November i, 1 S 90 .] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
“The weight of taxation to which they are exposed, 
and which there seems little possibility of hope of 
reduction, renders it impossible for them to compote 
with Indian and Coylou teas in their chief recommen- 
dation — cheapness.” 
Cotton Cultivation in Central Asia. — In order to 
develop the cuhivfti ion of cotton in Central Asia, the 
Russian Minister of Finance has r.Ttiiied the project of 
leasing 60,000 dcciatines of land (about 162,000 acres) 
in Turkestan to the Commercial and Industrial Com- 
Iiany of Central Asia in order that it may form planta- 
tions of cotton there. The Journal de la Chamhre de 
Commerce ie Constantinople stales that the lease is for 
ninety years. The company has the privilege of grow- 
ing, besides cotton, all othi r plants ; it is exempt from 
any rmt during the first fifteen years of working. After 
that period it will have to pay a rent which whl be 
equal to the land t.'ix collected on TurkeHtmi territory. 
A New Coffke Size. — The Americans are u.sing 
a mixture for sizing c-ffee which ma 3 ' bo effective but 
it is not nice. According’ to the Grocer, its ac'ive 
ingredients consist of common or cendensed milk, 
ground or powdered glue, glycerine, refined lard, and 
in some cases, h carbonate of sodr, fine table salt 
and vinegar. The lat'er only affects the gloss or 
polish of the roasted coffee in keep ng down too high 
a polish. The ac:iou of the bicarbonate of si da is 
said to keep a'l these heterogeneous ingredients 
“sweet.” In prepiring the coffee for the “size” it 
is first roasted dry, and allowed to cool somewhat; 
the mix'ure is then added in such proportion and 
in such a manner that each berry gets a thin coating 
of varnish. It is o'aimed that by this process the 
berry is hermetically sealed and the pores comple'ely 
closed up, thus preventing the ar' ina from escaping, 
and so preserving the full .strcng-ih of the coffee. 
No mobtiire can penetrate through the varnish. Fur- 
ther, when the coffee is being made in ihe pot tlie 
“ size,” it is claimed, acts in such a way that the 
“grounds” are caused to settle rapidly, so uotlsing 
is needed to be added to the liquor to “clear” it. 
The natural flavour is not modified, and it is slated 
that the caffeine or active principle of the coffee 
is reserved to the fullest extent. 
The Tea Doty in America.— We learn by cable 
from New York that the majority of leading American 
tea dealers have forwarded to Washington a protest 
against the section in the McKinley Tariff Bill which 
provides for a ten per cant, ad valoren Awty on teas, 
the produce or growth of countries east of the Cape 
of Good Hope, when imported to America from places 
wist of the Cape of Good Hope. The protest de- 
clares that the section is avowedly intended to re- 
taliate against Canada, but is in reality aimed at the 
London markets, on which the United States depend for 
Indian and Ceylon teas, England being the only con- 
venient halting place between the East and the Slates. It 
ie further statecl that the section is really the scheme 
of a few big dealers to monopo'ise the United States 
market. 
The Produce Clearing nous's and Indian Tea. — 
As moDtioned by onr Special Commissioner last week, 
it was resolved, at a recent meeting of the Produce 
Clearing House Tea Committee to definitely com- 
mence business in Indian teas on January 1 st, 1891, 
and, as soon as the experts have been appointed, the 
types of quality will be chosen and circulated amongst 
the trade. 
Alcohol AND Tea. — The following interesting para- 
graph IS going the rounds of the papers. It is not 
a new form of conundrum, althongo it reads very much 
like it: — “A series of physiological experiments is 
being made by Dr. Kraeplin as to the respective 
effects upon the mental powers (“psychical reaction ”) 
of alcohol and tea. By this finding alcohol diminishes 
ideas and strengthens the verbal association of words 
and the association of auditory impressious. But as 
to tea, he finds thatit favours tho assooiatiou of ideas 
and intollootnal work, while embarrassing the associa- 
tion of words.” 
Planting in Java. — The Un.mcial statement for Java 
will shortly he submitted to the Dutch Chamber. It 
is expected to show a largo deficit, the amount being 
named as twenty millioDS of guilders. Last year the 
crops in .lava were very poor. Most of them suffered 
from blight, and the yield was much below an average 
amount. Mariy planters came out wo 1 owing to the 
comparatively high prices of sugar and coffee. Others 
.suffered severely, however, and the lice crop was not 
moie than “ middling.” The native population in Java 
is undoubted very poor, and it is burdened with heavy 
taxation. This is the teal trouble in Java, and 
nothing but very good crops can make the people at 
all prosperous. — II. and C. Mail. 
SIR CHARLES 13RUCE ON INDIAN LABOUR 
EMIGRATION. 
Sir Charles Bruce (in the New Eeview) gives an able 
and interesting history of the emigration of labour 
from India, specially to the West Indian oolonies 
and D .msrara, since the period when the abolition 
of slavery rendered necessary supplies of men able 
and willing to work regularlij. Sir Bartle Frere is 
quoted as stating in 1873 that 
“ The Bengal labourer with wages at l|d or 2d a day, 
and no roads or canals to bring him food, is always 
terribly neur the brink of starvation ” ; and again, 
“ Though I believe the existing population of India 
is, as a mass, better fed than it was forty years ago, 
still theie are large masses, especially in Bengal, living 
on the limits of starvation.” 
The testimony of Mr. Grierson, an officer deputed 
by the Government of India to inquire into the 
system prior to the passing of the Indian Emigration 
Act of 1883, is as follows : — 
“The Colonii s importing Indian labour are in the 
belt of the Tropics. The only exception is Natal, which 
is sub-tropical. Tbe conditions ot life in these Colonies 
are much the same, viz , an equable climate, free from 
sudden or extreme variations, and an amazing fertility. 
Tbe original natives of these oouutrie.s, living for 
generations where life without labour was easy and 
pleasant, have developed into a type of human beings 
peculiarly unfitted for the higher forms of cultivation 
of the soil. When, therefore, European enterprise at- 
tacked these countries with the hope of carrying off the 
richer products of the earth, the indigenous natives 
were found unsuited for aiding them in the work. 
Coolie labour had accordingly to be introduced ; and 
the only places where suitable labour was found to be 
available were India and China. Both these countries 
are subtropical, the greater portion being outside the 
ti’.ipical belt. Hero the conditions of life are very 
different. The oHmateis anything but equable, and is 
subject to sudden aud extreme vari ition.?. At one time 
the country is deluged by rain, o.t another parched for 
montbs together. Here life is impossible without 
labour. The most elaborate precautions have to be 
taken to obtain even a probable chance of raising a 
moderate crop ; aud the result is that the inhabitants 
of India and China have, in the cour.se of generations, 
developed into human beings possessing considerable 
agricultural skill aud a wonderful capacity for con- 
tinuous hard work The Indian’s whole life is one 
long labour — he never has a moment’s rest. . . , 
When an Indian coolie is transported to a tropical 
Colony, ho finds himself in a place quite beyond his 
experience. He finds a soil capable of yielding good 
crops with hardly any cultivation, and he naturally 
applies to it all the labour and all the skill and indus- 
try inherent in him. Tbe result is an out-turn such as 
would be impofsible in India, and such as ho had never 
even dreamed of before. Subsequent experience con- 
fi ms his first impressions, and he rightly considers 
that he h»s found a place free from cholera and famine 
of a warm equable climate, where his natural industry, 
if rightly applied, make its possessor in a few years the 
owner of a large fortune.” 
This is the sensible view of the case; and what 
remained for the Indian Government to do wai 
to secure the well-being of their subjects en 
roKtu to end while employed in the sceoea 
