92 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Aug.  i,  1895. 
in  India,  it  is  only  right  and  proper  that  all 
should  pay  their  quota.  ^Ve  notice  that  a special 
fund  is  to  1)0  formed  in  order  to  directly  push 
the  sales  of  Nilgiri  teas  alone.  An  attempt  is  now 
being  made  to  conduct  tea  sales  in  Bombay. 
There  is  so  far  as  we  can  see,  no  reason  why  a 
market  should  not  be  formed  in  Bombay.  There  must 
be  a good  demand  for  tea  in  that  city,  both  for 
Home  consumption  and  for  export,  more  especially 
to  the  Persian  Gulf.  At  first  there  is  bound  to  be 
some  difficulty  in  opening  up  a new  business  like 
this,  and  the  seller  will  have  to  make  some  conces- 
sions. In  this  direction  a local  fund  such  as  the 
Nilgiri  Planters’  Association  proposes  to  raise  might 
be  of  great  service. — Madras  Mail. 
♦ 
TEA-SWEEPINGS. 
TO  TUE  EDITOK  OF  Fair  Flaij. 
Dear  Sir, — Referring  to  j'our  article  in  Fair  Plai/ 
of  the  10th  inst.,  headed  “ An  Important  Question 
for  the  Tea  Trade,”  we  disposed  of  our  tea-sw'eep- 
ings  and  damaged  tea  the  seasons  before  last  to  a 
Hamburg  firm ; previously  and  since  we  have  burnt 
all ; but  your  return  puts  our  quantity  down  as  40 
tons,  whereas  it  was  composed  of  ship  or  country- 
damaged,  4 tons  10  cwt.,  sweepings,  1!)  tons  1 cwt., 
or  2:4  tons  11  cwt,  in  all,  which  equals  a loss  of  one 
and  one-sixth  ounce  per  half-chest  of  tea  landed  and 
worked  here  during  the  season  in  question  ; and  as 
we  land  more  Indian  tea  which  has  to  be  bulked 
than  the  Dock  Companies,  or  any  other  wharfinger, 
it  is  fair  to  assume  that  your  returns  are  all  wrong, 
and,  so  far  as  this  wharf  is  concerned,  incorrect. 
The  Customs  take  the  gross  weight  of  every  package 
of  tea  when  landed,  and  the  same  weight  has  to 
he  brought  to  the  scale  at  final  weighing,  so  that 
duty  is  paid  on  the  net  weight  of  tea  as  landed, 
consequently  no  loss  through  sweepings  is  caused  to 
the  importer  or  revenue.  If  loss  is  caused  it  must 
be  through  bad  stowage,  defective  condition  of 
chests,  or  had  working,  liy  checking  the  landing 
weights  with  their  invoices  importers  can  easily  see 
if  they  ha\e  any  cause,  of  complaint  against  the 
huiding,  housing,  and  woi-king  their  leas  in  this  port. — 
rours  truly,  llurnFU's  W'li.un'.  [ji.'Mitek,  Hv.  JjAFonf, 
jManaging  Director. 
.Southwark,  S.E..  filth  May,  189'). 
THE  ORANGES  OF  .JAMAICA. 
■niK  itKsT  Of  Till-:  fiM  ir  (;i!0\v.s  wii.d. 
(Fi'oiii  thr  ‘‘  II  reJ.i ;!  Ti/iir\-,"  of  Nrn'  YorL.) 
In  the  month  of  i''ebnmry,  189t,  the  isl.and  of 
.lamaica  exported  l(i4,Soo  oranges.  In  the  monlli 
of  I'ebruary  of  thi.s  year  the  exports  of  this  fruit 
amounted  to  .'>,7.‘>2, 1 do.  In  I'ehriiary  of  hist  year 
•lamaica’s  great  competitor  in  the  orange  trade, 
Florida,  enjoyed  ordinary  weather.  This  yeai' 
found  Florida  ice-bound  or  frostbitten.  It  was 
.Jamaica’s  opportunity,  the  g^reatest  it  has  ever 
had,  and  how  well  it  has  improved  it  the  fore- 
going figures  show. 
WHAT  JAMAICA  CAN  UO. 
What  Jamaica  can  do  to  fill  the  gap  made  by 
the  frost  in  Florida  is  indicated  by  the  figures 
quoted.  Yet  it  could  have  done  a great  deal 
more.  When  despatches  from  New  A'ork  reported 
a .steady  demand  for  .lamaica  oranges,  the  fruit 
was  sai'd  to  he  rotting  on  the  trees  in  the  Parish 
of  .Maneliester,  from  which  the  finest  oranges 
grown  in  this  colony  come. 
WH.VT  JAMAICA  NEKDS. 
“ I know  it,”  said  the  Jamaican,  jilaciilly. 
“ What  we  w.ant  here  is  American  money,  and 
entei’prise,  and  jiusli,” — wdiicli  is  .as  true  as  the 
truest  kind  of  Gospel.  Rut  tliis  f.act  should  he 
home  in  mind,  .and  it  is  of  the  utmost  imjiortance 
to  or.ange  growers  who  are  ho))ing  to  huy  or  le.ase 
groves  here.  Orange  growing  in  .Jamaic.a  is  not 
a business  in  itself.  It  is  incident.al  to  other 
labor,  and  not  countol  as  a s])eeially  profitable 
industry.  Strictly  speaking,  there  is  not  an  orange 
grove,  as  the  Floriil.a  grower  understands  tlie 
word  grove,  on  the  Island  of  .Jamaica.  Oranges 
grow  wild  liere.  As  nearlj' . as  1 can  learn,  the 
only  eulti\ate<l  orange  trees  on  this  island  are 
owned  by  Mr.  .1.  P.  Clark,  the  Cu.stos  of  Man- 
chester, and  1 w'as  told  last  night  by  an  oHicer 
of  the  Colonial  Government,  whose  iluties  make 
him  familiar  with  the  agriculture  of  the  colony, 
that  the  cultivated  trees  li.ad  not  done  as  well  as 
the  wild  ones.  The  owner  of  a farm  or  property 
of,  say,  1,000  .acres,  no  more  thinks  of  juittfiig 
it  all  into  oranges  or  relying  e.xeliisively  on  that 
fruit,  than  a m.arket  gardener  on  Long  Island 
would  devote  all  his  energies  to  lettuce,  and  let 
the  rest  of  his  garden  take  care  of  itself. 
The  Government  owns  nearly,  if  not  quite, 
200,000  acres  of  land  on  the  island,  and  much 
of  this  is  well  suited  to  orange  growing.  This  land 
is  sold  at  public  auction.  Any  man  may  jiick  out 
a j)ieee  of  Crown  land  he  would  like  to  buy, 
and  notify  the  ju-oper  authorities.  The  land  is 
then  .advertised  to  be  .sold  at  auction.  On  the 
aiipointed  day  the  would-be  pui  chaser  appears 
and  offers  a certain  sum.  If  the  Government  is 
satisfied  with  the  offer,  and  there  are  no  other 
bidders,  the  oiler  is  aijcepted.  If  there  are  other 
bidders,  the  highest  one  gets  it.  Land  sold  in  this 
way  costs  from  .i?!  to  .$10  an  .acre.  The  doll.ar-an- 
acre  land  is  generally  rather  inacce.ssible,' the 
only  road  to  it  being  a sheep  ])ath.  The  higher 
jirice  represents  land  near  a high  road.  To  ele.ar 
wild  land,  simply  to  “brush”  it,  costs  from  j!.') 
to  -SS  .an  acre.  \'oung  orange  trees  can  be  bought 
at  the  Botanical  Gardens. 
Intelligent  men  here  do  not  aihisi-  .American.' 
to  Come  here  w ith  the  sole  idea  of  growing 
oranges,  ('onie  to  .lainaic, a .and  look  .around  thej 
s:iy.  Find  the  land  you  w:uit.  ami  buy  it.  If  it 
will  grow  oranges,  it  will  grow  colfee  and  cacao, 
and  .a  \ariety  of  othei-  products.  Many  of  these 
•are  far  more  prolitable  than  oianges.  Fruii- 
growing  in  Jam.aica  has  proved  remunerative 
even  with  old-fashione<l  lia))haz.ard  methods. 
R.acked  by  .American  enterprise,  energy,  and 
intelligence,  it  ought  to  be  an  exi-ellent  ieni  in- 
\est  inent . 
THE  AIAH.MH’.SA  TEA  Cn.MPANV, 
LI.NIITED. 
Directors  : W.  L.  M atson,  Esq.,  .S.  Boulnois, 
E.s(p,  A.  Bryans,  Esq.  < Hliees ; 4.'),  Lea<lenhall 
Street,  London,  E.  The  following  is  fiom  the 
rej)ort  to  be  submitted  .at  the  sixth  onlinarv 
general  meeting  : — 
The  crop  amounted  to  148,287  lb.  (an  increase 
over  1893 of  4,989  lb.),  .and  this  h.as  realised  .t’o,3Ul 
Os  7d,  or  s.ay  .an  .aver.age  of  over  8?,d  (8-o9d)  jier 
lb.;  Id  more  than  hast  ye.ar.  The  expenditure 
.amounted  to  •G3,G52  17s  9d  (the  expenditure  at 
the  estates  being  R4;),844  45,  or  at  exchange 
Is  Igd — £2,602  12s  8d.)  The  average  cost  per 
lb.  was  therefore  5-91d.  'I'he  profit  on  the  year’s 
working  amounted  to  £1,722  Ids  Id,  and  this,  after 
making  .an  .adjustment  on  account  of  ])revious 
year,  .and  .allowing  for  man.ager's  commission. 
Interest,  &c. , leaves  in  prolit  and  loss  account  a 
balance  of  £1,642  11s.  lid.  Outof  this  the  direc 
tors  have  jiaid  a dividend  at  the  rale  of  Id  per 
cent,  per  annum  for  six  months,  £6d7  Ids.  This 
leaves  for  distribnfion  £l,d,3.')  is.  lid.  And  from 
this  t')e  diri’ctors  reconmn'iid  a liii.il  dividend  at 
the  rate  of  Id  pi>r  cimf.  pi“r  annum,  .ibsorbing 
£()d7  Ids.;  .and  h>aving  a,  balance  io  la*  carried 
forward  of  t'427  I Is.  Ibl.  Tin'  total  dividend  for 
the  year  will  thus  hi*  Id  per  cent,  'fhe  cstiimite 
of  crop  for  bS!).!  is  1. ">.'), ddd  lb. , .and  the  estimateil 
exiteinlilure  at  garden  is  R43,d27. 
