'” 
❖ 
FEAEL AND CIIANK FISHERIES. 
The energetic Superintendent of the Madras Museum 
has issued a brochure of varied contents, combining a 
brightly written account of his recent visits to the pearl 
fisheries of Tuticorin and Oey'on with a more strictly 
scientific description of the marine fauna of the Gulf of 
Mauaar. To these subjects he has added a genei'al 
survey of Bamesvaram Island, its fauna, flora and geo- 
logy. a brief note on the two pearl-producing mollusca 
of the Presidency other than the pearl oyster, and an 
account of the chank-flshery at Tuticorin. It may 
perhaps be suggested that the effect of these pieces is 
somewhat marred by their publication together and by 
the arrangement adopted. The reader’s attention and 
interest is distracted by the transition from the Madras 
pearl fishery to the history of the chauk industry and 
from that back again to the pearl enterprise ofOeylon. 
The pamphlet, as a whole, seems to lack a sufficient 
raison d’etre, though the articles, considered separately, 
fully justify their existence. This, however, is a result 
attributable mainly to the absence, in Madras, of any 
Society devoted to Natural History whose Journal 
would have supplied a more appropriate medium of 
publication. Failing this vehicle, Mr. Thurston had 
been obliged to send forth his notes in their present 
form, and all who have read his previous writings will 
not be surprised to find that the result is an admixture 
of very readable narrative with valuable scientific re- 
cord. The work is illustrated by several photographs, 
plans and woodcuts, and the printing of the numerous 
scientific names seems to be creditably free from inac- 
curacies. The Tuticorin pearl-fishery, to an account of 
which the first paper is devoted, commenced on the 
25th February 1889 and, as is well-known, proved a 
comparative failure. Want of boats and divers and 
the existence of the oysters in deep waver and at a 
great distance from the shore were the chief causes of 
this result, the men naturally preferring to take their 
labour to the rival Ceylon fishery, where the oyster 
bank was in only half the depth of water and was 
situated five miles from shore instead of ten. On leav- 
ing Tuticorin Mr. Thurston proceeded to visit this 
Oeylon fishery, which was carried on at a locality known 
as Dutch Bay, but the aay after he arrived the camp 
was broken up, owing to the outbreak of cholera. Later 
in the year 1889 he accompanied Captain Donnan, the 
Inspector of Ceylon Pearl Banks, on his annual cruise 
of inspection, aud gives an interestiug account of 
his experiences. The condition of the banks is ascer- 
tained by means of divers, and in order to ensure 
a thorough examination the same plan is adopted as is 
followed by searchers for lapswings’ eggs in England, 
viz., the divers work in a circle from a fixed centre, 
the distances being marked out by buoys. The oysters 
brought up are washed and valued by experts. After 
the inspection of the Muttuwarlu bank it was estimated 
that there were 30 million oysters, worth five lakhs 
of rupees in revenue within an area of about 31 square 
miles. These oysters were of not less than five years 
growth, which was shown by the readiness with which 
they came away from the rock and were, therefore, 
ready to be fished ; indeed, it would be little use 
valuing younger oysters, for so many are the foes to 
which they are exposed that the most promising banks 
