8 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST.  [July  r,  1895. 
r.EPORT.  ■ 
(From  Chemist  and  Drufif/isf.J 
London,  May  23rd. 
C.vi'i'KiNK  has  been  railier  ([iii-t  lids  week.  Makers  are 
fviid  to  have  sold  small  lots  to  the  e.xport  trade  at  19s 
per  lb  for  delivery  in  .Inly  and  Ansust,  whilst  to  the 
home,  trade  10-lb  lots  have  been  booked  at  list-price  for 
sjime  deliveries,  some  of  which  have  been  re-sold  to  second- 
hand dealers  ; but,  on  the  whole,  business  in  the  article 
has  been  limited.  Maters,  it  would  seem,  are  havinj; 
difficulty  in  obtaining  the  raw  material,  and  are  conse- 
(piently  acting  cautio\i.sly  in  their  future  engagements, 
and  will  not  .sell  on  this  market  for  .American  account, 
wishing  to  ilo  the  business  through  their  New  York 
agents  only. 
CiNt'iioN.v — The  exports  of  cinchona-bark  from  <!uaya(iui* 
(E(juador)  are  officially  enumerated  as  follows  : — 
Weight  Value 
lb.  i; 
In  1803  O7,.W0  2,02.1 
In  1804  1,17,400  3,004 
The  exports  of  cinchona-bark  from  Lorto  C'abello  (Colombia) 
in  1804  were  848  kilos  only,  of  which  275  kilos  went  to 
Germany  and  .173  kilos  to  France. 
Coc.UNl'.  is  firmer  for  the  llydrochlorate.  The  (plan- 
tities  of  the  crude  both  here  and  in  Hamburg  seem  to 
have  been  bought  up,  and  liigher  prices  are  therefore 
probable. 
Quinine — \ good  bu.siness  has  been  done  up  to  12Jd 
for  immediate  delivery,  and  12^d  Is  now  asked  for  Ger- 
man bulk  ; 12i!d  paid  for  .Inly  delivery,  and  Is  Id  for 
October  for  German  brands.  Tlie  second-hand  stock 
Is  gradually  being  absorbed,  and  th.nt  in  an  improving 
market. 
TiOiidon,  May  iiOth. 
Ann.vtTO -Holders  firm,  4.\d  per  Hi  ludug  asked  for 
. . , , , 
C.tEI’F.lNE — Only  retail  tran.saciions  from  .second-liands, 
-lulv  delivery  20s,  spot  27s,  Our  last  advices  from 
.Vm’erica  show  a similar  retail  trade  in  the  .irticle,  init 
at  high  prices. 
Coc.\-rj'..vvE.s— lid  per  Hi  is  a.sked  for  fair  green  Truxdlo, 
but  there  was  no  impiiry  at  tlie  auction.s. 
Cou.uNE— Contrary  to  exjieclation,  tlie  price  of  tlie 
llydrochlorate  was 'reduced' again  yesterday  a furtlier  Is 
(id  ]ier  oz,  ([notations  Iieing  now  16s  6d  to  10s,  according 
to  ((uantity. 
Koia-NUTS— About  40  packages  were  offered,  one  case 
of  fair  bold  Grenada  selling  at  Is  7d  [ler  lb,  the  bulk, 
however,  was  withdrawn  at  [iricess  from  Is  3d  to  IsOd. 
KssENTl.o,  Oil.s — Cinnamon  oil,  8 cases  of  low  ([uality, 
sohi  without  re.serve,  at  ,5  id  to  7d  ; Lemon-grass  oil  .sold 
at  iSd  today.  . 
(lUlNINK— l,)uiet,  but  hrm  ; 12|d  nearest  [nice  for  best 
(ierman  brands  in  bulk.  A sale  of  oz  Octol  er  deli- 
very is  reported  at  Is  IHL 
Vaniu-.v— The  finer  (piallties  .sold  well  at  full  to  dearer 
prices  today. 
AMSTERDAM  DRUG  MARKET. 
May  30th. 
Our  corresinihdeut  writing  on  Wednesday,  reports  that 
Cubebs  are  neglected.  Of  .second  Padang  Ca.ssia  vera  there 
was  a good  deal  offered  (200  package.s),  lint  there  were 
no  buyers,  and  the  same  has  to  be  said  regarding  the 
prime  '(piality  stuff,  and  as  for  the  medium,  102  jiack- 
IVitavian  Gum  Damar  has  been  .sold  at  431c  t > 14c. 
has  been  more  iu(|uiry  for  Cajeput  oil,  and  I.2..0  lioltles 
hiive  sold  at  11.5c  per  bottle 
W.ATTLE  HARK  INMirSTKY. 
We  [Kotnl  Witness)  are  oiven  to  nnderstan  1 
that  our  (ieniian  cousins  iu  the  Noodshero-  Dis- 
trict  have  started  a wattle  hark  mill  ou  their 
own  account.  A correspondent  writes  “ (food 
luck  to  them,  hut  I wonder  how  lono  it  will  la.st. 
Simm  the  starting  of  the  above  new  venture,  it 
seems  strange  that  the  wagons  of  hark  roll  into 
town  in  larger  nnmher,  even  allhongli  lh(>  price 
has  dropiied  to  zero  (.'is.  (id).  I heai  on  vmy 
oood  authority  that  storage  is  small,  and  cash, 
not  paiier,  is  wanting.  At  the  same  time,  it 
wouhl  be  wise  on  the  part  of  Mantzlmrg  hnyers 
of  h.ark  not  to  let  the  jirice  fall  loo  low.  There 
is  a feeling  at  jiresent  among  the  growers  that 
a ‘circle’  is  lieing  formed.  I hope  there  is  no 
foundation  for  the  rumour.” 
THE  EUTUHE  OF  TEA  IX  CHINA. 
An  authority  writing  on  the  future  of  tea 
in  China  says: — “ I am  informed  that  one  early 
result  to  the  awaking  of  China  whiidi  is  certain 
to  follow  the  declaration  of  peace,  will  he  the 
taking  of  ste]>s  to  improve  the  maiinfaelnre  of  tea.” 
Our  London  corre.sjiondent  has  had  a long  conver- 
sation upon  this  topic  with  a gentleman  Inning 
lengthy  e.xperieiice  as  an  importer  of  (’hinese 
leas.  From  him  ho  leariieil  that  it  was  ]iossihle 
that  those  interested  like  himself  would  initiate 
.xteps  to  induce  the  owners  of  Chinese  “ Hongs”  to 
imjiort  the  machinery  and  obtain  the  as.sistanee 
required  to  introduce  such  an  innoiation.  lint 
at  the  same  time  great  doubt  was  expres.sed  if, 
even  after  the  severe  lesson  of  late  received,  it 
would  he  pos,sihle  to  stir  the  .strong  conservatism 
of  the  Chinese  snlliciently  to  compel  the  reipiired 
action.  We  do  not  ourselves  think  that  it  will 
he  po.ssihle  to  do  .so.  Even  if  it  should  prove  possi- 
hie  to  etl'ect  this,  we  do  not  think  the  conditions  of 
tea-growing  in  China  would  readily  yield  them 
.selves  to  the  adoption  of  Wpsiern  methods  in 
ihe  preparation  of  iho  leaf.  It  would  certainly 
he  possilile  to  estalilish  central  factories  in  the 
midst  of  a iinnihor  of  gardens,  the  jirodiice  of 
whi(di  migh!  Ik*  sniheient  to  keej)  the  iiiacliinery 
going,  lint  oppo.sed  to  this  there  mu.st  rem.ain 
the  dinii-ully  of  tr.an.sport  to  centres  of  this 
character.  (hKid  roads  scarcely  as  yet  exist  in 
any  of  the  Cliiiiese  provinces,  and  we  venture 
to  tliiiik  that  it  must  be  a long  day  before  the 
jieasaiits  of  that  country  could  he  induced  to 
carry  the  green  leaf  from  their  huts,  where 
jireiiar.atiuii  now  goes  on,  to  a central  point. 
For  ages  past  the  buyer  has  visited  each  small 
grower  and  li.as  taken  over  the  tea  direct  and 
in  readiness  for  packing.  The  hihonr  imist  he 
greatly  increased  had  the  green  leaf  to  he  first 
collected  and  transported  for  )ireparatioii.  No 
doubt  the  tea  would  he  much  iiiqiroved  if  it 
could  be  iiroperly  treated  ; hut  the  ditlienlties  in 
the  way  seem  to  ns  to  be  almost  iTi.su]ierahle. 
Altogetiier  there  is  little  reason  for  Ceylon  planters 
to  fear  th.at  the  hope  of  the  home  dealers  in 
China  lea  will  lie  n*alised.  Ihit  under  any  circniii- 
staiices  this  article  has  now  liecame  so  displaced 
in  the  London  piarket  by  Uritish-grown  teas,  that 
we  feel  snim  no  etroits  of  tin*  kind  descrilK'd 
could  snllici*  to  reiilace  it. 
^ 
NATAL  TEA. 
THE  SEA.SON  .S  OUT-TURX. 
.Mr.  (}.  W.  DrnminomI,  of  Kearsiiey  Estate, 
reports  as  follows: — We  are  now  drawing  to  tin* 
(dose  of  the  cnrreiit  tea  season,  and  1 am  gl.id 
to  he  able  to  say  from  onr  own  results  so  far, 
and  from  news  of  onr  iieiglihonrs  .and  the  di, strict 
in  general,  that  it  has  Iteen  the  most  s.atisfaetory 
season  for  the  last  li\e  years  at  least.  'I'he  r.iiii- 
in  April  gave  a splendid  lillip  to  the  plants  for 
the  end  of  the  season.  There  are  .some  very 
large  swarms  of  locusts  here  still,  hut  they  have 
not  touched  the  tea  as  yet.  Loqiiats,  bananas, 
a’ld  piiiea)iph‘s,  howi'ver,  have  snll'ori*d  a great 
deal.  We  slionld  not  Ik*  surprised,  ho\v(*vi*r,  if 
the  total  onl  lnni  for  Natal  reacdied  S.'iU.iiuil  lh. 
(it  tea,  especially  as  May  is  promising  to  Ik*  an 
excellent  month,  and  om*  million  for  next  season 
is  not  only  po.ssihle,  hnl  proliahly.  Xtiiid  Miirnni, 
May  17. 
