552 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Feb.  I,  1896. 
citications  oC  proposed  public  improvements  and 
private  enterprises  that  ma^’  be  open  to  contract. 
A BCIIiNTIFIC  AND  E.WEUIMEXTAL  DEl'AUi.Un.vr. 
In  this  deparcment  a careful  study  of  the 
scientific  and  economic  value  of  all  products 
collected  will  be  made.  As  for  instance,  tan 
bai'ks  will  be  carefully  examined ; woods  will  be 
studied  ; gums  and  resins  will  be  tested.  Many  new 
vegetable  fibres  will  be  investigated  \vith  reference 
to  new  applications,  and  in  general  new  articles  will 
be  subject  to  scientific  investigation  for  the  purpose 
of  determiinng  their  commercial  and  practical  value. 
Through  the  publications  of  this  department,  the 
institution  will  co-opei’ate  and  exchange  with  all  other 
scientific  and  educational  museums  of  the  world. 
INDIAN  TEA  ASSOCIATION. 
Calcitta,  Dec.  Hi,  l8'Jo. 
Abstract  of  Proceedings  of  a Meeting  of  the  General 
Committee  held  this  day. 
Read  letter  of  ‘2nd  Oct.  from  Mr.  E.  C.  Kingler  Thom- 
Hon.  Dritish  Vice-Consul  for.Khorassan,  and  Sistan,  Me- 
shed, in  reply  to  the  Committee’s  letter  dated  10th 
September,  on  the  subject  of  inferior  Indian  tea  ex- 
ported to  and  sold  in  Persia.  Mr.  T’homsoii  for- 
warded four  samples  of  tea,  with  his  letter  in  sup- 
port of  his  previous  oliicial  statement,  and  threo  of 
these  on  being  valued  were  found  to  be  absolutely 
worthless;  the  value  of  the  fourth  being  estimated 
at  not  more  than  7 annas  per  lb,  although  selling 
in  Persia  at  Rl-1,  this  being  the  one  only  one  of 
the  four  samples  sent,  which  was  fit  for  consumption. 
Mr.  Thomson's  letter  is  printed  as  an  appendix  to 
the  minutes  for  general  information  and  the  Commit- 
tee had  since  been  in  correspondence  with  the  Kangra 
Valley  Planters’  Association  on  the  subject.  A I'eply 
had  been  received  from  this  Association,  but  was  too 
late  to  receive  consideration  at  the  meeting  and  the 
Committee  are  now  endeavouring  to  find  out  the  best 
means  to  prevent  the  export  of  such  deleterious  rub- 
bish under  the  name  of  Indian  teas. 
Dated  Meshed,  the  2nd  October.  If^',)."). 
Erom,  .Ij.  C.  Pingler  Thomson,  Esij., 
Drilish  Vice-Consul  for  Khorassan  and  Sistan. 
To,  The  Secretary,  Indian  Tea  Association  Calcutta. 
( havi;  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of 
your  letter  No.  hll  ('..  dated  10th  September  ISOn, 
-.tating  that  'a  i-tain  icmarKs  in  my  recent  Trade 
l\.0])ort  iiri.  (il.ely  to  ilo  considerable  damage  to  the 
Indian  Tea  Trade  and  asking  'ue  for  samples  and 
particulars  of  the  tea  sold  in  Khorassan. 
In  reply  I send  you  four  samples  of  tea  which 
sell  at  about  Ke.  0 10-0,  0-12-0,  1--1 0 and  1 10  0 
per  pound  respectively,  The  two  former  are  the 
qualities  drunk  by  the  mass  of  the  pople,  and  the 
two  latter  by  the  richer  classes.  Persian  gentlemen 
have  often  complained  to  me  that  the  after-effects 
of  even  the  best  of  these  teas  is  bad,  and  I agree 
with  them.  Really  good  Indian  Tea  is  not  pro- 
curable in  the  town  at  any  price : but  fair  Chinese 
tea  called  here  always  "Russian  Tea”  can  be  ob- 
tained at  a high  price.  Thus  the  people  of  Central 
Asia  have  come  to  believe  that  India  cannot  pro- 
duce good  tea.  The  Indian  tea  is  brought  here 
from  Bombay  via  Buudar  Abbas.  The  worst  is 
packed  in  bags,  sewn  up  in  skins ; and  the  better 
sort  in  boxes,  also  sewn  up  in  skins.  The  parc<ds 
do  not  as  a rule  exceed  hOll)  in  weight,  as  caniel.s 
arc  not  always  avaihablo  at  Bundar  Abbas  for  ti'ans- 
port,  and  donkeys  arc  ther-efore  generally  employe^d. 
The  bad  tea  I believe  comes  chiefly  from  Kangra. 
And  I have  only  recently  heard  from  a planter  there 
that  “ 200,000  lb  of  rubbish  are  going  from  this  to 
Bombay  this  year  consigned  by  native  growers.  It 
is  sent  to  sell  at  o annas  per  lb  or  under  and  .is 
about  as  bad  as  tea  can  be,”  This  tea  I imagine 
was  intended  for  the  Meshed  market  and  seems 
to  correspond  with  the  cheaper  samples  I am  send- 
ing you.  1 hope  ^'ou  will  now  allow  that  my  r'e- 
Uiarks  woro  justified.  They  were  not  dictated  by 
tk  to  but  to  improVu  the  Xhdiuai  Tea 
Trade  and  to  remedy  an  evil  by  giving  it  publicity. 
The  people  here  are  now'  so  accustomed  to  rank 
tea  sweetened  excessively  that  ordinary  good  tea  at 
first  appears  to  them  flavourless.  I have,  however, 
found  that  it  takes  a very  short  time  to  teach 
them  to  prefer  the  latter.  The  green  tea  sent  here 
from  India  seems  to  be  much  on  a par  with  the 
black  tea  and  comes  from  the  same  direction.  1 
know'  by  experiment  also  that  a sample  of  Indian 
green  tea  specially  manufactured  by  a planter  at 
Kuniaon  was  preferred  by  a native  of  Central  Asia 
to  that  from  China.  The  duty  on  good  Indian 
green  tea  would  probably  be  the  same  as  Chinese 
green  tea. 
1 am  obliged  to  you  for  pointing  out  my  error 
about  the  selling  price  of  black  tea  in  London  and 
I am  sorry  I made  it.  I learnt  my  mistake  three 
mouths  ago,  but  too  late  to  alter  it  this  year. — 
litdiaii  Planltra'  Gunette,  Jan.  11. 
I,.\N1)  KECOKD.S  AND  AGRICU  LTE  K E 
IN  MADRAS. 
We  liave  had  belore  u.s  for  some  weeks,  await- 
ing a convenient  season  for  review,  the  Report 
on  the  operations  of  the  Department  of  Land 
Records  and  Agriculture  in  the  Madias  Rresi- 
dency,  for  the  oliicial  year  1SU4-95.  There  is 
not  much  in  it  of  local  interest,  but  a cursory 
notice  of  it  may  suggest  some  points  a\  orthy  of 
local  adaptation,  if  not  adojition.  Tlie  document 
we  are  noticing  emanates  from  the  Board  of 
Revenue  and  is  a review  of  the  operations  of  the 
Land  De)iartment.  It  is  followed  by  the  “ Order  ” 
of  the  Rresideiicy  Government,  ajiproving  or 
disap))roving  the  suggestions  and  eoninients  of 
the  Board.  The  matters  dealt  with  are  very 
varied  and  eomiircliensive  and  embrace  (1)  The 
Organization  and  Maintenance  of  N'illage  Records, 
(■2)  .\n  Analysis  of  Distiicts,  (3)  The  Collection 
of  Revenue  in  Erecarious  Tracts,  (4)  Measures  of 
J’rutection,  (.'))  .Agricultural  Experiments,  (d) 
Cattle  Breeding  ami  A’eterinary  Eslahlishiiirnts, 
and  (7)  Miscellaneous. 
The  oversight  of  the  Organization  and  Maiii- 
lenance  of  \’illage  Records  devolves  on  the 
Director  of  Land  Rec.ords  and  his  Deputy  a\  ho 
are  aided  by  Re\emic  Inspectors.  The  year's 
work  includes  the  re-settlement  of  villages  in 
wliich  the  settlement  had  expireil,  the  training 
in  survey  of or  tillage  accountants,  wlio 
are  employed  in  replacing  boundary  stones,  sub- 
dividing survey  fichls,  and  generally  aiding  the 
)iermaiu!nt  District  Surveyors  w ho  aie  resiionsihle 
for  maintenance  and  correction  of  village  maps 
and  survey  iccords.  When  the  immense  tracts  of 
land  to  he  dealt  with  in  the  Southern  Prc.sideney 
are  considered,  aid  also  the  constant  subdivision 
of  holdings,  the  importance  of  a siihordinate 
staff  can  be  readily  understood  ; and  the  Super- 
intendent of  Survey  has  found  it  necessary 
to  make  arrangements  for  holding  “annual 
survey  schools,”  lasting  for  10  or  15  days  in 
each  taluk,  to  prevent  the  karnams  from  for- 
getting what  they  have  been  tauglit,  and 
to  keep  them  in  practice.  In  tlie.se  schools  the 
knowledge  and  worli  of  the  /.a  nut  nix  ;irc  regu- 
larly tested  by  Survey  Ollicers,  ioeacli  of  wlioiu 
a cert.ain  number  of  schools  are  ajiportioncd  for 
inspection  and  report.  The  work  of  survey  and 
re-survey  done  under  this  system  is  considerable. 
The  area  to  he  re-surveyed  in  four  of  the  dis 
tricts  was  found  to  he  9,SS9  square  miles — or 
considerably  over  one-third  of  Ceylon — of  wliieli 
8,101  sipiare  miles  had  been  surveyed  up  to  date 
— 2,.327  square  luiles  liaving  been  completed 
within  the  year. 
The  seeoml  lieail— Anal^isis  of  Districts — lias  ro- 
Icrcucti  to  filatifttical  leyistcrs,  showiny  tlic  coa- 
