Sf.pt,  2,  1895.]  the  tropical  AGRICULTURIST. 
Tii,:  Position  ani>  PnosPKOTs. — Tiio  E'  Onomist  then 
sums  up  the  outlook  as  follows  : “ IJeyond  the  essen- 
tial facts  concerning  individual  Companies,  which 
investors  can  readily  procure  for  themselves,  there 
are  two  or  three  features  in  the  po  -itiou  and  prospects 
of  the  Indian  and  Ceylon  tea  Companies  as  a whole 
which  call  for  some  remark.  In  the  first  place,  it 
has  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  hithei'to  the  Indian 
and  Ceylon  planters  have  not  only  been  able  to  supply 
the  normal  increase  of  consumption  in  this  country, 
hut  they  have  also  provided  for  the  gradual  dis- 
placement of  the  Chinese  commodity  ; in  future  they 
will  have  to  depend  mainly  upon  the  first  of  these 
factors  for  increased  sale  here,  for  it  is  not  at  all 
probable  that  the  consumption  of  China  teas  will  go 
altogether  out  of  favour.  It  is  obvious,  therefore, 
that  India  and  Ceylon  will  have  to  secure  fresh  mar- 
kets for  their  constantly  increasing  production.  At 
present  the  great  bulk  of  the  tea  grown  in  both 
countries  is  shipped  to  the  United  Kingdom.  Last 
year,  for  example,  out  of  a total  export  from 
Calcutta  of  125,446,000  lb,  116,083,000  lb.  came  to 
this  country,  while  out  of  84,592,000  lb.  shipped 
from  Ceylon  75,350,000  lb.  were  for  the  United  King- 
dom. Australia  and  New  Zealand  are  the  next  largest 
customers,  taking  over  12,000,000  lb.  from  the  two 
sources  of  supply  ; but  other  important  markets  re- 
quire to  be  established  if  Indian  and  Ceylon  tea  is 
to  command  remunerative  prices.  Strenuous  efforts 
are  being  made  to  foster  a taste  for  British-grown 
tea  in  the  United  States  and  in  Russia,  and  it  is 
said  that  the  prospects  in  both  directions  are  en- 
couraging ; and  in  the  trade  it  is  thought  that  the 
expenditure  of  a little  energy  and  a little  money  by 
the  Indian  and  Ceylon  tea  planters  would  suffice  to 
open  up  many  other  channels  for  their  produce. 
The  area  of  cultivation  is  being  constantly  increased 
and  it  is  obvious  that  if  fresh  markets  are  not  found 
there  will  be  a tendency  towards  over-production, 
and  a consequent  reduction  in  prices.  In  the  se- 
cond place,  skilled  labour  is  becoming  scarcer  and 
more  expensive  both  in  India  and  in  Ceylon,  and 
as  the  new  areas  which  have  been  planted  in  recent 
years  begin  to  bear,  the  labour  difficulty  may  in- 
crease. This,  however,  would  cut  both  ways,  for  if 
labour  becomes  scarcer  the  tendency  to  over-produc- 
tion will  naturally  be  checked.  In  the  near  future 
there  is  not  likely  to  be  any  great  increase  in  the 
outturn  of  tea  either  in  India  or  in  Ceylon,  for 
it  is  one  thing  to  open  up  new  areas,  and  quite 
another  thing  to  bring  them  to  fruition.  The 
only  other  ppint  to  notice  is  the  value  of  silver  and 
its  effect  upon  the  tea-planting  industry.  That  the 
low  price  of  the  ‘ white  metal  ’ has  been  of  great 
benefit  to  tea  planters  is  indisputable,  and  it  is  equally 
obvious  that  any  sudden  and  important  rise  in  the 
value  of  silver  would  be  prejudicial  to  the  Indian  and 
Ceylon  industries,  as  it  would  diminish  the  pur- 
chasing power  of  the  metal  as  measured  in  gold. 
That,  in  the  opinion  of  the  bimetallists,  is  ‘a  con- 
summation devoutly  to  be  wished,’  but  probably  the 
tea-planting  interest  would  regard  such  a movement 
with  much  less  favour.  It  is  scarcely  worth  while, 
however,  to  discuss  the  problematical  effects  of  an 
international  agreement  which  is  never  likely  to 
take  place,  and  without  such  an  agreement  no  such 
rise  in  the  value  of  silver  as  would  materially  affect 
the  tea  industry  is  at  all  pi'obable.  The  outlook 
for  the  Indian  and  Ceylon  tea  companies  is,  therefore, 
generally  satisfactory,  though  it  is  tolerably  clear 
that  the  fears  of  over-production  will  only  be  re 
moved  by  the  success  of  the  efforts  which  are  now 
being  made  for  the  opening  up  of  new  markets,  and 
the  vigorous  development  of  existing  ones.” 
Tka  Tabloids. — In  an  official  report  of  a tour  by 
Mr.  W.  II.  Hearn*  through  the  German  and  Italian 
colonies  in  the  State  of  Rio  Grande,  Brazil,  Mr. 
Hearn  reports  on  his  visit  to  one  of  the  principal 
inns,  where  the  accommodation  and  food  were  ex- 
tremely bad,  and  adds  by  way  of  consolation:  “Luckily 
we  had  with  us  a supply  of  tea  tabloids,  so  that  if 
the  resources  of  a dwelling  consisted  of  nothing  more 
• Who  will  b«  remembered  when  in  Ceylon. — 
Ed.  T.A.  ^ 
than  a tin  of  hot  water,  wc  could  always  be  sure 
of  a refreshing  cup  of  excellent  tea.”  Messrs. 
uuoughs,  Wellcome  and  Co.,  the  m.anufacturers  of 
these  tabloids  have  conferred  a great  benefit  on 
tiavellei;s  by  thus  enabling  them  to  carry  their  tea 
about  with  them.— yy.  and  C.  Mail 
QUININE-MAKERS  AND  THE  CINCHONA 
SUPPLY. 
We  announced  .some  time  ago  th.at  Dr.  Buchler. 
of  the  Brunswick  Quinine-factory,  was  now  in  .Java 
for  the  purpose  of  inquiring  into  the  condition  of 
the  cinchona-industry  in  that  island.  It  appears  that 
Dr.  Buchler  is  the  delegate  of  the  combined  German 
quinine  m.anufacturers,  and  of  Messrs.  Howards  * 
Sons,  and  in  that  capacity  has  made  proposals  to  all 
the  cinchona-planters  in  .Java  to  make  a contract  for 
the  purchase  of  their  bark  for  a period  of  five  years. 
The  manufacturers  propose  to  pay  a fixed  price  of 
6c.  per  unit  per  half-kilo  of  bark,  and  in  addition 
to  that  to  allow  the  planters  one-half  of  the  profit 
on  all  sales  of  sulphate  of  quinine  above-  21fi.  per 
kilo,  which  is  equal  to  about  Is  2d  per  oz.  The  Java 
cinchona-planters  on  their  part  would  have  to  agree 
severally  and  jointly,  not  to  supply  more  than  one- 
half  of  235,000  kilos  of  quinine  in  the  bark,  these 
figures  being  estimated  as  the  total  annual  con- 
sumption  of  the  world.  This  would  reduce 
the  shipments  of  bark  from  Java  to  about' 
one-half  of  their  present  quantity,  the  total  exports 
from  the  island  in  1894  having  been  equal  to  211,760 
kilos,  of  sulphate  of  quinine.  Under  the  arrange- 
ment the  Gennan  and  English  manufacturers  to- 
gether would  monopolise  the  whole  of  the  bark- 
^pplies  in  Java,  consequently  the  American  and 
Trench  markets  would  have  to  depend  upon  the 
supplies  from  British  India,  Ceylon,  South  America, 
find  Afiica,  and  it  would  follow  that  acceptance  of 
the  proposed  agreement  hy  the  Java  people  would 
lead  to  an  immediate  advance  in  the  price  of  Quinine 
It  is  considered  very  doubtful  whether  Dr.  Buchler 
will  be  able  to  come  to  a satisfactory  arrangement 
with  the  planters,  as  there  is  no  trace  of  co-opera- 
tion  among  the  latter.  About  three  years  ao'o  when 
a snuilar  pl.an  was  proposed  by  leading  nmrehants 
in  Batavia  about  one-half  of  the  planters  agreed  to 
limit  their  shipments  for  a year  to  three  quarters  ' 
of  their  estimated  possible  output.  Very  few  of  those 
who  had  agreed  to  do  so,  however,  kept  their  pro- 
mise,  and  the  experiment  ended  in  total  failure  — 
Chemist  and  Dnujijist. 
RETIREMENT  OF  A WELL  KNOWN 
INDIAN  BOTANIST. 
Mr.  M.  Lawson,  the  Superintendent  of  tlic 
(Tovernment  Gardens  and  Cinchona  Plantation 
on  the  Nilgiris,  is  permitted  to  retire  from  the 
service  on  tlie  3Lst  instant.  As,  however,  tliere 
ivill  be  .some  ditficulty  in  (illing  his  place,  it  is  un-  ' 
likely,  an  Ooty  naper  says,  that  lie  will  be  relieved  , 
on  that  date.  Mr.  Lawson,  .who  was  formerlv 
Professor  of  Botany  at  Oxford,  and  in  clnar.^e 
of  the  exqursite  garden  which  stretches  alom^.' 
the  bank  of  the  Clierwell,  which  Macaul.ay  des" 
^ J>eautiful  p,as.s.age,  came  out  to  India< 
in  188.1  at  tlie  instance  of  Sir  M.  E.  Grant  Duff. 
Since  then  he  has  done  wonders  for  the  maidens 
at  Ooty,  and  established  and  worked,  nn.aided 
by  any  expert  ,a.ssistance,  the  Quinine  Factory, 
whicli  now  does  sncli  good  work  for  Government. 
— M.  Tunes. 
FIBRE  MACHINES. 
TlK-re  are  few  subjects  tliat  h,ave  for  some  time 
back  so  much  engaged  the  attention  of  mechanical 
engineers,  and  generally  of  tliose  with  an  inven- 
tive turn  of  mind,  as  the  construction  of  machinery, 
for  treating  fibrous  plants.  A great  incentive 
w.as,  moreover,  given  to  the  pro.secution  of  this 
search  in  a particular  direction,  by  the  nia^'nificent 
reward  offered  by  the  Government  of  India  fot 
