546 
ThP t^Of^lCAL AQRICULtURISt, 
[February 2, 1S91. 
petition Government for this. The line is clearly 
being worked for the immediate profit of the share- 
holders, and not for the good of the public. Govern- 
ment has granted the Railway vast conceasions in the 
pnblio interest and wonld certainly insist upon it 
making proper arrangements for the public traffic if 
a strong representation were made in the proper 
quarter. It is calculatea by the beat authority that 
ten lakhs are nei deu to provide rolling-stock, and 
otherwise put the hue into proper order. The raising 
of this extra capital might affect the dividends for a 
time, but the shiieholders wonld ultimately be gainers 
as well as the public.’' 
The ■' couce^Blons ” referred to in the above 
paragraph are six very substantial ones, besides 
others of a minor : 'ure. These are (1) : — Free use 
of the Cart Roa > b( iweeii Silligootie and Darjeeling, 
said to be m em the bes' of its kind in the world, for 
the laying of the liues o' he Darjeeliug-Himalayan 
Railway. (2) In regaid o “hi. maiuteuanoe of this 
Cart Road the R.iilway Oompai y is ia ihe position of 
contractors to the Govcrnm. nt, being pain for on a 
most liberal scale of rates, with 15 per cent, added for 
tools, plant, and supervision, the landslips being looked 
after oy the Government for the first five years, and 
still very largely, if not entirely. (3) A most liberal 
subsidy for the carriage of mails. (4) Free use of 
Silligoorie Station and appliances till the line makes 
a clear dividend of per cent. (5) All materials for 
the Darjeeling-Himaiuyau Railway carried at a 
reduction of 40 per cent, on the minimum rates over the 
Northern Bengal State Rsilway. (6; On completion ot 
contract, the Governm- ui to take over the line at the 
market priceof shares plus 25 per cent, premium on 
such market price. The grant of the usa of the Oart 
R ;ad saved the Darjecling-Himalayan Railway Com- 
pany 50 lakhs, and iu has recently obtained exemp- 
tion from payment of road and public work cesses. 
In view of these concessions from the public funds, 
and presumably in the public interest, Mr. tlhristison 
lightly insists, and hopes that a fair reduction in the 
rates for goods, particularly for coal, may be obtained, 
and better arrangements made for the carriage ot the 
traffic. Other railways have borne the whole cost of 
their construction, and without any such concessions 
manage to offer rates immeasurably lower, paying 
themselves fairly and furnishing every necessary 
convenience to the pnblio. Over and above the high 
charges, not the least of the inconveniences by the 
Dirjeeling-Himalayan Railway, is the discreditable 
delay that takes place in the transit of goods owing to 
the insufficiency of rolling-stock, so that go- 
downs are often reported blocked, and goods 
have to lie exposed in the rains; while a good deal 
of traflao is carried yet by bullock carts and other 
modes of conveyance that ought, with fair rates 
and better arrangements, to go by rail. Mr. Christison 
suggests that the number of carriages and waggons 
of the Railway should he increased together with a 
redaction of rates, and a fourth class should be pro. 
vided for the poorer classes 50 per cent cheaper than its 
present third class particularly as so many coolies have 
to be transported over it. He farther declares that 
instead of the 5 per cent reduction on coal offered by 
the Darjeeling-Himalayan Railway no less than 33J per 
cent would be fair, and even 50 per cent would not 
be unreasonable or out of proportion to the rates for 
coal charged by other lines, while in place of the 
74 per cent general reduction offered under other 
heads, 10, 18, 20, 25, 40 and even 66 per cent on 
different goods “ would be fair, and nothing more.” 
These contentions are supported by an array of statis- 
tics carefully collected and arranged so that there 
can be no twoopiuions as to the conclusion they lead 
to. Mr. Christison points out that the reduction now 
offered by the Darjeiling- Himalayan Railway Oom- 
pauy. S') as to draw the Darjeeling planters into an 
agreement to keep quiet and send all their goods 
by the Railway for the next five years, is a repetition 
of Mr. Prestago’s old bribe (with au addition of 24 
per cent; to got the Darjeeling Carrying Company 
eloised and thus have a monopoly of the Iraflio over 
the Cart Road. “ The Agreement,” remarks Mr. 
Christison, “is unworthy of any railway. Certainly, if 
the Association, as well as the individual members ac- 
cepting, are to be bound hard and fast for five years, 
and other routes to be closed, the rebate is nut worth 
the sacrifice.” Mr. Christison would rather have the 
cart traffic revived on its old scale if the Darjeeling- 
Himalayan Railway does not come to terms. The 
common rates h; bullock carts from Silligoorie to Dar- 
jeeling vary from 6J annas to 8 annas per maund — 
10 annas and upwards in the lains being rather an 
unusual fare, and 9 annas per maund being rarely paid 
by those who carry regularly and understand the busi- 
ness. Taking 8 annas as the average rate, it is little 
over half the charge by the Darjeeling-Himalayan 
Railway if down traffic (which includes large quantities 
of tea) be allowed for. 
Mr. Christison has taken up a very good cause, and 
he deserves the support of all sections of the pnblio. 
He is fighting in the interest not alou>- of the Dar- 
]ccling tea planters, but otthepuolic generally to whom 
the Darjeeiiug trade and Darjeeling as a place of 
business as well as sanitarium, are daily growing to 
be of greater importance. Hope. 
— Indian I'lanters’ Gazette. 
^ 
TEA CULTIVATION IN JAVA. 
The Italian Bolletino Consoldre gives the following 
account ot the present condition of the tea industry 
in Java ; — 
The cultivation of tea in the Dutch Indies is practi- 
cally confined to the island of Java. It is mainly 
carried on in the province of Preauger, in the western 
part of the isiaud, where it is rather a part of horti- 
culture than ot agriculture. The industry is in the 
hands of experienced planters, who are sparing no pains 
to increase the prominence and quality ot the Java 
teas. Notwithstanding their cire, However, as early as 
in 1887, they could not congratulate themselves on the 
price of their article. In ls88 it continued to fall, and 
the planters were forced to expend their utmost energy 
ou saving their plantations from ruin. This was the 
case not merely with recent enterprises, but with old 
plantations, that had flourished for many years. The 
weight of this depression fell, of course, on the native 
population, which until then had obtained a comfor- 
table livelihood by the cultivation of tea. The quantity 
produced ou the Java tea plantations scarcely fluctuated 
in the three years, 1886, 1887, and 1888; it remained 
at about 325,000 kilos, per annum. 
In addition to this steady decline in price, the Java 
tea plauiations have been ravaged by an insect {Relo- 
poletis antonia), called Boedock Hamand in Malay, 
and Theluis (tea-louse) in Dutch, which each year 
destroys in value hundreds of thousands of florins. It 
is needless to add that the planters have offered the 
most liberal rewards to any one who will devise an in- 
fallible mode of freeing them from this devastating 
foe but hitherto with as little success as in the case 
of the diseases of the coffee-palm and the sugar-cane. 
At the same time there is noticeable a distinct im- 
provement in the quality of the Java teas. Until lately, 
ou account of the quantity of tannin which it contains, 
the Java tea has only been bought in Europe when 
mixed with China tea; but the improvement of the 
quality has now rendered that needless, while the cul- 
tivation of Assam plants will presently enable the 
planters to compete with Ceylon and British India. 
Nor must it be forgotten that during the last two years 
great improvements have been introduced in the pre- 
paration of the tea. The most recent inventions have 
bein applied, and nothing which is happening in Asia, 
which can be of any utility to the Java tea planters, is 
peimitted to escape their attention. For many years 
past it has been proved that the climate and the soil 
of Java are perfectly adapted to the cultivation of tea, 
and are powerfully aided by the regular rainfall in that 
monntainous country, which produces an abundant 
growth of leaves, — L, and C, Express, Nov. 28th, 
