402 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Dec.  2,  1895. 
Labour  Laws  in  India. — The  Bengal  Chamber 
of  Commerce  has  addressed  a strong  i)rotest  to 
the  Bengal  Government  against  “ the  attempts 
made  by  a section  of  British  manufacturing 
interests  to  retard  the  industrial  development  of 
India  by  forcing  on  this  country,  under  tlie 
sanction  of  Parliament,  labour  laws  wholly  nn- 
snited  to  the  conditions  under  which  labour  has 
to  be  i)erformed  in  India.” 
Handbook  oi’  thk  Flora  of  Ckylon.— The 
third  volume,  or  third  part,  as  it  is  designated, 
of  this  admirable  work  has  just  appeared.  It 
contains  the  orders  Vah’rinnaccw  to  Balano/jlio- 
racea’.  With  it  are  issued  plates  51  to  7o.  These 
are  of  quarto  size,  and  represent  interesting  or 
critic.al  species  Dr.  Triinen,  who  is  now  on  leave 
in  this  country,  is  to  be  congratulated  on  the 
rapid  progress  of  his  undertaking.  Tor  further 
particulars  see /vcie 1894,  p.  84  and  p.  227. 
— Keiv  Bulletin. 
Ceylon  iNVF.STMF.NTS  in  .Java.— From  what  we 
hear  of  the  results  of  the  investment  of  ('eylon 
capital  in  collee  in  Java,  the  caiutalists  who  have 
cried  out  against  the  local  Goveinment  for  with- 
holding sales  of  Crown  land  and  so  forcing  capital 
to  limf  an  outlet  elsew  here  have  not  much  cause 
for  conq)laint.  Two  and  a half  year  old  coffee 
(Tiviu"  4i  cwts.  an  acre  is  equal  to  anything  in 
t’eylon  in  the  old  coffee  days,  and  a coffee  estate 
in  Java  must  be  a liner  ])roperty  than  the  best 
tea  estate  in  this  island  at  ])resent  prices  asked 
for  estates  or  for  jungle.  There  seems  to  be  no 
diiliculty  about  getting  land  in  Java,  and,  ^yith 
the  splendid  soil  there,  and  facilities  for  working, 
the  wisdom  of  jjlanters  ha\'ing  a second  stiing 
to  their  bow  instead  of  overdoing  the  tea  outi)ut 
and  swamping  the  market  ought  to  be  ai)parent 
to  everybody. — liOcal  “Times.”  [And  so  our 
contemporary  appears  to  rcioice  in  the  develop- 
ment of  Java  with  skill  and  capital  from  Ceylon, 
rather  than  in  the  extension  of  enter)>rise.  locally. 
This  is  certainly  a new  form  of  p.atriotism  !— Ed. 
T.A.] 
Advertising  Tea  in  America.— Another 
packet  of  Chicago,  Brooklyn  and  New  York 
papers  shew  that  Mr.  Mackenzie  and  Mr  Blechyn- 
den  are  not  idle— for  they  seem  to  have 
joined  forces  in  advaiBinn,  and  wisely  so, 
we  think.  The  American  Grocer  has^  a really 
striking  half-jiage  which  is  headed,  lie  Bise 
of  Indian  and  Ceylon  Tea  and  the  Ficlipse  of 
("hina  -Tea”  ; but  which  ends  Insist  on  your 
<n-ocer  supplying  you  with  the  juire  Ceylon  Teas,’ 
so  this  must  be  a Ceylon  advertisement  only.— 
In  this  connection  we  may  notice  that  Mr.  El- 
wood  May  send  us  a neat  little  panqihlet  called 
“ Tea  Secrets  ” issued  by  his  “ Ceylon  Planters’ 
Tea  Co.”  which  ought  to  m.ake  a good  advertise- 
ment of  his  tea  and  coffee  Iwands.— In  one  ad- 
vertisement, our  Commissioner  .seems  to  show 
for  the  United  States  alone  (?)  a consumption 
of  Indian  and  Ceylon  teas  in  1893  and  1894 
equal  to  2,5U0,000  and  3,300,000  lb.  respectively. 
This  is  far  above  what  our  statistics  for  Lon- 
ilon  Colombo  and  Calcutta  shipments  prove,  and 
we ’suspect  though  headed  “U.S.,”  that  Canada 
is  inclmle<l.  xMr.  B.  \.  M ebstor  has  been  te  1- 
inc  our  contemporaries  that  the  imports  for  the 
present  year  are  bound  to  be  40  per  cent  above 
those  of  1894.  'That  would  bring  us  uj)-on  our 
statistics— as  follows 
United  States  and  Canada  1894  = 2,0o3,42C  11) 
40  per  cent  increa.se  = 1,453,368  ,, 
Of 
U.S.  & Canada  in  180.5  0,080,894  lb. 
course,  the  bulk  of  this  is  sent  from  London. 
'Tea  Culture  in  A.ssam.— We  have  to  acknow- 
ledge with  thanks  the  receijit  of  a Blue  Book 
on  this  industi’V'  for  1894  sent  to  us  by  Mr.  J- 
Braine,  of  Joonkballie  Tea  Coiiqiany,  Limited. 
We  are  mucli  obliged  ; we  had  already  got  the 
statistics  and  embodied  them  in  our  “ Handbook 
and  Directory.”  'Tiiere  is  a small  map  of  A.s.sam 
showing  divisions,  stations  Bailways  and  droas. 
'The  Neiv  Zealand  Tariff.— We  are  much 
obliged  to  an  ex-Ceylon  Colonist  who  sends  us 
a co])y  of  the  new  Tariff  for  New  Zealand  from 
which  we  quote  as  follows  : — 
Class  1 — Foods  and  Auticles  fou  Human 
CONSU-MPTION. 
Class  4 — Non-Alcoholic  Beveiiages. 
Nrtine  of  Article. 
Tea 
Coffee,  raw 
Coffee  essence 
Former 
Dut3L 
6d  lb. 
3d  lb. 
15  p.c. 
Present 
Duty. 
4d  lb. 
•2d  lb 
20  p.c. 
Tea  and  Coffee  in  Biutish  Delhi  and  Ijangkat 
— The  report  of  the  British  Delhi  and  Langkat 
Tobacco  Company  for  the  year  ended  December  31st, 
1894,  states  : — Tea  and  Coffee. — Fair  progress  has 
been  made  in  carrying  out  the  estimated  extensions 
of  these  new  cultures.  The  exact  particulars  cannot 
be  given,  owing  to  the  prolonged  illness  of  the 
manager,  Mr.  Inch.  His  opinion,  as  an  experienced 
Ceylon  planter,  completely  bears  out  the  estimate 
already  formed  of  the  entire  suitability  of  the  climate 
and  soil  for  raising  these  products. — London  and 
China  Bxjiress,  Oct.  18. 
Ceylon  and  the  Planting  ENTEnriusE. — In  a 
long  letter  to  the  Times,  Mr.  Ferguson,  of  the 
Ceylon  Observer,  points  out  the  position  and  pros- 
pects of  tlie  planting  enterprise  of  Ceylon,  and  sup- 
plements his  letter  with  some  interesting  statistics. 
» ’ * Mr.  F’ergusou  winds  up  his  letter  by  saying  “that 
the  two  notable  material  facts  in  the  history  of  Cey- 
lon during  the  past  fifteen  years  are — (1)  the  rise  of 
the  tea-growing  industry  from  9,000  acres  planted  in 
1880  to  over  300.000  acres  in  1895 ; (2)  the  immense 
growth  and  ever-increasing  expansion  in  the  tonnage 
and  trade  of  the  capital,  Colombo.” 
Oct.  25. 
Ceylon  'Tea  in  America.— 'The  following  re- 
port on  tea  in  the  American  Grocer,  of  Sejit.  25tli, 
received  today,  shows  that  increasing  attention  is 
given  to  our  luodnct  : — 
Ceylons  have  been  selling  freely  and  at  unusually 
low  rates.  The  Ceylon  Planters’  Commissioner  has 
again  been  in  this  city  and  a good  deal  of  advertis- 
ing done,  evidently  with  the  view  of  attracting  the 
consumer.  Unquestionably  it  will  bear  its  fruit  and 
the  demand  for  teas  from  this  island  become  even 
more  general.  A rather  unusual  feature  was  this 
year  observable  in  Loudon  at  the  opening  of  the 
season,  viz.:  Ceylons  advanced  in  price  while  Iiidias 
gave  way.  The  rapidity  with  which  the  output  in- 
creased IS  remarkable — to  say  that  a few  years  ago 
they  exported  1,000,000  pounds,  while  this  year  the 
export  will  exceed  90,000,000  pounds.  The  quality  of 
recent  shipments  shows  improvement,  and  some 
good  trade  are  offering. 
Quotations  are  as  follows: — Indias. — Pekoe  souchong 
16  to  19c  ; pekoe,  style  and  cup,  21  to  2'2c  ; pekoe, 
extra,  22  to  23c;  orange  pekoes,  23  to  25c;  orange 
sylhet,  fancy  style  and  cup,  26  to  28c.  Ceylons. — 
Pekoe  souchong,  15  to  17c;  pekoe,  ordinary  17  to  18c; 
pekoe,  extra  18  to  21c;  orange,  pekoes  22  to  25c;  B.O. 
pekoe,  extra  28  to  35c  ; fancy  orange,  45  to  5()c. 
Darjeeling. — Pekoe  souchong,  good  cup  25  to  32c  ; 
orange  pekoe  40  to  55c;  B.O.  pekoe  55  to  65c. 
Today  at  noon  the  Montgomery  Auction  and  Com- 
mission Comiiany  will  sell  3,652  packages  of  tea.s, 
viz.:  938  hall-chests  Moyuue,  including  a “crack” 
chop;  1,264  half-chcsts  and  boxes  Pingsuey,  new 
season’s;  426  half-chests  congou,  new  crop,  including 
desirable  pekoes;  67  packages  India,  Java  and  Ceylon; 
229  half-chests  and  boxes  Amoy;  225  half-chosts 
Foochow;  503  half-chcsts  and  boxes  Formosa. 
